NOTES TO THE 
why tliey are taken is to stop tlie increase of jackdaws in the 
neighbourhood. If the young jackdaws are taken when about 
a fortnight okl, the old ones will not " go to nest " again that 
season. If the eggs only were taken, the birds would lay again 
immediately. Mr. Jackdaw is " birdivorous ; " when he has got 
his young he looks out where there are young sparrows, then 
" in he pops, and out he pops" with a young sparrow, and so he 
goes on backwards and forwards till he has taken the lot ; he 
then pulls them to pieces afterwards and feeds his young on 
them in turn. 
A curious and very ancient custom at Oxford is connected 
with jackdaw^s' eggs. A Latin hymn is sung on the top of 
Magdalen Tower, Oxford, at daybreak, on the 1st of May every 
year. Close to Magdalen Bridge stands the magnificent tower 
of Magdalen College. The foundation of this structure was 
laid in 1492 by President Mayhew. The tower is 150 feet high, 
and contains a very fine peal of ten bells. On May 1st, at 
daybreak, the choristers assemble at the top of the tower, and 
sing a Latin hymn as the sun rises. The first verse of the 
hymn is as follows : — 
" Te Denni Patrem colimns 
Te landibus prosequiimir 
Qui Corpus cibo regicis, 
Coelesti mentem gratia." 
To Thee, 0 God the Father— Thee 
All worship praise and glory be ! 
Thy hand bestows our daily bread, 
And that wherewith our souls are fed." ' 
The origin of this custom, it is written, is as follows : — " Previ- 
ously to the Eeformation, a mass was performed every May-day 
morning at an early hour on the top of this Tower for the 
repose of the soul of Henry VII., who had honoured the College 
with a visit in 1488. Certain pieces of choir music are still per- 
formed, in the same place and on the same day, at five o'clock 
in the morning, for which harmonious service the rectory. of 
Slymbridge, in Gloucestershire, pays the yearly sum of 10/." 
I have heard another version of this story from my friend 
Dr. Newman, a Fellow of Magdalen College. He informs 
me the story goes that, long ago, certain estates were given to 
the College on condition that a mass was said on behalf of the 
benefactor on the 1st of May, and that if this mass were 
omitted the estates were to lapse. After the Eeformation they 
could not say the mass in the chapel, so they went to the top 
^ The whole of this hymn can be found in the " Historical Handbook of 
Oxford." T. Shrimpton and Son, Broad Street, Oxford. Price 2.s. 
