318 
ADOPTED RESIDENCES. 
in character, and variations or rather improvements 
in instinctive powers. With respect however to the 
adoption of our buildings as places of resort and 
situations for nestling by birds and other animals, 
I believe too little has been said by writers, because 
such irregularities have been made to pass current 
in their mode of expression, and doubtlessly in the 
minds of many readers, as the natural habits of such 
species, whereas an useful lesson might be thence 
drawn relative to the faculties and mental opera¬ 
tions of the beings around us. With us the natural 
nestling places of the Jackdaw are on the sea-cliffs, 
and rocky eminences in general are its natural 
abodes wherever found. In defect of these however, 
Nature has prompted it to make use of hollow trees 
and rabbit holes in some instances ; but towers 
and ruined buildings are such faithful imitations of 
its native cliffs, that this bird is diffused very gener¬ 
ally through our county. With the Wheatear , old 
walls and heaps of stones answer the purpose of 
rocks, both for obtaining food and for nestling. This 
bird chiefly resides during the breeding time on our 
coasts;, and though it frequents quarries and old 
walls, these situations are never far removed from 
the sea-side. At other seasons it either quits us, or 
frequents fallows, &c., for food. The natural breed¬ 
ing-places of the Martin with us are the cliffs, but 
owing to similarity of position, and that extraordi¬ 
nary dependence on man observed in this and other 
species, it usually builds against houses and fre¬ 
quents their neighbourhood. It is remarkable how¬ 
ever that in the Swift and Swallow so few instances 
should be on record of their building in other situ¬ 
ations besides houses, out-buildings and churches. 
It would be easy to cite other cases of adopted 
nestling-places of the same class, but these are here 
named because the birds in question seem to belong 
almost wholly to that portion of South Devon into 
