SUPPOSED EGG-DAUBING BY THE JACKDAW. 177 



conveyed the impression that the daubing was an 

 operation which had been dehberately carried out by the 

 bird. Tlie eggs when cleaned were of the ordinary'- type, 



I may mention here that I visited the locaHty again in 

 May last year, and examined three more of the open nests 

 of this bird, in all of which the eggs were normal, but all 

 these nests were built near the tops of Scotch fir trees, 

 the evergreen boughs of which, arching over the nests, 

 afforded them some concealment, which is a point of 

 some significance. 



As to the cause of this phenomenon, although the likeli- 

 hood of accidental contamination cannot of course be 

 excluded, I think it possible, if not probable, that the 

 explanation suggested by Mr. Wharton in his case may 

 be correct, and that the bird may itself have daubed the 

 eggs for the purpose of concealment. The Jackdaw has 

 for so long a period abandoned the tree-building habit, 

 and taken to nesting in covered sites, that the eggs have 

 to a great extent lost the protective coloration of the 

 CorvidcB, and now when laid in open sites they are very 

 conspicuous. It may be that certain individual Jackdaws 

 have recognised this and have adopted this means of hiding 

 their eggs from other egg-stealing birds. Such an action 

 would show a remarkable degree of intelligence on the 

 part of a bird, and, if established, would be a fact of 

 great interest. There is, however, no direct evidence 

 that the bird itself daubed the eggs, and further observa- 

 tions are needed before such an explanation could be 

 accepted. If, however, it were found that eggs daubed 

 in this way were never found in completely covered sites, 

 but only in those somewhat rare instances in which the 

 bird breeds in open situations, it would go far to establish 

 the fact that the daubmg was done by the agency of the 

 bird for the reason suggested. 



I may add that in Mr. Wharton's case above referred 

 to, the eggs, though laid in a hole which was in a large 

 horizontal branch of a tree, were apparently plainly 

 visible from outside, and could be readily seen by a 

 bird flying past. 



