THE LONDON DAW 57 



Gardens, which have long been rookless, than in 

 any country place, and has reminded me of the 

 meeting of two savage tribes or families, living 

 far apart but cherishing an ancient tradition of 

 kinship and amity, who, after a long interval, 

 perhaps of years, when at last they come in 

 sight of each other's faces rush together, bursting 

 into loud shouts of greeting and welcome. And 

 one is really inclined to believe at times that 

 some such traditional alliance and feeling of 

 friendship exists between these two most social 

 and human-like of the crow family. 



Besides this small remnant of birds native to 

 London, flocks of jackdaws from outside occa- 

 sionally appear when migrating or in search of 

 new quarters. One morning, not long ago, a 

 flock of fifteen came down at Clissold Park. 

 They settled on the dovecote, and amused them- 

 selves in a characteristic way by hunting the 

 pigeons out of their boxes ; then, having cleared 

 the place, they remained contentedly for an hour 

 or two, dozing, preening their feathers, and 

 conversing together in low tones. The bird- 

 loving superintendent's heart was filled with joy 

 at the acquisition of so interesting a colony ; 

 but his rejoicing was premature, the loud call 



