JACKDAW TRICKS. 
upon tlie 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 jackdaw lighted a match, he was 
so frightened at the sharp, crackling 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 phosphorus end. He never seemed to distinguish the 
ignitable end of a match, and would rub away with great per- 
severance 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 favourite 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 till 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.” 
A curious instance of the attachment of a jackdaw to his 
master, is given in the “ Annals of Sporting.” The narrator 
says : “ I pulled up to bait at the ‘King’s Head,’ Bgham, and 
soon after my arrival, a young man rode into the inn-yard 
from the opposite direction; and dismounted at the door of 
the tap-room belonging to the hotel. Almost immediately fol- 
lowing this new comer, a jackdaw alighted on a shed adjoining, 
which, however, as these birds are frequently kept at such 
places, did not attract any particular attention, till the ostler 
called out, ‘ Ah, here you are then again, true to the old house 
and young master.’ I immediately asked whom he meant. 
‘ Why Jack, sir, yonder !’ pointing to the daw. ‘And what of 
him ?’ I went on to inquire. ‘ Oh sir, he is a most ’cute and 
cunning fellow, and follows his master either on horseback or 
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