Jackdaw and Carrion Crow 



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similar to those of the Common Crow, though it is perhaps more graceful on the 

 wing, a little less shy, and except during the cold months is less sociable. It 

 usually nests three or four weeks later than its larger relative, but chooses similar 

 situations and constructs a similar though smaller nest; pine trees are often 

 selected for the site and not infrequently they are placed at a considerable height 

 from the ground. The four or five eggs are smaller counterparts of those of 

 the Common Crow. Throughout the greater part of Mexico the place is taken 

 by the decidedly smaller, more lustrous plumaged Mexican Crow (C. mexicanus], 

 while the larger of the West Indian Islands are tenanted by peculiar species 

 which -lack of space forbids mentioning in detail. 



Jackdaw. Turning now to the Old World, we find numerous representatives 

 of the genus, perhaps none of them being more widely known, and it may be 

 added more thoroughly detested, than the Jackdaw (C. monedula) of Europe, 

 western Asia, and northern Africa. It is a "lively, noisy, and cheerful, emi- 

 nently gregarious" bird, usually found in company with its larger relative, the 

 Rook, and, says Mr. Hudson, "if he is not the first of his family in intelligence, 

 he is certainly not behind any of them." Being of an adaptable disposition he 

 becomes extremely tame when not molested, but is quick enough to scent real 

 danger and to save his skin by the proverbial wariness of his race, and although 

 destroyed on all occasions by gamekeepers, manages to hold his own. The 

 Jackdaws feed largely upon insects, grubs, shellfish, and crustaceans, and to 

 some extent on grain and probably eggs and young birds. As Hudson says: 

 "The variety of sites he chooses for nesting purposes show how plastic are his 

 habits. He breeds apart from his fellows, like the Carrion Crow; or in com- 

 munities, like the Rook and Chough. He builds in hollow trees in parks and 

 woods, in rabbit burrows, in ruins, in church towers and buildings of all kinds, 

 and in holes and crevices in cliffs, whether inland or facing the sea, where he 

 lives in company with the Rock Pigeon and 

 the Puffin." The nest is a rude structure of 

 sticks, straw, wool, and feathers adapted in 

 size to its situation; the four to six eggs, 

 which are usually laid in May, vary from 

 greenish white to bluish green, thickly 

 spotted and blotched with browns and 

 olive. 



Carrion Crow. Very much larger, at- 

 taining a length of nineteen instead of only 

 about fourteen inches, is the Black or 

 Carrion Crow (C. corone] of Europe and 

 northern Asia, an extremely cautious and 

 wary species much resembling his American 

 cousin (C. brachyrhynchos] . Owing to his 

 large presence and more or less evil repute he has been much persecuted, with 

 the result that he has become quite scarce in many places, notably the British 

 Islands, though still fairly abundant in other areas. Strong and direct on the 



FIG. 215. Carrion Crow, Corvus corone. 



