THE JACKDAW.

JACKDAWS Sometimes make their nests in hollow trees, in rabbit burrows, and in the cavities of cliffs or rocks on the sea-coast. They have been found in great numbers in a chalk-pit, near Godalming, and among the large masses of stone rising in the midst of Salisbury Plain.

A great many jackdaws constantly inhabit the higher parts of Windsor Castle, the noble state residence of the royal family of England. Of another position chosen by this bird, Cowper reminds us, by saying,

"Above the steeple shines a plate,
Which turns, and turns, to indicate
From which point blows the weather:
Look up, your brains begin to swim;
'Tis in the clouds, that pleases him-
He chooses it the rather."

In some places jackdaws are very fond of chimneys, which are sometimes quite stopped up from the quantity of sticks they collect. A smoky house is considered proverbially a pest; but such a dwelling these birds

do not mind, as they have been known to attempt building in the chimney of a room where a fire was commonly kept.

The various churches and college buildings of Cambridge supply abundant reception also for their nests; and here they are very numerous. The botanic garden there has three of its four sides enclosed by thicklybuilt parts of the town, and has five churches and five colleges within a short flight of it; and the jackdaws inhabiting these and similar buildings found that the wooden labels placed near the plants would serve for their nests, instead of twigs from trees; that they were ready for use, and were also very near home. The consequence was, that they helped themselves freely to these labels: it is said, that from the shaft of one chimney, in Free-school lane, which was close by the garden, no less than eighteen dozen were taken out, and brought to the curator, and the loss annually cannot be told. The inconvenience that arose will appear, when the necessity of such labels is considered to mark and point out the names of the various plants.

Sonnini thinks, that jackdaws prefer churches to all other places. Thus the fine church of St. Nicholas, in Louraine, is at all times covered with these birds; and

they build in the churches of Rouen and Mons, while they are never seen on the towers of Orleans, of Tours, or of Angers, though built nearly on the same plan,

The following remarkable story is believed by many to be true. Two boys-thoughtlessly and foolishly indeed - went to take a jackdaw's nest from a hole under the belfry window, in the tower of All Saint's church, Derby. But here two things were absolutely impossible: one was to reach it standing within the building, the other to climb to it from without. What was then to be done? They put a plank through the window, and while the heavier boy was to sit on one end within the building, and thus to steady it, the other was to go to the opposite end, and from thence to capture the wished-for nest. This he succeeded in doing; and immediately he told his companion it contained five young birds, all fledged, when the other answered, "Then I'll have three." 66 No," said the younger boy, "I run all the danger, and I'll have the three."—" You sha'n't,” said his comrade. “Promise me three, or I'll drop you."-" Do, if you like; but you shall have only two," was the fearless reply; when up went the plank, and down he fell, upwards of a hundred

feet, to the ground. And now the imagination of the reader pictures him stretched out as dead, or at least with broken limbs; but this was not the case. At the moment of his fall, he was holding the birds by their legs in one hand he had three, and in the other two; and as they felt they were falling, they naturally fluttered their pinions. The boy too wore, at the time, a carter's frock, tied round the neck; this, filled with air from beneath, buoyed him up, and he descended easily to the ground. This he had no sooner reached, than, thinking of the unjust demand of his companion, he looked up, and exclaimed, "Now you shall have none," and ran away, without the slightest injury, to the astonishment of the passers-by at the time, who, with indescribable feelings, had witnessed his most extraordinary descent.

A deliverance so marvellous, through the gracious interposition of the God of Providence, may also caution the young reader against a thoughtless choice of associates. If any are to be taken unscrupulously as companions, the evil that may arise is beyond all calculation. In the present instance, we see intercourse leading to engagement in unlawful pursuits; and an act arising from this which cannot be contemplated without horror. It was as murderous in the sight of God as if

it had proved fatal. "Enter not into the path of the wicked," says Solomon, "and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."