Birds. 1873 



ill-expressed sentence to mean, that the rook, &c, " eat other animal matters " only 

 from scarcity of " worms and grubs." It is added in a note, " The magpie having 

 young ones captures the new hatches of our domestic poultry ; but these are cases of 

 necessity rather than habit." My own observations have produced a somewhat dif- 

 ferent opinion as to the inclinations of birds of the pie tribe. Not only hawks, but 

 rooks, and especially jackdaws, rob the wheat-ear traps of the shepherds, along the 

 cliffs of the Sussex coast. Tame magpies and jackdaws will accept dead small birds 

 which may be offered them, though I do not remember seeing daws do more than 

 split the skulls to extract the contents. I have seen a wild magpie pursue a young 

 chaffinch which could scarcely fly, and, after chasing it from the hedge, catch it on 

 the wing, as if a butterfly, and immediately proceed to tear it in pieces. Very many 

 years ago I shot a jay, to which my attention was attracted by the angry notes of a 

 pair of chaffinches, and as the jay fell to the ground the hen chaffinch darted at (as if 

 to strike) it. The bill of the jay was thickly clotted with fresh blood, and I have no 

 doubt it had just devoured the progeny of the chaffinches, though I omitted to search 

 for their nest. Once, in a retired lane, I came suddenly upon a jay, which was very 

 busily engaged with a snake of some kind. I was not able to see what, but rather 

 imagine it was a viper. Not only was the bird evidently intending to feed upon the 

 snake, but it instantly flew off with its prey on being disturbed by my approach. Dif- 

 ferent members of the pie tribe will afford much entertainment when tamed, and 

 allowed some degree of liberty. Daws do not perhaps acquire so many tricks as some 

 others, but they will often be found very amusing. I have known one, which had the 

 full use of its wings, and associated very generally with the pigeons, living in the 

 same house with them without, to the best of my recollection and that of others, being 

 accused of mischief among their nests, and carrying thither any plunder it might ac- 

 quire, such as a silver pencil-case, or the like. This bird learned to imitate sundry 

 noises, and was very fond of strutting up and down the ridge of a large barn, cackling 

 precisely like a hen. But its most absurd feat was driving the dogs from their bones, 

 which it accomplished by slily pinching the dog's tail or a foot, and immediately taking 

 flight when the other turned round. This persecution it would continue so perse- 

 veringly, that the dog invariably gave up the point and retired, when the conqueror 

 would celebrate its victory by a peculiar chuckle of exultation. If another dog at- 

 tempted to take possession of the bone, it was only to experience the same treatment ; 

 and the jackdaw would thus keep three or four dogs, one of them a large Newfound- 

 land, completely at bay, until its attention was otherwise occupied. Another daw had 

 a particular call of alarm, by which it would give notice to the dogs of a stranger en- 

 tering the premises. I never had any opportunity of studying the habits of the jay, 

 but can testify that the magpie is a very mercurial animal, in more senses than one. 

 When a boy I possessed one, which copied the cough of an asthmatic old gardener so 

 exactly, that members of the family were often deceived, when, wishing to speak to 

 the gardener, and hearing as they supposed his cough, they walked up to the spot only 

 to rind, after some search, not the man, but mag perched in an apple tree. *He was 

 also an inveterate tormentor of one of my younger brothers, who at that period wore 

 only socks, and the bird, having once made an attack upon the unprotected part of 

 his legs, was for ever repeating the aggression, to the great terror of the child, who 

 was continually driven into the house by the magpie flying to the assault, when he 

 went alone into the garden or yard. Several years ago I brought up a young magpie, 

 which, having been scared from the nest, I caught before it could fly ; and as it was 



