DAWS IN THE WEST COUNTRY 59 



the other in traveUing to and from his nest in bad 

 weather. When the wind blows strong from the 

 sea the seaside bird must perpetually fight against 

 it and win his home by sheer muscular exertion. 

 The other bird, able to go foraging to this side or 

 that, according to the way the wind blows, can 

 always have the wind as a help instead of a hindrance. 



Somerset also possesses a long coast-line and some 

 miles of sea-cliffs, but the colonies of jack-daws 

 found here are small compared with those of the 

 Mendip range. The inland-cliff breeding daws that 

 inhabit the valley of the Somerset Axe alone prob- 

 ably greatly outnumber all the daws in Middlesex, 

 or Surrey, or Essex. 



Finally, besides the cliffs and woods, there are 

 the old towns and villages — small towns and villages 

 with churches that are almost like cathedrals. No 

 county in England is richer in noble churches, and 

 no kind of building seems more attractive to the 

 " ecclesiastical daw " than the great Perpendicular 

 tower of the Glastonbury type, which is so common 

 here. 



Of the old towns which the bird loves and inhabits 

 in numbers, Wells comes first. If Wells had no 

 birds it would still be a city one could not but delight 

 in. There are not more than half a dozen towns 



