JACKDAW .— Corvus monedida. 
The smallest of the British Crows is the well known Jackdaw, a bird of great 
wit and humour, and one that has an extraordinary attachment to man and his 
habitations. 
Although of similar form, and black of plumage, the Jackdaw may easily be 
distinguished from either the rook or the crow by the grey patch upon the crown 
of the head and back of the neck, which is very conspicuous, and can be seen at 
a considerable distance. The voice, too, is entirely different from the caw of the 
rook, or the hoarse cry of the crow, and as the bird is very talkative, it soon 
announces itself by the tone of its voice. It generally takes up its home near 
houses, and is fond of nesting in old buildings, especially preferring the steeples 
and towers of churches and similar edifices, where its nest and young are safe 
from the depredations of stoats, weasels, and other destroyers. Indeed, there are 
few places where Jackdaws will not build, provided that they are tolerably steep 
and high. 
The nest of the Jackdaw is a very rude structure of sticks, lined, or rather 
covered, with hay, wool, feathers, and all kinds of substances of a warm kind for 
eggs and young. It is placed in various localities, generally in buildings or rocks, 
but has often been found in hollow trees, and even in the holes of rabbit-warrens, 
the last-mentioned spot being a very remarkable one, as the young birds must be 
in constant danger of marauding stoats and weasels. 
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