JACKDAWS. 
205 
the roots, for the purpose of getting at the grubs, already 
alluded to in our description of Rooks. The way they set 
about it was this : — they would walk quietly over the surface, 
every now and then turning their head, with the ear towards 
the ground, listening attentively in the most significant man- 
ner. Sometimes they appeared to listen in vain, and then 
walked on, till at length, instead of moving from the spot, 
they fell to picking a hole, as fast as their heads could nod, 
just like the Thrushes before mentioned; and in the end, 
almost always succeeded in extracting a few large grubs, 
with which, as soon as the fortunate finder had secured one, 
he hopped off to enjoy his delicate morsel, followed and jostled 
by the rest, who had been less successful in their search ; 
adding another proof of the utility of birds in ridding us from 
injurious insects, — and all in favour of the Rook family. An 
accident which befel one of these birds, afforded an inter- 
esting instance of the efforts of nature to repair injury and 
mutilation. It was standing on a window-sill, and had the 
greater part of its beak crushed off, by the sudden shutting 
of the window. The person who fed them nursed it with the 
greatest care, and kept it alive ; when the wound began to heal, 
it was turned out amongst its companions, by whom it was 
as regularly fed, as if they had been made to understand that 
it could not feed itself; but what was still more extraor- 
dinary, soon afterwards, flights of wild ones, which usually 
remained in their lonely haunts, upon a neighbouring rocky 
mountain, came down to the garden, and were constantly 
hovering over their disabled and mutilated companion, as if 
to marvel at its strange appearance. As the wound healed, 
the upper part of the bill, two-thirds of which, at least, 
had been severed, began to grow, and in a few months 
had made considerable progress, with every prospect of its 
finally assuming its original formation. In every part of 
the world, the character of the Jackdaw tribe seems to be 
the same. 
Thus, in the island of Ceylon in India, these birds are ex- 
tremely impudent and troublesome; and it is found very difficult 
to exclude them from the houses, which, on account of the heat, 
