390 BIRD LIFE AT BINGHAJVTS MELCOMBE 



No ruined castle, no cathedral in England, 

 would know itself without its colony, sometimes its 

 huge colony, of jackdaws. The jackdaw is to the 

 English cathedral much what the smaller kestrel is to 

 the Cathedral of Toledo or Seville, or to the Mosque 

 of Cordova in Spain. He appropriates every gar- 

 goyle, crowns every pinnacle or turret, perches by 

 preference, chatters, and ruminates on the topmost 

 vane. Well does the poet call him the "steeple- 

 loving daw." He nests in every nook and cranny 

 of the building; takes the statues of Prophets 

 and Apostles, saints and martyrs under his special 

 patronage ; and penetrates through the air-holes of 

 the tower into the interior, littering the steps, or 

 filling the belfry with his ever-accumulating furniture. 

 And what a lot he has to say about it all ! In his 

 more domestic character, he peers down, in the 

 early morning, or even creeps down, into our 

 chimneys, as though he would like to know what we 

 are going to have for breakfast, or, at least, whether 

 the housemaid is properly sweeping the room. 

 Sometimes, indeed, he helps her to light the fire. 

 Finding that so many of our chimneys were blocked 

 by their nests, and that it was so difficult to clear 

 them, I unwillingly placed wire-netting over the 

 chimney-tops. One chimney was omitted. It 



