THEFT OF THE MATERIALS. 59 



sion ; not, however, as it appears, so much from 

 birds as from man himself, as the following sad 

 statement will sufficiently evince. Jackdaws are 

 numerous at Cambridge, and delight in build- 

 ing their nests in the venerable piles of architec- 

 ture which adorn the town. The botanic garden 

 is unfortunately only too near these structures, 

 as the jackdaws soon discovered. Perceiving in 

 its neatly-arranged beds a number of little wooden 

 labels employed to denote the names of plants, 

 they seem to have considered them a very suitable 

 material for the construction of their nests, being 

 both ready for use and conveniently near home. 

 A large proportion of them were made out of deal 

 laths, being about nine inches long and one inch 

 broad. To these the jackdaws helped themselves 

 freely whenever they could do so without molesta- 

 tion. As the birds were not sufficiently learned 

 to distinguish between such as were written, and 

 such as contained no inscription, the greatest 

 inconvenience arose from their thefts, it having 

 become impossible to distinguish between beds of 

 seed-plants which closely resembled each other. 

 Some of the species could not be ascertained 

 for a year or more ; not, in fact, until they were 



