BIRDS IN CORNISH VILLAGE 313 



Undoubtedly the chough comes nearest to the 

 daw mentally, and as it is a far more beautiful 

 bird — the poor daw having little of that quality 

 — it would probably have been our prime favour- 

 ite among the crows but for its rarity. Formerly 

 it was a common pet bird, caged or free, in all 

 the coast districts where it inhabited, and it may 

 be that the desire for a pet chough was the cause 

 of its decline and final disappearance all round 

 the south and west coasts of England, except at 

 one spot near Tintagel where half a dozen pairs 

 still exist only because watchers appointed by the 

 Royal Society for the Protection of Birds are al- 

 ways on the spot to warn off the nest-robbers 

 during the breeding season. But of the chough 

 in captivity or as a domesticated bird we know 

 little now, as no records have been preserved. I 

 have only known one bird, taken from a North 

 Devon cliff about forty years ago, at a house near 

 the coast; a very beautiful pet bird with charm- 

 ing, affectionate ways, always free to range about 

 the country and the cliffs, where it associated with 

 the daws. It was the last of its kind at that place, 

 and I do not know if it still lives. 



Next to the chough the jay comes nearest to 



