JACKDAW. 557 



of the upright stones, that they should be tall enough to secure 

 those nests from the annoyance of shepherd boys, who are 

 always idling round that place/' 



Like the Sparrow, the Chaffinch, and some other birds that 

 breed in the vicinity of man, it sometimes lines its nest with a 

 strange assortment of articles. Thus, it is related that a soldier 

 having climbed to the nest of one in the ruins of Holyrood 

 Chapel, for the purpose of recovering a piece of lace, found in 

 addition part of a worsted stocking, a silk handkerchief, a frill, 

 a child's cap, and several other things, which it had picked up 

 from the streets. 



Jackdaws often obtain a large proportion of their food in the 

 streets, which they frequent more especially in the mornings, 

 along with Pigeons, and sometimes Rooks. On these occa- 

 sions they pick up the refuse of whatever serves as food to man. 

 Like the Starling and the ^lagpie, they sometimes alight on 

 sheep and cattle, apparently for the purpose of searching for 

 the ticks and other animals among their hair. They are not so 

 shy as Rooks when in privileged places, enter a garden with 

 little fear, and are easily enticed to a particular spot by placing 

 food for them. Thus in towns persons, for amusement, draw 

 them to their windows, along with Pigeons and Sparrows ; but 

 they are always more suspicious than these birds, and on ob- 

 taining a morsel, rather than eat it at once, usually fly off \A'ith 

 it to some more secure place. 



The Jackdaw, in fine, is possessed of considerable penetra- 

 tion, being shy where there may be danger, familiar where 

 there is little to fear. He has evidently observed the effects of 

 fire-arms, or at least has noticed that an alarming noise proceeds 

 from them, so that the holding up of a stick is generally suffi- 

 cient to frighten him, and he allows an unarmed person to 

 approach nearer than another. Being truly omnivorous, he 

 searches all sorts of places for food, from the streets of the popu- 

 lous city to the hill pastures and the shores of the sea, suiting 

 the times of visiting these places to circumstances, taking the 

 early morning for his urban rambles, and the time of ebb for his 

 marine excursions. Many stories are told of him, and of the 

 perils encountered by boys in plundering his nest, as well as of 



