Studies of less familiar 159 Stanley Cramp Photographs by K. J. Carlson, R. G. Carlson and F. G- Startup Plates 40-43

The Crag Martin rupestris is a small brown and white , which at first glance and at a distance might be mistaken for a Kiparia . It is slightly larger and stockier, however, with darker upper-parts, dingy white below, darker on the belly and under tail-coverts, with a dark wedge on the under-wings from the wing-pits, and without a breast band (plates 40-42). The tail is almost square, with white spots towards the tips on both sides, clearly visible at close range when the tail is spread but hard to distinguish at other times (plate 40). In the rocky mountain gorges which they favour for nesting Crag Martins are unmistakable — agile and adroit fliers, looking dark as they swing along the rock face, usually singly or in pairs, abruptly diving or climbing, or turning swiftly in easy controlled flight. Crag Martins breed over a large area stretching from the Iberian peninsula, central and southern France, Switzerland, Bavaria and Austria, across the Mediterranean region (Italy, the Adriatic, south­ east Europe, the Mediterranean islands, and Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Cyrenaica in North Africa) to Turkey and the Near East, the Crimea and Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, north-west India, the Aral- Caspian region and Turkestan north to the western Altai, then east in central Asia through Sinkiang, Tibet and Mongolia to south-west Manchuria and central China. Their northern limit approaches the July isotherm of 68° to 7i°F (Vaurie 1959, Voous i960). Along tie south of much of this extensive range the Crag Martin is replaced in desert areas by the Pale Crag Martin H. obsokta, a smaller and much paler of rather similar habits. Some authors (e.g. Meinertzhagen 1954, Voous 1960) prefer to regard these closely-related as conspecific, together with the two African rock martins H. rufigula and H.fuligula. Crag Martins are rather thinly spread over this wide area, for they have specialised nesting requirements and, unlike House Martins urbica with which they are not uncommonly found in mountain­ ous areas, or Sand Martins, they breed not in large colonies but in small dispersed groups or even as single pairs. They nest mainly in rocky gorges in mountainous areas (plate 43c), with steep cliffs and running water not too far away. They commonly range from 5 00 metres

239 24° Crag Martin studies or so to 2,000 or 3,000 metres in the Tien Shan and almost up to 4,000 metres in the Pamirs, where there are frequent night frosts even in summer. Occasionally they will nest much lower than this if suitable crags and water are near, but more surprising are reports of breeding in low, hot and arid areas in Malyi and Bolshoi Balkhan in central Asia (Dementiev et al. 1954). The climatic conditions in the breeding area determine the extent and timing of migration as well as the breeding season. Crag Martins from the more northerly or higher nesting areas are migratory, but elsewhere they are mainly resident or wander a little in winter. In­ formation on passage is rather scanty, as they commonly move through mountainous areas in small groups of three to seven, though flocks of 25 and even up to 300 have been recorded in late spring. Wintering Crag Martins have been noted in northern Yunnan, in India as far south as the Bilgiris and Palni Hills, in south-west Arabia, the Red Sea, Sudan south to Khartoum, the highlands of Abyssinia and occasionally the Canary Islands (Vaurie 1959). Autumn passage occurs from August to early October and most spring movements have been recorded in April and early May. Some of the most extensive breeding studies have been made in Switzerland by Strahm (1954, 1963). He found that when they first arrive in spring there is much noisy aerial chasing, often involving three birds, which ceases as soon as pairs have formed. They are then much quieter and mainly involved in defence of their nesting territories. These cover a section of the cliff face near the nest (nests in Swiss colonies varied from ten to eighty metres apart), which they patrol regularly, attacking any intruding martins, sometimes seizing them by the nape of the neck. They gather much of their food in the territory, but there are also neutral feeding areas away from the nesting areas used by all Crag Martins in the group. They will also drive off House Martins from their territories, though the latter species does not prevent intrusion by the slightly larger Crag Martin near its own colonies. Crag Martins also chased other species nesting on the cliffs, such as Black Redstarts "Phoenkurus ochruros and Wall- creepers Tichodroma muraria, while a passing Kestrel Falco tinmmcuhs roused all the martins in the vicinity, with a louder version of their normal rather weak call. Strahm noted two other forms of display, besides the aerial chasing. The first involved paired birds flying up to each other and touching bills; food may have passed, but he could not be sure of this. In the second, seen once, a Crag Martin flew backwards and forwards in front of the nest on which its mate was perched, holding a plume of grass Stipapennaia. Three times it dropped the plume, let it fall ten or twenty metres and then dived to retrieve it, before finally presenting it to its mate. The nests are usually built on sheer rock faces, often sheltered Crag Martin Studies 241 by an overhang (plate 43b). Strahm (1953) found that the majority faced south, others between east and south or between south and west, and that they ranged from 3.5 to 49 metres above ground level. Nests in tunnels have been reported in both Turkey and Switzerland. Meinertzhagen (1954) noted that they had been recorded nesting with Pale Crag Martins in caves in Palestine, but in one such cave he visited only the latter were actually breeding. Nests on buildings are known, but these appear to be relatively infrequent, and then usually on ruins or unoccupied buildings. The nest featured on plate 43 a was therefore rather exceptional. It was built inside the entrance lobby, just above the main steps, in the Town Hall of Castelo de Vide in eastern Portugal. This was the only pair of Crag Martins among the many House Martins building on houses in the centre of the town, though other Crag Martins nested on the cliffs in the hills outside the town. In May 1970 Richard Porter and I found a small group of Crag Martins building their nests just under the eaves of a modern tourist hotel in a wooded valley to the north of Ankara, Turkey. These two examples suggest that the Crag Martin may be about to follow the House Martin in becoming a symbiote of man, which could lead to a considerable increase in numbers. The nest is shaped like a quarter of a sphere, open at the top (plates 41 and 42) and often built on a slight ledge or protuberance or in a hollow part of the rock (plate 43b). Dementiev (1954) stated that the nest is a flimsy structure, as the mud is not strengthened by grass stems or hair, but Dr J. K. Carlson found that the Portuguese birds (though the construction was mainly by one of the pair, distinguished by an abraded feather on the head) brought mud mixed with grass and stalks. Both Strahm (1954) and Dementiev (1954) reported very considerable variations in the sizes of different nests. The lining may be almost non-existent, or include grass, stems, leaves and spider cocoons with down and feathers. The Portuguese birds, before adding feathers, used moss from the roofs of the surrounding buildings. Most nest construction takes place in the early morning, and usually takes about a week. The first eggs are laid in mid-May and early June, but may be much later than this in high or more northerly areas. The eggs are white with a rosy tinge, spotted and streaked, especially towards the blunt end, with grey, purple or cinnamon. Clutch sizes vary: four or five in Europe, three or four in the Caucasus, four or five in the Tien Shan and from two to five in the Himalayas. Dementiev (quoting Prenn 1937) stated that incubation lasted 14 days, and that apparently only the female was involved, but Strahm (1956) recorded frequent change-overs. The fledging period was said by Prenn to be 25-26 days. The young are fed about every five minutes on average. At first the parents swallow the faecal sacs, but later they carry them away, and 242 Crag Martin studies from an examination of these Strahm concluded that the food of the young consisted mainly of Coleoptera and Diptera taken in flight by the adults. At this time the Crag Martins hunt close to their nesting cliff, but when the young have fledged the family parties often move to meadows or fields, where the young continue to be fed by the parents for 14 to 21 days after fledging. Where climatic conditions delay the start of the nesting season there is clearly insufficient time for a second brood. Second broods have been proved in Switzerland, however, and probably occur elsewhere. Strahm (1956) found that second broods (the first being started in June and the second in early August) were regular at Charmey, where the nesting clifls faced SSW, but that none occurred at Rummel- ing on eastward facing rocks, although there was no great difference in altitude. Adult birds are said to moult once a year between June and November, while the moult of juveniles begins and ends rather later. Moult is most frequent in July and August, but as might be expected with such differing breeding seasons there is considerable variation in different areas (see Dementiev et al. 1954 for details).

