£42 
COR 
they alight in great flocks upon ground newly turned 
up. They are not (hy, but follow the plough to pick 
up larvae, worms, and infefits. They feed alfo occa- 
fionally upon carrion; and Vaillunt affirms politively 
that the European rook does the fame ; though it has 
never been obferved in England ; the plumage of this 
bird is generally of a (hining black, (haded with blue 
and purple, according as the rays of light fall more or 
lefs obliquely. The wings do not reach to the extre¬ 
mity of the tail ; the bill, feet, and claws, are black ; 
the eyes dark brown. The female is (‘mailed, and her 
plumage not (o glolly ; builds either on trees or among 
the rocks. 
42. Corvus monedula, the common or chough daw. 
Thefe are a dze fmaller than the Roydon crow, and 
their cry is (hriller. They live upon infects, grain, 
fruits, and fometimes flefh, though rarely; but they 
will not touch tilth, nor do they haunt the coalts to pick 
up the’dead (i(h and other carcafes cad afhore by the 
fea. In th.is circumdance they refemble more the rook 
and the Roydon crow, than the carrion crow ; but they 
approach the latter by the habit of fearching and hunt¬ 
ing for partridge eggs, of which they dedroy numbers. 
They fly in large flocks, like the rooks ; like thefe, too, 
they form a fort of cantonments, which arc even more 
numerous, confiding of a multitude of neds crouded 
upon one another, in large trees, belfries, or in the ruins 
of old cadles. In Hainplhire they breed in great num¬ 
bers-in the old rabbit-burrows on Longwood Warren. 
The male and female, when once paired, remain a long¬ 
time deadily united. When the genial feafon returns, 
which awakens the fendbilify of the animal frame, they 
eagerly court each other’s fociety. After fecundation, 
the female lays five or fix eggs, marked with a few 
brown (pots on a greenilh ground; and, after the young 
are hatched, (lie watches, feeds, and rears them with an 
affefition Which the male is eager to (hare. In this re- 
fpetft the jackdaw refembles the crows, efpecially the 
common fort : but Charlton and Schwenckfeld alfert 
that it has two hatches in the year; which has never 
been affirmed of any of the crows, though it well cor- 
refponds to the order of nature, the (mail fpecies being 
always the mod prolific. The daws-are birds of pillage 
in many countries, though in England they remain 
throughout the year. The towers of churches are at 
every feafon docked with them, and fo are all old build¬ 
ings which added the fame convenience and (helter. 
Thofe which migrate form themfelves into great bodies, 
like the rooks and the hooded crows; fometimes they 
join the fame army, and continually chatter as they fly. 
They leave Germany in autumn with their young, and 
•appear not again till the fpring. They can be eafily 
tamed and taught to fpeak. They feem fond of the 
domedic date; but are apt to pilfer, and conceal the 
food they cannot eat; and will deal and hide bits of 
money, jewel's, &c. The common daw is about the 
fize of a pigeon; its iris is whitifh, it has fome white 
(freaks under its throat, feme dots of the dune colour 
round its nodrils, and elegant cinereous grey on the hind 
part of the head and neck; the red is entirely black, 
which is deeper on the upper parts, and gloffed finely. 
This fpecies is found as far north as the Eerro illands; 
and vifits France, Auflria, and many other parts of Ger¬ 
many, where it is more or lefs .migratory. It is called in 
Greek A vxog, y.oXioc, )?4)/xoAo^o? ; in Latin, lupus, grac'cus, 
gracculus, monedula, (which Scaliger derives from moneta, 
a coin, on account of this bird’s difpodtion to pilfer;) 
in Spanifii, graio, graia ; in Italian, ciagula, tattula, pola ; 
in German, tul or duli 'l, thale or da'&le, t/ialeche or dahlike ; 
in Saxon, aelcke, kaeyke , gacke ; in Swifs, graakc\ in 
Dutch, kaw\ in Flemifh, gaey, hannekin ; in Swedifh, 
haja ; in Turkifli, tjekauka. 
Fliere are no lefs than (even varieties of the common 
daw: 1. The collared daw, which differs merely in 
having a collar of white round the neck, and is found in 
V u s. 
