96 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAI. HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



with a glass — a partial albino, the wings and tail 

 being white, — was iDeculiarlj^ noticeable, the tail,, 

 when extended (which it frequently was while feed- 

 ing), strongly resembling an ivory fan. The broody 

 I was informed, had left the nest on the previous 

 day, and the young in two nests close by were all 

 but ready for flight. Three days later both broods 

 left the nest, and on the following morning not a 

 swallow was to be seen. 



Some days later, in the quaint village of Falkland, 

 with its royal palace, picturesque houses, high- 

 walled gardens, and fine trees, I observed another 

 instance of a late brood of swallows retarding 

 migration. Although I had no expectation at that 

 late date of seeing swallows, I was on the outlook 

 for them at all likely places on my way thither ; 

 and on reading the Fifeshire Journal I saw a wel- 

 come paragraph on birds, from which I quote : " The 

 swallows took flight on Thursday (27tli September),, 

 driven south probably by the glooms and drenches 

 of the previous twenty-four hours. The sojourn 

 was less than the average ; for, while the arrival 

 wras earlier, the departure was also earlier." Ten 

 days afterwards, however, on Sunday, 7tli October, 

 I was gladdened by the sight of a group of swallows 

 serenading the spire of the i^arish church, as if en- 

 couraged in their musical efforts by the melodious 

 message of the iron tongue.* The heads of young 

 swallows jerking out and in from their mud house 

 on the si^ire, in bo-peej) fashion, at once explained 

 the motive of the protracted stay of the birds — 

 doubtless rendered possible by the abundance of 

 insect life in and abovit Falkland, which has a 

 delightful exposure, and is remarkable for the grace- 

 ful beauty of its trees. 



• Of such sounds our familiar birds have no fear. In the 

 goodly steeple of this church, a pair of pied wagtails, known 

 to the village children as the "spire waggles," nestled for 

 many years close to the bell which not only calls the people ta 

 worship, but in early mornings rouses labour from its slumbers.. 



