82 Birds I Have Keiit. 



"One circumstance connected with its nidification," says an 

 old writer, "is the immense quantity of material it collects, 

 and many anecdotes are related of the ingenuity it manifests 

 in getting it into the desired position; often through narrow 

 loopholes and up winding staircases it contrives to convey 

 long sticks and pieces of wood in a manner truly surprising: 

 and the way in which it piles up the light fabric upon joists 

 and beams, or window sills, and makes all firm and stable, is 

 no less so." 



Occasionally the Jackdaw chooses less lofty stations for its 

 nest, and descends, as Bishop Mant, the laureate of the birds, 

 relates, when nature 



"Prompts them in the waste to roam, 

 And seek a subterranean home, 

 The burrowing rabbit's haunt, and there 

 Of sticks and matted wool prepare 

 Their dwelling, and produce their race 

 In that unlikely dwelling-place." 



Jackdaws have been known to live a long time in captivity, 

 but like their relative the Magpie, look better, and are far 

 happier when they can enjoy their liberty, than when closely 

 prisoned in a cage. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



THE PAETRIDGE. 



WHEN I was a boy, a friend made me a present of a 

 pair of Partridges, which, with a number of others, 

 he had reared under a common barn-door fowl. These birds 

 were full grown when given to me, and quite tame: I kept 

 them for some time in, for want of a more suitable situation, 

 the fire-place of one of our upstair rooms! 



In France, be it understood, at that time wood was the 