REFERENCES DEMENTIEV, G. P., et al. 1954. Birds of the Soviet Union. English translation, Jerusalem, 1968. vol 6. MEINERTZHAGEN, R. 1954. Birds of Arabia. Edinburgh and London. STRAHM, J. 1953. 'Ober Standort und Anlage des Nestes bei Felsenschwalben'. Orn. Beak, 50: 41-48. 1954. 'Observations sur la reproduction de l'Hirondelle de rochers'. Nos Oiseaux, 22: 187-196. _ 1956. 'Nouvelles observations sur la reproduction de PHirondelle de tochers'. Nos Oiseaux, 23: 257-265. STRAHM J. 1963,'Notessur le territoire de nidification chez l'Hirondelle de rochers Ptyonoprogne rupestris'. Nos Oiseaux, 27: 61-66. VAURIE, C. 1959. The Birds of the Palearetic Fauna. London, vol 1. Voous, K. H. i960. Atlas of European Birds. London.

Stanley Cramp, 32 Queen Court, London WCIN 3BB PLATE 40. Crag Martin Hirundo rupestrh dropping from nest, Portugal, June 1969. Recalling a large Sand Martin without a breast band, this species also has four bold white spots on each side of the almost square tail (partly visible on left here) and a dark wedge up from the wing-pit (pages 239-243) {photo: K. J. Carlson) PLATE 41. Crag Martin Bimndo rapsstris building, Portugal, June i$69. The nest is typical of many swallow species—a quarter sphere open at the top and largely built of mud; the lining may be very sparse or include grass, moss, feathers and similar materials (pages 241-242) {photos: K. J. Carlson and, hehm, &. G. Car/son) PLATE 42. Two more studies at this nest which was being built in the entrance of a town hall (see plate 43a). These four photos show the brown upper-parts, brown- spotted throat, whitish upper breast and otherwise smoky under-parts darkening on belly and under tail-coverts {photos: R. G. Carlson and, below, F. G. Startup) PLATE 43. Top, the hide at the nest of the Crag Martin Hirundo rupestris on plates 40-42, in the entrance of the town hall at Castelo de Vide, Portugal, June 1969, the actual site being at the apex of the arch by the flash apparatus; such sites on occupied buildings seem rare, but may become commoner (page 241) {photo: F. G. Startup). Centre, a nest in a natural site on a sheer rock face under an overhang.Turkey, May 1970; this nest, viewed from the ground, was about 40 feet up the cliff shown below on the right, by the main road {photos: R. F. Porter)