1 92 1.] Birds of Macedonia. 193 



strange union are rather liard to divine. One thing is 

 certain, however, and that is the Storks must have been 

 indebted to the Jackdaws for one thing, because the hitter 

 birds were constantly bringing sticks and re-arranging the 

 twigs about their own nest. Storks do but little nest- 

 building on their own account, and the Jackdaws' efforts 

 undoubtedly made the home of this particular pair more sub- 

 stantial, as it was in a precarious state after weathering the 

 previous winter. When both Storks were away from home, 

 and then only, the Jackdaws would sit on the edge of the cnp- 

 like mass, i. e., in the larger birds' domain. Some interestino- 

 possibilities presented themselves, but I never got any 

 farther into the matter. The Jackdaws surely had to 

 restrain themselves where the Stork's eggs were concerned ; 

 but then, again, supposing this difficulty to have been over- 

 come, I should, imagine that the Storks would have found 

 newly hatched Jackdaws a nice change from frogs. I 

 noticed the act of mating on 29 March. Eggs 23 May. 

 Newly hatched young at the latter end of April and 2o May. 

 Young were being fed in the nest at the beginning of June. 

 A bird of the year was flying on 1 June, and several broods 

 flying about in the neighbourhood of their home by the end 

 of the month. By the 1st of September flocks of sixty or more 

 birds were common, and these had already associated them- 

 selves with their companions for the coming winter — the 

 Hooded Crows. 



A battle that took place at noon on a sunny day in 

 February seems fairly typical of the methods adopted by 

 this species when fighting. One bird was lying on its back 

 on the ground with its beak directed at its opponent's head. 

 It fought primarily with its feet, which were entamded in 

 the feathers of the abdomen of the uppermost bird. The 

 second bird stood bodily on the under bird, and balancing 

 itself on out-stretched wings, it repeatedly pecked at its- 

 opponent's head. These two birds fought in a methodical 

 manner. They wrestled for a few moments and then, as if 

 by mutual agreement, separated and flew up to a low bouoh 

 hanging over the chosen arena.. On this occasion there were 

 five distinct " rounds.'* The same bird was undermost each 



