Birds of an Oxford College 87 



a stick of unwieldy balance while it holds much 

 garrulous communication with its partner before 

 seizing it in a new grip and making a fresh attempt. 

 When the stick is once dropped the failure of the 

 trip is complete ; for jackdaws, like rooks, seem 

 never to pick up the material which they let fall 

 while building, but always go afield for a fresh 

 supply. The liveliness and persistency of the jack- 

 daws in their labour of building are constantly 

 amusing ; and the work is less strictly confined to 

 the early hours of the morning than is the case 

 with many other birds. The nest is finished by 

 about the end of April, and for more than a month 

 the jackdaws become less conspicuous within the 

 four grey walls. Then, in early June, from behind 

 the worn shoulders of the statue there pulses daily 

 louder the querulous chiding of new life ; and we 

 see that the two birds are once more making con- 

 stant journeys in and out of their cranny, though far 

 more quietly and unobtrusively than in the now 

 distant days of April. The strident rhythm of the 

 young jackdaws calling to be fed increases with 

 the shortening shadows of midsummer, and under- 

 lies the quieter moments. Then early some morning 

 the young birds leave their nest, the whole party 

 wanders abroad into the thronged June world, and 

 the niche behind the statue is silent. In the bird- 

 life of the quadrangle the first absence of that 

 pulsing cry brings the same presage of summer's 

 approaching decay which is felt in the outer wood- 

 lands, at the same moment of the summer, when 

 the nightingale ceases to sing. 



