ANECDOTES OF THE JACKDAW. 
295 
sions of about six miles to the warm grounds by tbe seaside, and in their flight passed over a 
deep ravine in the rocky sides — or rather side, for they only inhabited the sunny one — on 
which there were many Jackdaws, I have observed that when the cawing of the rooks in their 
morning flight was heard at the ravine, the Jackdaws, who had previously been still and quiet, 
instantly raised their shriller notes and flew up to join the rooks, both parties clamoring loudly 
as if welcoming each other, and that on the return, the time of which was no bad augury of 
the weather of the succeeding day, the Daws accompanied the rooks a little past the ravine ; 
then both cawed their farewell and departed. 
“What is more singular, I have seen, too frequently for its being merely accidental, a 
Daw return for a short time to the rooks, a rook to the Daws, or one from each race meet 
between and be noisy together for a space after the bands had separated. With the reason 
I do not interfere, not being in the secrets of either party, but the fact is as certain as it is 
curious.” 
In captivity, to which it accommodates itself with most philosophical composure, the 
Jackdaw is a very amusing bird, and. soon learns many curious tricks. I have already recorded 
many anecdotes of some tame Jackdaws in “ My Feathered Friends,” published by Messrs. 
Routledge, to which the reader is referred, as well as for a more detailed history of the rook, 
magpie, and many others of the same tribe. I will therefore refrain from repeating them, and 
only give one or two anecdotes of a Jackdaw that belonged to one of my friends, and which 
was to the full as remarkable a bird as any that I have met with. 
He was imitative in the extreme, and more than once had put the house in danger by his 
passion for lighting lucifer matches, of which amusement he was as fond as any child. On one 
occasion he lighted the kitchen fire in the course of the night. The cook had laid the fire over- 
night, intending to apply the match early in the morning. The Jackdaw contrived to get 
hold of the lucifer box, and had evidently rubbed the match upon the bars and so set fire to 
the combustibles, as the cook found the fire nearly burnt out, the Jackdaw in the kitchen, and 
some eighteen or nineteen exploded matches lying in the fender. 
The first time that this J ackdaw lighted a match he was so frightened at the sharp crack- 
ling report that he ran away as fast as he could go, coughing and sneezing after his fashion 
from the fumes of the sulphur, he having held the match close to the phosphoric end. He 
never seemed to distinguish the ignitible end of the match, and would rub away with great 
perseverance on the blank end, without discovering the cause of his failure. By degrees he 
contrived to singe all the feathers from his forehead and nostrils, and once burned his foot 
rather severely. 
He was greatly afraid of thunder, and had a singular power of predicting a coming storm. 
In such a case he would retire to some favorite hiding-place, generally a dark hole in a wall, 
or a cavity in an old yew which exactly contained him, and would there tuck himself into a 
very compact form so as to suit the dimensions of his hiding-place, his body being tightly 
squeezed into the cavity and his tail projecting along the side. In this odd position he would 
remain until the storm had passed over, but if he were called by any one whom he knew, 
his confidence would return, and he would come out of his hole very joyously in spite of the 
thunder, crying out, “Jack’s a brave bird!” as if he entirely understood the meaning of 
the sentence. He may possibly have had some idea of the sense of words, for he hated being 
called a coward, and would resent the term with all the indignation at his command. 
There are, however, few birds which are possessed of the ingenuity which characterized 
this Jackdav^ for it may be noticed that every bird has its own individuality strongly marked, 
even though the same type of intellectual power may characterize it in common with all others 
of the same tribe. 
Another Jackdaw, belonging to one of my friends, was a most inveterate poacher, having 
taken to himself an associate or accomplice in the person of the cat belonging to the house. 
This oddly -matched couple used to make their egress and ingress through a hole in the bottom 
of a very thick quickset hedge, and as soon as they emerged into the open fields, would imme- 
diately hunt for game. Their mode of catching and killing game was not clearly ascertained, 
but its successful results were evident from the frequency with which they used to bring home 
