PART III. 



CROWS. Corvi. 



CHAPTER I. 



EUROPEAN JACK-DAW. Corvus monedula. 



Where the ruined turrets of the old 

 castellated buildings of England stand, 

 still mighty in decay, and beneath the 

 parapets of the Gothic churches and mo- 

 nasteries, as it were the sole monarch of 

 those homes of bygone chivalry and papal 

 pride, the Jack-daw sits and builds his 

 nest, while his hoarse chatter to his hun- 

 dred companions takes the place of the 

 trumpet-tone of the knight, the gay laugh 

 and jest of chivalric noblemen and lovely 

 demoiselles, the cry of the falconer as his 

 winged charge mounted high in the air in 



