22 COKYID.E. 



The breed ing- season commences about the middle of March and 

 lasts till the beginning of the rains. These birds almost always breed 

 in societies, selecting a group of trees in a compound or near a 

 monastery. The nest, made of twigs and lined with hair, grass or 

 other soft substances, is placed high up in rather tall trees, and 

 the eggs, usually four in number, resemble closely those of the 

 preceding species. 



9. Corvus monedula. The Jaclcdaiv. 



Gorvus monedula, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 156 (1766); Blyth, Cat. 

 p. DO ; Hume, N. fy E. p. 414 ; id. Cat. no. 665 ; Biddulph, Ibis, 

 1881, p. 77 ; Oates in Hume's N. fy E. 2nd ed. i, p. 12. 



Corvus collaris, Drummond, A. M. N. H. xviii, p. 11 (1846). 



Colseus mouedula (Linn.}, Ilorsf. fy M. Cat. ii, p. 562 ; Jerd. B. I. \\, 

 p. 302; Hume $ Renders. Lah. to Yark. p. 239 ; Scully, S. F. iv, 

 p. 158; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii, p. 26; Scully, Ibis, 1881, p. 572. 



Colseus collaris (Drummond), Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii, p. 27 ; Scully, 

 Ibis, 1881, p. 572. 



Fig. 7. Head of C. monedula. 



Coloration. Forehead and crown glossy black; nape and hind 

 neck dusky grey ; sides of the head and neck light grey, almost 

 white, and forming a half-collar on the posterior portion of the 

 side of the neck ; lores blackish ; upper plumage, wings, and tail 

 bluish black with a considerable amount of gloss ; chin and cheeks 

 black with grey shaft-streaks ; throat and fore neck entirely black ; 

 remainder of lower plumage slaty black with a very small amount 

 of gloss. 



Legs and bill black ; iris nearly white (Dresser). 



Length about 13 ; tail 5'2 ; wing 9*2 ; tarsus 1*7 ; bill from gape 

 1-5. 



Jackdaws vary much inter se in the amount and purity of the 

 white on the sides of the neck, and I cannot distinguish the race 

 which has been separated under the title of C. collaris. A certain 

 number of birds can be picked out of a series with the half-collar 

 very white and distinct, but others from the same localities are 

 typical C. monedula, and there are intermediate specimens. The 

 majority of Indian birds incline towards G. collaris, and that is 

 all that can be said in favour of the retention of the name. 



