AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 227 



took possession of the Owls' nests, destroyed their 

 eggs, and piled up their own nests in the cavities 

 selected by the harmless and most useful bird of 

 night ; occasionally, however, the tables are turned, 

 as we have previously mentioned when treating of 

 the Barn Owl. For these and other misdemeanours 

 we have for some years past made a practice of 

 shooting the old Jackdaws and destroying their nests 

 and eggs wherever we found them, with the result of 

 decided benefit to ourselves and our neighbours. 

 The Jackdaw disputes the palm for noisy and 

 obtrusive impudence with the House-Sparrow, and 

 does not, to our knowledge, compensate us in any 

 way for his misdoings. That the Daw fulfils his duties 

 in the great scheme of Nature I do not deny, but 

 must confess that I am unable to discover what they 

 may be. This bird, in our inland counties, nests in 

 hollow trees and buildings of all kinds, and generally 

 accumulates a vast quantity of sticks, wool, and 

 rubbish for that purpose ; but no rule is without an 

 exception, and we have in this neighbourhood met 

 with two instances of Jackdaws taking possession of 

 the nests of Wood -Pigeons (Columba palumbus) 

 situated in fir trees, and laying their eggs therein 

 without any addition to the fragile structure of twigs 

 arranged by the rightful owners. On our sea-cliffs 

 many Jackdaws breed in holes and crevices, and in 

 some localities of this kind are accused of having 

 driven away the Red-legged Chough, better known 

 perhaps as the Cornish Chough (Pyrrhocorax gracu- 

 lus), from their breeding-places ; in one instance, at 

 least, we have reason to believe that this charge is 

 well founded. I may here mention that in Cornwall 

 I found that the present species is often called 



Q2 



