78 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 
legs and began rocking his head from side to side, 
after which he shook his feathers two or three 
times; then tried to scratch his poll with his claw, 
but didn’t succeed. He was in a queer state, and 
didn’t know what had happened to him; but he 
soon recovered, and was just as fond of his little 
playmate as ever, although he never again at- 
tempted to pull her buttons off or peck her ankles. 
Some time after this Jack disappeared for a 
day or two, and was brought back by a boy of the 
village, who was warmly thanked and rewarded 
with a few pence. From that day every little boy 
who was so lucky as to find Jack out of bounds, 
and could catch him, expected a gratuity on taking 
him to the house; and as the little boys were all 
very poor and hungry for sweets, they were per- 
petually on the look-out for Jack, and went about 
with something in their ragged little pockets to 
entice him into their cottages. Every day Jack 
was lost and found again, until the good man, who 
was not rich, concluded that he could not afford 
to keep so expensive a pet; and so Jack was given 
to a gentleman who had a pet daw of his own and 
wanted another. In his new home he had nice 
large grounds with big trees, and Jack with a 
chum of his own tribe was very happy until his 
end, which came very suddenly. The two birds 
roosted side by side together on a tall tree near 
the house, and one summer night this tree was 
struck by lightning; next morning the two birds 
were found lying dead at the roots. 
