ENEMIES OF THE GAME-REARER 



The Jackdaw {Cot'vus Moncdula) 



The mere mention of the word Jackdaw to a gamekeeper 

 is sufficient to create a degree of uneasiness in his mind, yet 

 in spite of the war that he wages upon these birds, they are, 

 in certain localities, almost as common as stones, this being 

 due to the fact that they breed in Great Britain. It is only 

 an occasional visitor to the Shetland Islands. It breeds 

 in Cashmere and Afghanistan, visitino- the north-western 

 plains of India in the winter. It is a bird that pairs for 

 life, and lays from four to six pale blue eggs, spotted or 

 unspotted, and rears a single brood in a season. The nest 

 is generally built in April or May, and constructed of wool, 

 moss, straw or feathers. The Jackdaws go about in flocks, 

 though sometimes in pairs. Disused chimneys, ruins over- 

 grown with ivy, the belfries of churches, as well as trees, 

 are the favourite nesting haunts of the Jackdaw. A striking 

 feature of it is its light, small piercing eyes, and very little 

 will escape the notice of "Jack" or "Daws" as they are 

 sometimes called. 



Lord Lilford, in his Birds of Northamptonshire, has some 

 extremely interesting remarks concerning the Jackdaw, which 

 are worthy of repetition. He says : — 



" This amusing but most pernicious bird is extremely 

 common in our county and probably only too well known to 

 most of our readers. In the hollow trees about the park 

 and pleasure grounds of Lilford, they used to swarm at the 

 breeding season, till we found it absolutely necessary to wage 

 war upon them in the interests of our garden, poultry and 

 game, to say nothing of those of the barn-owl, a species for 

 which we have always entertained a sincere respect and 



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