218 THE CIIOUOTr, 



Englandj Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, if a war of exterininatioti is, (and of 

 course ever has been,) carried on by the stronger against the weaker, as is 

 conceived to be the ease? for, unlike the Eed-legged Partridge, the Grey 

 Rat, and the Colchican Pheasant, instanced by Mr. Knox, which, since their 

 introduction into this country, have been successfully carrying on the work 

 of extermination against their respective congeneric predecessors, the Jackdaw 

 is as truly a British Bird as the Chough. 



I would next ask whether the Chough and Daw have been seen to dis- 

 agree? I apprehend they have not, or if so, but rarely. I have had many 

 opportunities of watching these birds on the Pembrokeshire coast, and par- 

 ticularly on Caldy Island; for, notwithstanding that Mr. Knox saw no Jackdaws 

 on his visit to that place, I can assure him they have lived there together 

 with the Choughs in considerable quantities time out of mind, and still con- 

 tinue to do so without any diminution in their numbers, and I can only say 

 I have never seen them quarrel. A friend of mine, who lives on another 

 and far more wild and romantic Island off the same coast, where the Choughs 

 and Jackdaws breed, and who has paid considerable attention to the habits 

 of the birds which frequent it, writes to me confirming the fact that these 

 two birds do not disagree. 



I was unwilling to be the first to contradict so great an ornithologist as 

 Mr. Knox, and should probably never have offered these remarks to the readers 

 of "The Naturalist," had it not been for a very interesting paper by Henry 

 D. Graham, Esq., at page 81, wherein he states that in the Island of lona, 

 the Choughs ^'remain on a friendly footing with the Jackdaws, associating 

 with them in their feeding excursions, and sometimes accompanying them 

 home." Being able to confirm the statement of that gentleman with regard 

 to the friendly relations subsisting between the two birds in question, I venture 

 to obtrude these remarks with that view, and will conclude them with the 

 following brief notice on the habits of the Chough, as observed on the Pem- 

 brokeshire coast and adjacent islands: — 



This lively and beautiful bird remains on the coast throughout the year, 

 ornamenting and enlivening the cliffs by its presence, when the migratory sea- 

 fowl, which resort thither during the breeding-season in countless numbers, 

 have taken their departure. It chooses for its nest, holes in the most inac- 

 cessible parts of the cliff, generally far out of the reach of the most daring 

 fowler, so that although they breed here in considerable numbers, their eggs 

 are rarely obtained, and the possession of specimens is therefore a desideratum 

 with the collector. Choughs are not gregarious, and remain for the most 

 part in pairs until the autumn, when six or seven, (two old birds and four 

 or five young ones forming one family) are seen together. They never mix 

 promiscuously with the Jackdaws, or indeed any other bird, and when in the 

 corn-fields the Choughs will generally be seen in one corner and the Daws in 

 another. Though at times a shy and wary bird, like the rest of its race, 

 it will frequently approach the gimner with considerable boldness, too often 



