382 



British Cage Birds. 



Habits and Breeding. — The Jackdaw is indigenous to 

 'Great Britain, and is gregarious in its habits. It is met with, 

 in France, Germany, HoUand, Denmark, Italy, and other 

 countries, including the colder regions of Russia and Siberia, 

 but in these countries is said to be migratory. These birds 

 build their nests in holes in decayed trees, in the chimneys 

 •of disused dwellings, in church steeples and belfries, amongst 

 old ruins, on projecting crags or overhanging rocks by the 

 seashore, in old, worked-out stone quarries, on the parapets 

 •of bridges, and, on rare occasions, in rabbit burrows. The 

 nest is generally a huge affair. Instances have been known 

 ■of these birds piling up quite a pyramid of sticks and pieces 

 ■of wood as a base for further operations. The nest is com- 

 posed, externally, of small twigs, and is lined out with straw, 

 hay, or dried grass, wool, and feathers. The hen lays from 

 ■four to seven eggs, but rarely more than five or six. They 

 are oval in form, of a pale greenish blue or bluish white 

 ■colour, and spotted with dark brown, black, and pale purple ; 

 these spots are most profuse at the thickest end, but are not 

 so plentiful as on the eggs of the Rook. The Jackdaw and 

 the Rook rear their young ones in much the same manner. 



Methods of Capture. — The same means may be employed 

 as recommended for ensnaring Rooks. Jackdaws are taken 

 •occasionally by thickly coating stout pieces of round wood 

 with water birdlime, and placing them about chimney stacks 

 -and old ruins which they frequent ; also by putting a net at 

 Tiight-time over the holes in ruins or old buildings where they 

 are known to roost. These birds are very inquisitive, and it 

 a piece of red ribbon be tied to the sticks, it will induce them 

 io draw near, in order to gratify their curiosity. 



Food and Treatment. — Jackdaws feed on worms, grubs, 

 and insects and their larvse, and are almost as omnivorous as 

 Grows. They kill grasshoppers and beetles with one stroke 

 of their powerful bills, but before eating them divest them 

 of their heads, wings, and legs. They devour wasps and bees, 

 and when in the neighbourhood of the sea regale themselves 

 on fish and crustaceans ; they also, when hungry, eat carrion 

 and grain, but prefer insects and their larvse to all other 

 kinds of food. In confinement they will eat scraps from the 

 table, and are particularly partial to picking bones of birds, 

 fish, or animals. 



