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5 amongstus,theyarealsoverygoodeating.Clearly researchisneededontheroleofanimalssuchas theimpactoftheKestrelwiththepigeoninflight theseinurbanenvironment. hadkilledthepigeoninstantaneouslyTheKestrel References leftthedeadpigeonmomentarily,jumpedontoa Elton,C. 1927.AnimalEcology.Sidgwick&Jackson, woodenhalfbarrelcontainingearth,andbeganto London. wacglrnaeodsaunnsfdeil.etesnwAbtbehooafrukfo,tuognlfhietftahthveeeienwnkgoimotitcdhnh.eeuntAedtwseitanhldadattoepwpri.ogiaenTntohonitishteostrnaimwbetiuhrisedt RDWKRieirysclenktablnrtseiie,fbo-sunC,Et.idJtRo.ow.nEaS1.aro9ncd71ids29a.7,Al3bE.BucVeno..hdElCacao.vogn/iycoo.eg1uy.9r.T6.Hh2Tae.OhrlEopiAxmevpnreaeirsRrm&oiNamweleB,lnsotNDoyanidel,s,wpAeLEnYrodaosnilridynkosob.innus.rgiohnf wasamagpiethathadalightedandbeguntoeatthe andLondon. deadpigeon.Themagpiewasencouragetoleave, haindddetnheunddeeardapiwgoeoondpduitsplinayaunpdoelyrtthheeneovbearghaangn.d GlGaRsEgoAwTNaStuPraOlTisTt.E2D00W2.OOVoDlP24E.CPKarEtR1.S98 The bag remained there until darkness fell. FEEDINGONTHENECTAROFRED-HOT Howeveritdisappearedovernight.Presumablythis POKERS wasafoxorferalcat. JohnMitchell The kestrel incident, besides being extremely 22MuirparkWay,Drymen,G63ODX interestingintermsofanurbansitingofahighland Duringthewarmandsultryweatherexperiencedin birdinthecity,showshowtoppredatorssuchas early July 2001, A. & D. MacFadyendrewmy thekestrel,themagpie,andpresumablyafoxor attention to a family group of Great Spotted cat,compete formeat inanurbanenvironment. woodpeckers Dendrocopos major repeatedly Interestingly enough, kestrels are now fairly visiting a tall clump ofSouth African red-hot common in Glasgow, and kestrels and sparrow pokersKniphofia uvaria in awest Stirlingshire hawksareknowntonestontheUniversitycampus garden. Bothadultsandaleastonejuvenilewould (personalcommunication-JamesMunro). individuallyalightononeoftherigidstemsofthe Thesecondexampleisinterestingbecauseitisan plant, just below the large flowering head. interactionbetweenamammalandabird.During Binoculuarobservationsatclosequartersshowed October 1998 on the University of Glasgow that the woodpeckers were drinking droplets of campus, twomagpieswereobservedattackingtwo nectarfromthependantperianthtubesoftheopen squirrels.Theattackdevelopedasfollows.Thetwo yellowflowers. Eachbirdwouldspendseveral magpiesattackedasinglesquirrelinanestona minutes working its way around a flowerhead whitebeamoutsidetheWestMedicalBuildingon beforemovingontothenext,occasionallypausing themainuniversitycampus.Thenestwasabout1 topick-offandeataninsectwhichhadalsobeen to20metresabovetheground.Theattackinvolved attractedtothefeast. Subsequentenquiryproduced considerablenoise,whichfirstdrewtheattentionof a similarrecord ofGreat Spotted woodpeckers theobservertotheevent.Thenoiseconsistedof nectar-feeding on Red-hot pokers at Blackball, screechesandflappingwings. Asecondsquirrel Edinburgh,inthesummerof1999(D.R.McKean, thenappeared,apparentlyfromthenest,andjoined perscomm.) inthefray.Theconfrontationbetweenthemagpies GreatSpottedwoodpeckersdrinkingthesapoozing andthesquirrelslastedforabout15minutes.The out of the bark of trees in spring are well magpieseventuallyceasedattackingandflewoff documented in northern Europe (Cramp et al. Thesquirrelsappearedtogobackintothenest.The 1985),buttakingadvantageoftheavailabilityof nestwasprobablyacrowsnest. Thequestionis sugar-rich nectar from a cultivated herbaceous whatwerethesquirrelsandmagpiesfightingover, flowerinsummerisbehaviourthatappearstohave inotherwordswhatwasinthenest? Itispossible beenlittleobservedinthespecies. thatthemagpieswereusingthenesttoreartheir References young,whereuponthesquirrelswerepresumably Camp, S. et al. (1985). The Birds ofthe Western attemptingtopreyontheyoungofthemagpie.The PalearcticVol. IV:TernstoWoodpeekers. Oxford otheralternativeisthatthenestmayhavebeenused UniversityPress. as a dray by the squirrels, in which case the magpies were attempting to prey on young squirrels, and the two adult squirrels were GlasgowNaturalist.2002.Vol24.Pt1. 98-101 protecting theiroffspring. Neither alternative is HAECKELIANRADIOLARIANMATERIAL nenotrimraellylycoansvsioncciiantge,dawsitahuttuhmenbriseendoitngatoifmmeatghpaiteiss ANDTHEMICRGOLSCAOSPGIOCWALSOCIETYOF orsquirrels. P.GeoffreyMoore’ andRichardSutcliffe^ Thesetwosetsofobservationsontoppredatorsand ‘UniversityMarineBiologicalStation,Millport, theiractivities inacityenvironmentshowhow IsleofCumbrae,KA28OEG important aspects ofan animal’s predator/prey ^OpenMuseumNitshill,WoodheadRoad, South statuscanbeeasilyrecorded. Theyalsoprovide NitshillIndustrialEstate,Glasgow,G537NN good evidenceofthe way inwhichthe species Itisapleasuretoputonrecordtherecentreceiptof interactwitheachother, and indicatethatmuch aboxofhistoricmicroscope slidesmostkindly donatedtotheUniversityMarineBiologicalStation 98