DAWS IN THE WEST COUNTRY 71 



noticing that bird, and it is as if I did not see him ; 

 but after him the starHng is undoubtedly the most 

 numerous. He is, we know, increasing every- 

 where, but in no other town in England have I 

 found him in such numbers. He is seen in flocks 

 of a dozen to half a hundred, busily searching for 

 grubs on every lawn and green place in and round 

 the town, and if you go up to some elevated spot 

 so as to look down upon Bath, you will see flocks 

 of starlings arriving and departing at all points. 

 As you walk the streets their metallic clink-clink- 

 dink sounds from all quarters — small noises which 

 to most men are lost among the louder noises of a 

 populous town. It is as if every house had a peal 

 of minute bells hidden beneath the tiles or slates 

 of the roof, or among the chimney-pots, that they 

 were constantly being rung, and that every bell 

 was cracked. 



The ordinary or unobservant person sees and 

 hears far more of the jackdaw than of any other 

 bird in Bath. Daws are seen and heard all over 

 the town, but are most common about the Abbey, 

 where they soar and gambol and quarrel all day 

 long, and when they think that nobody is looking, 

 drop down to the streets to snatch up and carry 

 off any eatable-looking object that catches their eye. 



