CHOUGHS 79 



intensified when the two species are seen in the 

 air together. There are some who say that the 

 Hook gives points of similarity. This, personally, 

 I fail to see utterly. It is interesting to add that 

 in Ireland the Chough is almost universally called 

 " Jackdaw." 



Whilst it is a fact that Choughs are very socially 

 inclined, inasmuch as they frequently feed in 

 companies and otherwise consort together, fre- 

 quenting, too, favourite eating-grounds much 

 about the same time daily ; and inasmuch as the 

 young birds flock when fledged, I have never I 

 know districts, too, where the bird may fairly be 

 called " common " found any indication whatso- 

 ever of their breeding in even scattered colonies. 

 Some of the books assert that they do so habitually, 

 but their writers must have vivid imaginations ! 

 It is true, however, that I once found two nests 

 within a few yards of cliff. 



Usually, however, in an unbroken chain of cliff, 

 a mile-long range will accommodate three or four 

 pairs at the outside, sometimes one only, the state 

 of affairs depending almost wholly on the paucity 

 or plenty of the bird in the neighbourhood. 

 Exceptionally, I have known eight or ten pairs 

 in a mile of precipice, though this is an event of 

 comparative rarity. All the same, the birds often 

 return from their feeding-grounds in force, each 

 pair, however, falling out of the ranks and diving 

 straight to its quarters with a farewell kwaar, as 



