Birds. 9721 



June, 1865. 



Rook. — June 4. The young, being well nigh full grown and strong 

 on the wing, are in the distance hardly distinguishable from the old 

 birds, but on a nearer view are readily identified, the webs of the quills 

 being as yet unruffled, the feathers around the beak unworn, and the 

 bill black, whereas that of the adult is blanched and denuded of 

 feathers, and the old rook is seldom seen after the breeding season 

 without a gap in the wing, or the plumage disordered in some way, 

 either in combat or by coming in contact with the branches when 

 alighting in the nesting trees. It is rather amusing to watch the 

 gigantic young pursuing the parent birds from tree to tree and from 

 rock to rock, for they now frequent the sea-clifFs, but what they find 

 among the rank grass I cannot discover, for though snails are in 

 plenty I have yet to learn that that delicacy is eaten. The beak of 

 the young rook, like that of the young starling, being too flexible and 

 weak to penetrate the earth, they are incapable of providing for them- 

 selves for a considerable time after quitting the nest, though the 

 instinctive faculty may not be wanting. The young of both species 

 are alike possessed with an insatiable craving for food, for which 

 they incessantly clamour. 



Goldencrested Wren. — On the 5th of June the pendant nest of this, 

 our most diminutive species, was pointed out to me by a neighbour: 

 it is attached towards the extremity of a drooping branch of a small 

 cedar, but concealed by an overhanging bough ; it contains young of 

 some days old, which were being fed in rapid succession by both male 

 and female, at intervals of from two to three minutes. Thinking my- 

 self observed, 1 ventured within a dozen yards, when they no longer 

 flew in and out in the same fearless way, for occasionally there was a 

 pause of several minutes, and the opposite side of the tree would be 

 entered, though in flying out they were less cautious. Though gene- 

 rally alighting on the nest-tree, standing apart from the rest, they 

 would occasionally perch for a second or two in the ivy on a jutting 

 rock above, and then, dropping down, creep to the nest; after feeding 

 the young a slight movement of the foliage would be observed, when, 

 creeping out like mice, they darted off. Tiieir beaks were often crammed 

 with food. It is not a very common species in the under-cliff, and 

 their nests are rarely found. 



Jackdaw. — June 6. The full-grown young of this species, as well as 

 the adTilts, now frequent the trees at the foot of the inland cliffs to 

 roost, and small parties are to be seen in the dusk of the evening 

 VOL. XXIII. 2 X 



