Passeres.— — -BIRDS. Corvidae. 
348 
cavities of rocks, cliffs, and quarries, and also in cliim- 
nej's, which are sometimes quite stopped by the quantity 
of materials brought in to form the nest. It has also 
been known to breed in a hollow tree. The nest is 
composed of a great mass of sticks lined with wool and 
other soft substances, and the quantity of materials 
brought together is sometimes enormous. A curious 
illustration of this was furnished in Cambridge, in the 
neighboui’hood of the botanic garden, from which the 
numerous Jackdaws residing in its vicinity, took it into 
their heads to carry off the labels stuck into the ground 
beside patches of newly-sown seeds, to the great disgust 
of the gardeners. These labels were pieces of deal 
laths, about nine inches long and one inch broad, and 
no fewer than eighteen dozen of these sticks were 
taken out of a single chimney in the neighbourhood, 
occupied by Jackdaws as a breeding place. In another 
case, a pair of Jackdaws built their nest on a winding 
staircase in a church in Lincolnshire ; and, finding that 
the steps were too narrow to furnish a secure resting- 
place, they actually piled up a mass of sticks, occupying 
five or six steps. 
The Jackdaw is of a black colour above, but not so 
deep and shining as the preceding species, and he has 
the back and sides of the neck of a sooty-gray colour ; 
the lower surface is rusty black. The bill and feet are 
black, and the irides white. His length is about four- 
teen inches. Like the larger crows, he is by no means 
particular in his diet, feeding indiscriminately on grain, 
fruit, insects, or carrion ; and, when he inhabits the coast, 
on shell-fish, Crustacea, and dead animal matters thrown 
up by the waves. He does not, however, appear to 
be predatory in his habits, although he is occasionally 
to be seen on the backs of sheep, either plucking out 
wool to line his nest or searching for the parasitic insects 
which infest those animals; this habit is commemorated 
in one of the fables of Hilsup, although the object of the 
bird was misunderstood by the Grecian sage, and con- 
sequently the moral derived from it will hardly hold 
good. Young Jackdav/s taken from the nest are easily 
tamed, when they become very amusing, and ma}' even 
be taught to speak. 
THE INDIAN HOODED CROW {Corvus splendens) 
resemhles our Hooded Crow in its general appearance, 
but is a far more handsome bird. It has the top of 
the head and the face black ; the nape, neck, back, and 
breast ash coloured ; the wings shining violet blue ; the 
belly slate colour ; and the rump and tail black, with a 
violet blue gloss. This, which is the common crow of 
India, is a bold, familiar, and impudent bird, coming 
freely into the towns and villages, and seeking for its 
food in the streets, without allowing itself to be dis- 
turbed by the bustle of the passengers. It will even 
come into the houses and carry off anything that lies 
in its way. It is, however, exceedingly cunning, and 
seems to know by intuition when any one has a design 
against it, so that it is a most difficult matter either to 
shoot or capture a specimen. Its sagacity is well 
illustrated by the following anecdote related by Lieu- 
tenant Burgess : — “ Some crows,” he says, “ had been 
sitting near a young dog, watehing him whilst engaged 
with a bone. Having apparently concerted the plan, 
one of them alighted, stepped up, and took a peck at 
the dog’s tail ; the dog, irritated, made a snap at the 
bully ; on which a comrade, who appears to have been 
ready, made a dash and went off with the prize.” 
These birds seem to agree very well among themselves, 
however, and even to manifest a certain amount of 
kindness to each other. Mr. Blyth mentions his having 
seen two nearly blind crows, amongst a party of about 
twenty, which were fed by their companions like nest- 
lings. 
THE INDIAN CARRION CROW {Comm culminatus) 
closely resembles our Carrion Crow in appearance and 
habits, and seems to take the place of that species in 
India. It is found in the forests and wooded districts, 
and is a predatory bird, attacking young poultry and 
pigeons, and hastening the death of wounded or sickly 
animals of larger dimensions, making its fii'st assault 
upon their eyes in the same way as the Raven and 
Carrion Crow of Europe. 
THE CAEFRARIAN CROW-VULTURE {Corvultur 
alhicollis). — Two African species of this family are 
remarkable on account of the form of the bill, which is 
large, much compressed, its height being twice its width, 
and much curved along the ridge of the upper mandible. 
Both these birds are black, with a large white spot on 
the back of the neek ; in the present species this spot 
is semilunar, and the wing-coverts are brownish. It 
is an inhabitant of Caffraria, and is a bold, noisy bird 
of about twenty inches in length ; its food consists 
principally of carrion, but it also kills lambs and young 
antelopes, and even attacks large quadrupeds, such as 
oxen, buffaloes, and even elephants, when their skins 
present any wounds or ulcers. In this, however, the 
Crow is often doing his apparent victims a service, by 
ridding him of insect parasites. 
THE ABYSSINIAN CROW- VULTURE {Corvultur 
crassirostris) resembles the preceding in its habits ; it 
is especially abundant about the slaughter-houses, where 
it feeds upon the blood and offals thrown out. 
THE BALD HEADED CROW {Picathartes gymnoce- 
idtalus) presents a remarkable resemblance to the vul- 
tures in having the head quite bare of feathers, and the 
neck clothed with short feathers. It is of a brown 
colour, with the back blackish, the neck white, and the 
bare head reddish ; the bill is black, and the feet yellow. 
The whole length of this singular bird, which inhabits 
the west coast of Africa, is about sixteen inches ; its 
habits are unknown. 
THE MAGPIE {Pica Plate 11, fig. 38.— 
This handsome bird, which is abundant in many parts 
of Britain, is distributed throughout the northern parts 
of both hemispheres. As it generally frequents inha- 
bited districts in this country, and is very commonly 
kept in confinement, its elegantly pied plumage, and 
lively, cunning aspect, must be so familiar to every one 
as to render a description unnecessary. As food 
scarcely anything comes amiss to the Magpie ; in its 
gcnei'al habits it is strongly predaceous, destroying 
young poultry, game, and other small animals, and 
even occasionally attacking young lambs and sickly 
sheep in the same way as the larger crows, whilst, when 
these delicacies cannot be got, it will take up with 
carrion, worms, and insects, and even with fruit and 
grain. Hence, its fondness for the vieinity of human 
I 
