JACKDAW. 109 



under the roof of his dwelling. They have also an air 

 of greater cheerfulness and activity in their movements. 

 Jackdaws appear to prefer cultivated districts, frequenting 

 and building in church towers, belfries, and steeples. I 

 have observed that a great number constantly inhabit the 

 higher parts of Windsor Castle. Sometimes these birds 

 make their nests in hollow trees : from several good autho- 

 rities we learn that Jackdaws breed frequently in rabbit- 

 burrows, and on the sea-coast they occupy cavities in high 

 cliffs, or perpendicular rocks. It is mentioned by Pennant 

 that these birds make their nests among the large masses 

 of stone at Stonehenge ; one nest was observed there re- 

 cently, and Rusticus, of Godalming, says they build in 

 great numbers in the chalk pit on Katherine Hill, near 

 Godalming. The Rev. Leonard Jenyns, in a note to me, 

 says, " In Cambridgeshire, Jackdaws build very much in 

 chimneys, which are sometimes quite stopped up from the 

 quantity of sticks brought together. Neither do they 

 appear to mind smoke, as I have known them attempt to 

 build in the chimney of a room in which there was a fire 

 kept pretty regularly from day to day. From the quantity 

 of horse-dung which falls into the grates, it would seem 

 that they use this material, perhaps for lining the nest." 

 Wool, and other soft substances, are the materials gene- 

 rally used for the lining ; the outside is formed of sticks, 

 and the mass collected together is sometimes very extraor- 

 dinary both in quality as well as quantity. At Cambridge, 

 says Mr. J. Denson,* there is good accommodation for 

 Jackdaws in the abundant receptacles for their nests which 

 the various churches and college buildings supply, and 

 Jackdaws are numerous at Cambridge. The botanic gar- 

 den there has three of its four sides enclosed by thickly- 

 built parts of the town, and has five parish churches and 

 * Magazine of Natural History, vol. vi. p. 397. 



