JACKDAW 165 



monks of the Middle Ages, they contrive to eat the fat of the land 

 without any ostensible means of living. They apparently claim an 

 hereditary right in the cliffs ; for they catch no fish, and do no work, 

 but levy blackmail on the silly guillemots, stealing the fish which 

 the male has brought to the ledges for the female, upsetting the egg 

 of some unfortunate bird who has left it for a short tune, and 

 devouring as much of its contents as they can get hold of, when the 

 egg is broken, on some ledge of rock or in the sea.' 



The social disposition of the jackdaw, and its friendliness towards 

 other species of its family, is no doubt favourable in the long run to 

 it ; for by mixing with the rooks, both when feeding and roosting, 

 he comes in for a share of the protection extended to that bird in 

 most districts. There is also a sentiment favourable to the jackdaw 

 on account of its partiality for churches and castles : the ' ecclesi- 

 astical ' daws are safe and fearless of man while soaring and playing 

 round the sacred buildings in villages and towns ; when they go 

 abroad to forage, and are not with the rooks, there is danger for 

 them, and they are, accordingly, wary and shy of man. 



At all seasons the jackdaw loves to consort with his fellows, and 

 to spend a portion of each day in aerial games and exercises : the 

 birds circle about in the air, pursuing and playfully buffeting one 

 another, and tumbling downwards, often from a great height, only 

 to mount aloft again, to renew the mock chase and battle and down- 

 ward fall. They are loquacious birds, and frequently call loudly 

 to one another, both when perched and when flying ; the usual call- 

 note has a clear, sharp, querulous sound, something like the yelping 

 bark of a small dog. 



The nest is a rude structure made with sticks, dry grass, leaves, 

 wool, and other materials heaped together, and is large or small 

 according to the situation ; when in a church-tower or hollow tree 

 an enormous quantity of material is sometimes used to fill up the 

 cavity. The eggs are four to six in number, and vary much in size, 

 shape, and markings. They are very pale blue, varying to greenish 

 blue, in ground-colour, and are spotted and blotched with blackish 

 brown and olive-brown, with pinkish grey under-markings. 



The jackdaw is omnivorous, but subsists principally on worms, 

 grubs, and insects, which it picks up in the pastures where it feeds 

 in company with rooks and starlings. In spring it will eat the 

 newly sown grain, in autumn devours acorns and beech-mast, and 

 in winter will stoop to carrion. 



In captivity the jackdaw makes a clever and amusing pet, and 

 may be taught to repeat a few words. 



