THE JACKDAW. 91 



proach of winter. The Jackdaw is about the size of a Pigeon, 

 being thirteen inches and a half in length. The back of the 

 head is light grey ; the rest of the body black, rather paler on 

 the belly than elsewhere. 



When in winter it eats wild garlic in the fields, it preserves 

 the offensive smell for a long time, even in the house. 



ADDITIONAL. In many of its habits and characteristics, this 

 bird very closely resembles the Hook ; he is a pert, lively, and 

 loquacious fellow, fond of the company of his feathered conge- 

 ners, and also of human society ; he is more compact of form and 

 lively in his actions than any other bird of the genus Corvina, of 

 which he is the smallest member, though not by any means the 

 least important, if his own estimate is to be taken, that is, judging 

 of this by his consequential airs, and tokens of self-satisfied im- 

 portance. He is a nandsome bird, too, with his black head and 

 wing coverts glossed with blue and violet reflections, running off 

 into grey as if a smoke wreath were floating over, and partly 

 hiding the rich dark shades of his plumage. The following is 

 MUDIE'S account of some of his distinguishing peculiarities : 

 *' Holes and chinks are the immediate places in which Jackdaws 

 nestle ; but these must be elevated above the level of the ground, 

 and the higher they are the bird likes them the better. It is pro- 

 bable that the original instinct is the protection of its eggs and 

 young from the weasels. Rocks, the edges of neglected quarries, 

 the projecting parapets of bridges, towers, steeples, ruins, the 

 earth where it forms a very steep and crumbling bank, are all 

 resorted to by the Jackdaws ; and one would imagine that the 

 birds are fonder of the society of man than of having the locality 

 to themselves. But the fact is, that these birds court the vicinity 

 of human dwellings for the same reason as the House- Swallows, 

 because insects are most abundant there. Fifty towers may be 

 built in an insectless wilderness, and never a Jackdaw would 

 come to nestle in them. 



" In the winter months, the Jackdaws and Hooks flock toge- 

 ther, and collect their food on the same fields, and of the same 

 kind, without any hostility ; but in the spring, when the Hooks 

 return to the rookery or the trees, the Jackdaws collect about 

 the rocks and towers. Their habits are, indeed, very similar to 

 those of the Rooks, with the exception of the places in which 

 they nestle, and the materials of the nest ; both are generally of 

 sticks, but the Jackdaw uses a lining of softer matters. The dif- 

 ference of their notes easily distinguishes the two species, even 

 when they are so blended and distant that the eye cannot. The 

 Scotch names, Craa and Kae, are, perhaps, as expressive of their 

 sounds as names can well be. 



