The Daw. 235 



morning, and we have little doubt, though we have 

 never actually caught it in the act, that the daw 

 is responsible for the disappearance of many a 

 weakly chicken, and it is certainly destructive to 

 very young game. However, like its congener the 

 rook, with which it so often associates, it does 

 sufficient good by the destruction of noxious insect s 

 to counterbalance the mischief it does in other 

 ways. Among other insects which it destroys are 

 the parasites of sheep, during the search for which 

 it may often be seen perched on the backs of these 

 animals ; in return for the service so rendered it 

 supplies itself at the expense of the sheep with 

 wool with which to line its nest. 



The nest is built of sticks, and is lined with soft 

 materials, such as wool, grass, and hair. In towns 

 the birds choose as nesting-places church towers, 

 disused chimneys, ruined buildings, hollow trees, 

 or, as we have sometimes seen in London, the holes 

 left for fireplaces in the walls of partially finished 

 rows of houses. In the country similar positions 

 are chosen, with the addition of cliffs, chalk-pits, 

 and occasionally rabbit-burrows. Most people give 

 the jackdaw credit for a considerable amount of 

 sense, but this is certainly not shown in its nesting, 

 wherein, to again quote Jardine, " it often exhibits 

 a great want of instinct" ; its one idea, apparently, 

 being that, having found a hole which it considers 

 suitable for its purpose, it must fill it with sticks 

 regardless entirely of its size, which idea occasion- 

 ally leads it, like " Baker's blue-jay/' into the 



