258 
Mr. R. Swinhoe on the Birds 
various parts into chasms and crevices. In such a spot nature 
has offered to the Jackdaw a secure retreat, and the bird seems 
fully conscious of the blessing. Thousands of them all day long 
flock in and out with food for their young, who keep up a con¬ 
stant clamour within their secure strongholds. We landed on 
the island, and having clambered up on the other side, stood 
over the Jackdaw site. The birds soon observed the intruders, 
and contrived a good many dodges to go in and out of their nests 
unnoticed; some would quietly steal round the rocks and sud¬ 
denly slip into their holes, others would dash by in parties and 
in an instant disappear in all directions on the rock face. 
Again, in flying out from their nests, instead of starting off 
direct, they flew first towards one side then towards the other, 
describing a series of angles until they turned the corner. But 
finding our intrusion at last irksome, they assembled in large 
flocks aloft, and kept hovering over our heads, uttering the pecu¬ 
liar cracked note of the Jackdaw. I managed, with the assist¬ 
ance of the boat's crew, to get down the rock some little way, 
and to examine one of the nests placed in a creviced ledge. The 
nest was a rude open construction of straw, grasses, and other 
materials hastily collected together, and lined profusely with 
feathers. It contained two newly-fledged young. The insides 
and angles of their mouths were bright yellow, their eyes greyish, 
and the light portion of their plumage was of a sullied grey. 
Their cry for food consisted of a strange yerking note. When 
the young birds are able to fly, their parents conduct them to 
the trees in the neighbourhood, where they roost, and whence 
they can easily explore the plains. The note of alarm employed 
by these birds consisted of nasal “ caws," very different from 
the ordinary falsetto cries. The old birds were in bad plumage, 
so I did not procure any specimens ; but I shot two full-grown 
young, of which I subjoin a description. 
Yearling. Bill black, with a light-coloured tip. Legs black, 
with light soles. Eyes blackish brown. Inside of mouth pale 
yellowish. The general colour of the plumage is a dull black, 
enlivened somewhat on the head, quills, and tail with a gloss of 
dark green, more vivid on the two latter; the wing-coverts and 
tertiary quills have, on the other hand, a lively gloss of purple. 
