Their First Appearance. 87 



flutter up the winding stair towards that narrow 

 chink above them. They have heard but little yet 

 of the stir of life, beyond the hum of the village or the 

 clangour of the bells. 



Now they look down upon a great world far below 

 them, a world of blossoming orchards and rich 

 meadow lands. It is their first sight of tree or sun 

 or sky. 



Four grey heads look anxiously down from the 

 narrow threshold. Their elders all the while are 

 wheeling round the tower, floating now and then 

 near by as if to tempt the timid aeronauts to make 

 that first perilous plunge. 



One of them gathers heart and flutters out. He 

 gains the footing of one of the gargoyles that the 

 barbarous ' restorers ' have spared to the grey old 

 pile, while all the neighbours shout a chorus of en- 

 couragement. Another spreads his wings and alights 

 on a battered scrap of carving on the wall. 



Now all four have passed the brink, and one by 

 one they gain the battlement of the tower, fluttering 

 from point to point, until at last they muster courage 

 to trust themselves upon the yielding air, and follow 

 their parents to the fields below. 



It is a strange collection of materials that the 

 jackdaw loves to accumulate in its untidy nest. 

 Sticks and paper, carpet and cowhair, bits of cloth 

 and scraps of string, are all made use of. 



Most birds that are hangers-on of men, and find a 



