78 MID-APRIL 
fail to spot a newly ploughed field, though it 
may be some miles away. They return 
slowly and tired, to roost in the evening, 
seldom or never alone. They may have to 
contend with a head wind, its direction 
having changed since they started out in the 
morning ; or a gale may have blown up, in 
which case their tacking methods are very 
interesting to watch. But despite all the 
difficulties which they may encounter, they 
time their return journey so as to be sure of 
getting home at, or just before, dark. 
The Jackdaw is a smaller bird than the 
rook, being about fifteen inches long, whilst 
the rook measures eighteen or more inches 
from tip of beak to tail. The rook’s ‘ caw’ is 
almost as familiar to us as the cock’s crow. 
It is a single syllable; “caw or. ~ e077 son 
‘kor.’ The carrion crow’s note seems often 
to sound more like ‘cova’ or ‘ korah.’ The 
jackdaw gives us a noisy ‘ clack-clack.’ Its 
movements and flight are more rapid than the 
rook’s or crow’s. The nests of jackdaws are 
generally in holes well out of reach; in walls, 
