i62 The Jackdaw 



Mr. J. Lewis Bouhote, of Cambridge, who has kept all the British Corvida at 

 various times, with the exception of the Raven, writes as follows : — ^" The Magpie 

 is a nice sprightly bird, and when hand-reared is beautifulh' tame ; he seems to 

 be the least pugnaceous of this rather vicious family. His merry rattling note is 

 a nice change from the ordinary croak so frequently uttered." 



Like all the Crow-famil}', this bird if caged should not be closely confined ; 

 the cage for a Magpie or Jay should be at least five feet in length, over three 

 feet in height and two feet in width ; otherwise the bird does not get sufficient 

 exercise, misses his daily bath and often becomes ragged and unsightly. 



Fami/v—CORJVD.-E. 



The Jackdaw. 



Corv/i.s iiioncdula, LiNN. 



BREEDS and is resident throughout the greater part of Europe, but does 

 not occur northwards beyond central Scandinavia ; southwards in the 

 Mediterranean basin it becomes very local : it has straggled along the 

 African coast as far as the Canaries. In Asia it occurs northwards in Western 

 Siberia as far as lat. 60° ; but in the valley of the Yenesei, Seebohm only observed 

 it as far north as lat. 56° ; southwards it is common in South Russia, Turkestan, 

 westwards through the Caucasus to Asia Minor and Palestine, aud southwards to 

 Cashmere aud Afghanistan where it breeds, visiting the plains of N.W. India in 

 the winter. 



In Great Britain it breeds and is resident in most suitable localities ; though 

 on the rock-bound portions of our coasts it is frequently replaced by the Chough ; 

 the two species being very rarely found occupying the same district. In the Outer 

 Hebrides it has not been met with, and to the Shetlands it is only a straggler. 



