XLIV. 

 CORVUS MONEDULA. (linn.) 



Jackdaw. 



The Jackdaw builds its nest in many opposite situations ; 

 most commonly in holes in old ruins, in lofty church steeples, 

 being very numerous in our cathedrals ; also in cliffs and 

 precipices, and sometimes in the holes of decayed trees. In 

 addition to these localities, a most curious circumstance is 

 mentioned by White in his History of Selhorne, of a race of 

 these birds that took it into their heads to breed in the holes 

 of a Rabbit warren. The nest is composed of sticks, lined 

 with wool, dry grass, and such like materials ; the eggs are 

 from four to six in number ; those in the plate being the 

 most opposite varieties which I have seen in a series of seve- 

 ral dozens. The Jackdaw begins to breed in April. 



