474 THE JACKDAW. 



head or arm. When not at school, it perches on a lamp-post 

 near his house, so placed that it can see which way he comes, as 

 there are three roads. On this lamp-post it sits and waits till it 

 sees him. It then cries " Kya, kya," flies to meet him, alights 

 on his head, or runs and hops playfully before him, with all the 

 signs of affection evinced by a faithful dog. It cries " Kya, kya" 

 when he bids it, but for no other person. When the boy was 

 away from home for a few days it flew about quite restless, 

 seeking for him at all the places he used to go. When he came 

 back it showed every sign of affection a bird could show. At 

 home it runs and plays with the cat and dog, and roosts in a 

 small press ; but even at home it will not allow anyone to touch 

 it but the boy. It is a female, has laid several eggs, but it does 

 not fly away in spring and return, like the rook at Mount 

 Melville. [As this was written at the time some of it is in the 

 present tense.] After six years it died in the moulting. A 

 similar mark of confidence appeared in Nature Notes : — 



" Mr G. C. Green records in Nature Notes for April a curious fact of a 

 pair of jackdaws kept by him at Modbury Vicarage, South Devon. They 

 had been taken from the nest, and during the first summer their wings 

 were slightly clipped. After this their wings were allowed to grow, and 

 they had full liberty. They were perfectly tame, came at call, and fed out 

 of the hand, came into the house, and in the morning knocked at the 

 windows for breakfast. In spring they flew away and joined their wild 

 companions, made their nests, and reared their families ; but this over, they 

 came to the garden again, fed from the hand as tame as ever. But the 

 curious thing was that after one or two seasons they brought another 

 jackdaw with them — presumably the young of one of them — which was just 

 as tame as themselves, although nothing had been done to tame it, so it was 

 impossible to tell which were the original two. Moreover, when, after a 

 few years, one of them was accidentally killed, another was brought by 

 the other two." 



A singular fact. So is this other one. A boy got a young 

 jackdaw, cut its wings, and put it in the garden. Soon after, 

 a lady went into the garden where the young daw was and was 

 immediately attacked by the old jackdaws, which flew, 

 screaming, at her face and cut her severely. They continued 

 the attack till the lady screamed for help, and they were driven 

 away — a proof of their courage and parental love. And as a 

 proof of its impudence, the following paragraph appeared in 

 August 1888 :— 



"The audacity of the jackdaw of Rheims has been equalled if not 

 excelled at Monkton, in Kent. During Divine service a jackdaw belonging 

 to Mr Stapleton, Cotton, went into the sacred edifice with the congregation, 

 and not only took a lively part in the responses, but also became exceed- 

 ingly talkative at other times. The whole congregation were in a titter ; 

 the clergyman himself kept a straight face, while the school children broke 



