. Our bird allies . , and holloas and croaks withall its might. If there are any foxes near, they willcome creeping out to see what the strange noise is,and then (should the old Turkish flint go off, whichit does about once in three attempts), the fox is killed,and its skin stripped off and sold at the next fair. The nest of the jackdaw is rather a clumsy struc-ture of sticks, roughly lined with wool, hair, feathers,and similar substances. The eggs, which average fivein number, are very like those of the rook upon asomewhat smaller scale, excepting that the groundcolour is usually of a paler g
. Our bird allies . , and holloas and croaks withall its might. If there are any foxes near, they willcome creeping out to see what the strange noise is,and then (should the old Turkish flint go off, whichit does about once in three attempts), the fox is killed,and its skin stripped off and sold at the next fair. The nest of the jackdaw is rather a clumsy struc-ture of sticks, roughly lined with wool, hair, feathers,and similar substances. The eggs, which average fivein number, are very like those of the rook upon asomewhat smaller scale, excepting that the groundcolour is usually of a paler green. Much that has been said of the jackdaw applies THE JACKDAW AND THE STARLING, ETC. 27 equally to the Magpie, which also stands before us inthe double capacity of friend and foe, and makesgood in one way the mischief which it commits inanother. This may be seen in some degree from thefollowing extract from Prevost-Paradols remarks asto its doings upon the Continent:— January, grubs of cockchafers, beetles, and. different corns and seeds ; February, the same, andberries; March, the same; April, moles, crickets,water-rats, and field-mice ; May, cockchafers, glow-worms, and fruit; June, the same and weevils ; July,beetles and field-mice; August, birds eggs andweevils; September, beetles, worms, barley, and K 128 OUR BIRD ALLIES. grasshoppers ; October, grasshoppers, carrion, beetles,and green locusts; November, grasshoppers andkernels of fruit; December, grubs of cockchafers,young rabbits, and berries. To this catalogue must be added, at differentperiods of the year, rats, young birds, lizards, frogs,snails, and carrion, while game birds are not unfre-quently carried off by a magpie poacher, to the greatindignation of the keeper. Partly on account of its marauding propensities,and partly owing to the superstitious dread withwhich it is still regarded in many country districts,the magpie has been terribly persecuted, and until oflate years was almost without a friend. Waterto
Size: 1737px × 1438px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1887
