1 6 THE LAND'S END 



over the tiled roofs of the old town. Here I had a 

 front garden to feed the birds in, and, better still, the 

 entire jackdaw population of St. Ives, living on the 

 roofs as is their custom, were under my eyes and could 

 be observed very comfortably. I discovered that 

 they filled up a good deal of their vacant time each 

 morning in visiting the chimneys from which smoke 

 issued, just to inform themselves, as it seemed, what 

 was being cooked for breakfast. This was their pas- 

 time and watching them was mine. Numbers of daws 

 would be seen, singly, in pairs, and in groups of three 

 or four to half a dozen, sitting on the roofs all over 

 the place. As the morning progressed and more and 

 more chimneys sent out smoke, they would become 

 active visiting the chimneys, where, perching on the 

 rims, they would put their heads down to get the 

 smell rising from the pot or frying-pan on the fire 

 below. If a bird remained long perched on a chim- 

 ney-pot, his neighbours would quickly conclude that 

 he had come upon a particularly interesting smell and 

 rush off to share it with him. When the birds were 

 too many there would be a struggle for places, and 

 occasionally it happened that a puff of dense black 

 smoke would drive them all off together. 



A dozen incidents of this kind could be witnessed 

 any morning, and I was as much entertained as if I 

 had been observing not birds but a lot of lively, 

 tricky little black men with grey pates inhabiting the 

 roofs. One morning when watching a pair perched 

 facing each other on a chimney-top their movements 

 and gestures made me imagine that I knew just what 



