DAWS IN THE WEST COUNTRY 61 



touching it caressingly on every side ; flowing 

 through it Hke the waters that gave it its name in 

 olden days, that still gush with noise and foam from 

 the everlasting rock, to send their crystal currents 

 along the streets. And with nature, in and around 

 the rustic village-like city, live the birds. The green 

 woodpecker laughs aloud from the group of old 

 cedars and pines, hard by the cathedral close — you 

 will not hear that woodland sound in any other city 

 in the kingdom ; and the rooks caw all day from 

 the rookery in the old elms that grow at the side of 

 the palace moat. But the cathedral daws, on 

 account of their numbers, are the most important 

 of the feathered inhabitants of Wells. These city 

 birds are familiarly called " Bishop's Jacks," to 

 distinguish them from the " Ebor Jacks," the daws 

 that in large numbers have their home and breeding- 

 place in the neighbouring cliffs, called the Ebor 

 Rocks. 



The Ebor daws are but the first of a succession of 

 colonies extending along the side of the Cheddar 

 valley. A curious belief exists among the people 

 of Wells and the district, that the Ebor Jacks make 

 better pets than the Bishop's Jacks. If you want 

 a young bird you have to pay more for one from the 

 rocks than from the cathedral. I was assured that 



