126 OUR BIRD ALLIES. 
protected from the elements in a tower, a steeple, ora 
hole in some tree. 
Excepting as a cage bird, the jackdaw is scarcely a 
popular favourite, the incessant chatter which pro- 
ceeds from a colony being greatly disliked by many 
people. In some parts of Europe the vocal powers 
of the bird are put to a novel use, as recorded by 
Sir H. C. Barkley in his interesting and entertaining 
work ‘“ Between the Danube and the Black Sea.” 
‘We were greatly amused,” he writes, “with a 
jolly, knowing-looking little jackdaw, that chatted to 
us and hopped about the room without the least fear. 
“Our host told us that the bird was made use of 
when shooting foxes. 
‘“‘ A sportsman carries it with him to the forest, and 
hides himself at the edge of some open space. He 
then holds the bird by the tip of its wing, which it 
thinks a great indignity, and holloas and croaks with 
all its might. If there are any foxes near, they will 
come creeping out to see what the strange noise is, 
and then (should the old Turkish flint go off, which 
it does about once in three attempts), the fox is killed, 
and its skin stripped off and soldat the next fair.” 
The nest of the jackdaw is rather a clumsy struc- 
ture of sticks, roughly lined with wool, hair, feathers, 
and similar substances. The eggs, which average five 
in number, are very like those of the rook upona 
somewhat smaller scale, excepting that the ground 
colour is usually of a paler green. 
Mucu that has been said of the jackdaw applies 