K / \ 
Swifferland. 2. The white daw, with a yeilovfifh ’ ill, 
found in Poland and Norway. 3. The black daw, with 
the bill and legs .red. 4. The white-winged daw, with 
bill fubcurvated. 3. The brown daw, with white 
(boulders. 6. The black daw with forked bill. 7. The 
chough daw, entirely black, except a few wlntifli fpots 
about the eyes, which have bluilh hides.. Sibbuld is 
the only ornithologift who has named this bird th echouo-/;, 
and ranked it as a diftintt fpecies. But Vaillunt alien-, 
that the chough daw, as it is called, is the male common 
daw, and quite black; and, that thofe with cinereous 
grey on the head and neck, commonly called the jack¬ 
daw, arc the females. 
43. Corvus Hottentottus, the Hottentot daw : about 
the fize of a blackbird ; bill black, and a little bent; the 
feathers about the nodrils like black velvet; above thefe, 
at the corners of the mouth, arife many bridles, above 
three inches in length, and fome fhorter; the feathers 
on the head, throat, and neck, are of a (hining black 
green ; thofe on the upper part of the neck are narrow, 
and longer than the red, falling over the back, and waving 
with every motion; the red of the plumage is greenilh 
black, changing to blue in fome parts ; legs and claws 
black. Inhabits the Cape of Good Hope. Vaillant, 
however, declares, he never could find this fpecies at the 
Cape, nor in any part of Africa he vifited. Buffon calls 
it the mudachio daw. 
44. Corvus Indicus, the Indian daw. This beautiful 
fpecies is deferibed and figured by Vaillant. It is nearly 
the fize of the common daw, creded, and decorated with 
dx unwebbed feathers or vanes, which arife three near 
each eye, and fall down over the back ; the bill is pointed 
at the tip, and thick at the bafe ; the tail is fquare, and 
conlids of ten feathers ; the wings, when folded, reach 
about two-thirds the length of the tail; the plumage is 
a fine (hining black, changing to dark green on the wings; 
tiie cred is made up of delicate loofe feathers, which fall 
back and cover the head; quite black at the top, and 
red at the fides ; the long vanes or feathers without 
webs, which ornament the fides of the head, and refem¬ 
ble thofe in the royal bird of pafadife; three of them 
fpring from under each eye, rather on one fide, jud be¬ 
tween the eye and ear ; the lower one, which is the 
(horted, is 1‘even inches long, and is of a reddilh colour 
for the greated half of its length ; the fecond is three 
inches longer ; it is black at its origin, and for more than 
half its length, the red red ; the third on each lide is 
much the longed, reaching (even inches beyond the 
tail, and is a reddilh yellow towards the end. Thefe 
filaments are real feathers, or rather (terns of quills, for 
they have no Webs; nor can even the origin of any be 
dii'covered by the microfcope ; they enter about a line 
and a half deep in the fledt, and are exaiSHy of the fame 
nature with the other quills, being hollow and tubular ; 
each one having a long furrow underneat'h, dividing it 
equally, and is articulated tranfverfely all along, the 
joints being not above a line afunder, as might be felt 
by palling the finger along. It is probable the bird has 
the faculty of railing thefe filaments, and confequently 
of drawing them clofe to the body when flying; for 
they would render the flight irregular, if they Were (ub- 
jefit to play about with the wind ; and, from the depth they 
enter into the (kin, it feems likely that they penetrate 
the lextenfor mul'cle, which may render them iubjefit to 
the will of the animal; the (kin alfo in that part of the 
cheek whence they lpring, is thicker and harder than in 
any other part, and a deep cavity is obferved if one of 
them be drawn out, in the fame manner as when a wing 
or tail feather of any bird is extrafiled. The ufe of thefe 
vanes is not known ; probably they are only an orna¬ 
ment. The feet are fliaped as in the reft of the genus; 
the bill is lemon-colour, more inclining to orange above ; 
the nodrils are covered with briftly hairs, directed for¬ 
wards, as in all the other fpecies 3 feet and nails blacks 
Vaillant calls it leJicrin, 
45. Corvus 
