314 THE JACKDAW. 



itself of introducing those apparently useless sticks causes us to 

 suspend our judgment, before we finally conclude that the bird is 

 endowed with any. sort of reasoning superior to what is commonly 

 denominated the instinct of brutes ! You may see the jackdaw try- 

 ing, for a quarter of an hour, to get a stick into the hole ; while every 

 attempt will be futile, because, the bird having laid hold of it by the 

 middle, it is necessarily thrown at right angles with the body, and 

 the daw cannot possibly perceive that the stick ought to be nearly 

 parallel with its body, before it can be conveyed into the hole. 

 Fatigued at length with repeated efforts, and completely foiled in its 

 numberless attempts to introduce the stick, it lets it fall to the ground ; 

 and immediately goes in quest of another, probably to experience 

 another disappointment on its return. When time and chance have 

 enabled it to place a quantity of sticks at the bottom of the hole, it 

 then goes to seek for materials of a more pliant and a softer nature. 



The shrill and quickly repeated notes of the jackdaw, especially 

 during incubation, are far from being unpleasant to the ear which is 

 accustomed to rural sounds : but very few people have an oppor- 

 tunity of paying attention to them, as this bird is by no means a 

 general favourite with man. It is commonly accused of sucking 

 eggs ; but eggs form no part of its diet, otherwise it would be a bad 

 neighbour here ! and ringdoves, house-doves, wagtails, fowls, and 

 ducks would wish it far away. It is vastly fond of peas and cherries. 

 When these are done, the jackdaw repairs to the pastures, where it 

 devours an incredible numbers of insects. 



After the young have left the nest, they join the rooks, and roost 

 with them in the surrounding woods till near the autumnal equinox ; 

 when both rooks and jackdaws regularly retire at nightfall to the 

 eastward of this place, in immense flocks, and return to the westward 

 every morning for the ensuing half-year. The jackdaw lays from 

 four to six eggs, varying very much in colour, and often in size and 

 shape. When protected, it will build its nest in holes not above six 

 feet from the ground, where people are passing and repassing every 

 hour of the day. If you take away the eggs, and substitute those of 

 magpies, the bird will hatch them, and rear the young ones with 

 great care and affection. 



The plumage of the jackdaw is black, with shining silvery gray 



