ON THE BIRDS. IX 



II. 



ON THE BIRDS OF GLASGOW AND ITS 

 VICINITY. 



THE Ornithology of a large city and its suburbs is a theme suggestive 

 of many changes, and becomes invested with a peculiar interest when 

 we trace the persistence with which many birds cling to places whose 

 natural features once an attraction to the species are now almost 

 entirely obliterated. In the city of Glasgow the changes are perhaps 

 even more marked than those which the rise and progress of other 

 cities have produced. The Plover and Dunlin, which still swarm at 

 certain seasons on the muddy shores of the Clyde, and bring up their 

 young on patches of moorland which overlook the homes of half a 

 million of people, are the representatives of generations that coursed 

 along the silent marshes of the estuary when Glasgow had no exist- 

 ence, and when the canoe of the ancient Briton floated upon broad 

 waters which time has dwindled; the wild geese, ducks, and other 

 water-fowl that return year after year to the environs of the city ; 

 the birds of prey that follow in their wake, and the misguided 

 waders that occasionally settle in the polluted suburban water-courses, 

 all speak of a time when the vale of Clutha was a barren waste, and 

 the birds had it nearly all to themselves. 



Among the conspicuous birds of prey, both species of Eagle the 

 Golden and White-tailed have occurred within easy reach of the 

 city. ' In autumn especially, when raptorial birds as a rule are found 

 wandering over the country, they are occasionally met with in the 

 Firth of Clyde ; and as Arran is now believed to be a safe retreat 

 for eagles, visitors to the west coast need not despair of seeing them 

 in some of the wilder parts of that most interesting island. 



During the last five years the GOLDEN EAGLE has nested in a 

 district about two hours' journey from Glasgow, and I have seen the 

 eggs taken for three successive seasons, and exhibited unblown on 

 the lining of the nest at a meeting of the Natural History Society 

 of that city, held in one of the class-rooms of the University, with 

 the remark that the eyrie had been robbed but a few hours previ- 

 ously within sight of the great tower. 



The OSPREY is not an uncommon autumn visitant to localities also 

 within the same line of view, and the PEREGRINE occasionally ven- 

 tures near the precincts of the city. The MERLIN may be said to be 

 a winter resident, as it takes up its quarters for the season among 

 the pigeons and sparrows on the house-tops, where it remains until 



