allen’s naturalist’s library. 
IQ 
THE JACKDAW. COLCEUS MONEDULA. 
Corvus monedula , Linn., S. N., i., p. 156 (1766); Macg., Br. 
B-, i-> P- SS 2 ( i8 37 ) 5 Dresser, B. Eur., iv., p. 523, pi. 261 
(1875) ; Newt. ed. Yarr., if., p. 305 (1878) ; B. O. U. List 
Br. B., p. 68 (1883) ; Seeb., Hist Br. B., i., p. 556 (1883) ; 
Saunders, Man., p. 229 (1889); Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B., 
pt. x. (1889). 
Coloeus monedula , Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., iii., p. 26 (1877). 
Adult Male. — Black, with a purplish gloss on the wings and 
tail, somewhat shot with green ; crown of head glossy blue- 
black, forming a cap by reason of the greyish shade which per- 
vades the hind neck and sides of neck, the latter part inclining 
occasionally to hoary white ; bill and feet black ; iris bluish 
white. Total length, 13 inches; culmen, 1-35 ; wing, 9-5 ; tail, 
6' 1 ; tarsus, 17. 
Adult Female. — Similar to the male in colour and size. 
Young. — Duller than the adult, and not showing any grey on 
the neck. 
Range in Great Britain. — Generally distributed, but is some- 
what local, and there are many localities where it does not 
breed, such as the Outer Hebrides and the Shetlands, though 
a few pairs nest in the Orkneys. There is a great migration of 
these birds every autumn from the -east, and large numbers 
cross to England in October and November, in company with 
Rooks. Even earlier in the year there seems to be a migration 
along the south coast, as we have seen numbers at St. Leo- 
nards, in Sussex, passing from east to west in September ; 
but whether these were British-bred birds shifting their quarters 
or whether they were the forerunners of the great swarm which 
visits us every year from Northern Europe and passes over 
Heligoland, it is impossible to say. 
Range outside the British Islands. — Throughout nearly the whole 
of Europe, breeding as far north as Trondhjemsfiord, and being 
found generally south of the Arctic Circle. Seebohm and 
ILarvie Brown found the Jackdaw common in Russia at Mezen 
(lat. 66°), noticed it at Ust Zylma (lat. 65"), and in the Urals it 
is known to occur up to 61°. Its range is evidently further north 
