124 WASTE GROUND AND SUBURBAN BIRD-LIFE. 



starlings hawking high-flying insects which seemed to abound in 

 that halcyon weather, and the gyrations of the birds from the 

 greater weight of their bodies presented a curious contrast to the 

 more agile movements of the then fast-departing hirundines. 



Corvid^e. — The rook (Corvus frugilegus) and jackdaw (C. 

 moneduld) are well known, the former being very common. The 

 rook, indeed, comes in great force with the first light, and his 

 hoarse note is its usual accompaniment. In early morning they 

 abound in the streets, from which, as the flow of traffic increases, 

 they are gradually banished. Suburban localities with streets 

 built of houses without any attempt at ornamentation have their 

 dreariness emphasised at such early hours by the presence in all 

 streets and open places of the shambling rook in great numbers. 

 In our district we have a small rookery of some half-dozen nests 

 (occupied in 1892) in a group of trees west of Crosshill station on 

 the Cathcart line. A rook, conspicuous by the possession of some 

 white feathers on his wings, has been seen several times of late in 

 the Queen's Park. There are only two or three pairs of jackdaws 

 about Govanhill. This species is altogether outnumbered by the 

 last-mentioned. 



Hirundinid^e. — The large quantity of stagnant water in the 

 vicinity of the clay holes at Polmadie and the black mud 

 which is associated with it, together seem to give rise to a vast 

 amount of those forms of insect life on which the hirundines prey. 

 At any rate these clay holes attract all the members of the swallow 

 family, and mixed groups are usually to be seen there throughout 

 the period of their stay with us. The swallow (Hirundo rustica) 

 is the most abundant among its congeners, and in the Queen's 

 Park also it appears regularly. The martin (Chelidon urbicci) 

 breeds sparingly about Govanhill and Crosshill. The sand- 

 martin (Cottle riparia), as above stated, appears at the clay holes 

 regularly every year. 



CypselidvE. — The swift (Cypselus apus) is well known in the 

 district. During the autumn of 1891 attention was generally 

 drawn throughout the country to the departure of this species 

 being unusually delayed. My own experience that year confirmed, 

 with regard to our neighbourhood, this general experience. On 

 the 6th of September I saw some eight swifts in company with 

 swallows and sand-martins at Polmadie. The main body of swifts 



