BIRDS OF GUERNSEY
AND THE NEIGHBOURING ISLANDS
ALDERNEY, SARK, JETHOU, HERM;
BEING A SMALL CONTRIBUTION TO
The Ornitholony of the Channel Islands
BY
CECIL SMITH, F.Z.S.,
MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGIST'S UNION.
LONDON:
R.H. PORTER, 6, TENTERDEN STREET,
HANOVER SQUARE.
1879.
PREFACE.
Though perhaps not possessing the interest to the ornithologist which
Lundy Island (the only breeding-place of the Gannet in the South-West of
England) or the Scilly Islands possess, or being able to produce the
long list of birds which the indefatigable Mr. Gäetke has been able to
do for his little island, Heligoland, the avifauna of Guernsey and the
neighbouring islands is by no means devoid of interest; and as little
has hitherto been published about the Birds of Guernsey and the
neighbouring islands, except in a few occasional papers published by
Miss C.B. Carey, Mr. Harvie Browne, myself, and a few others, in the
pages of the 'Zoologist,' I make no excuse for publishing this list of
the birds, which, as an occasional visitor to the Channel Islands for
now some thirty years, have in some way been brought to my notice as
occurring in these Islands either as residents, migrants, or occasional
visitants.
Channel Island specimens of several of the rarer birds mentioned, as
well as of the commoner ones, are in my own collection; and others I
have seen either in the flesh or only recently skinned in the
bird-stuffers' shops. For a few, of course, I have been obliged to rely
on the evidence of others; some of these may appear, perhaps, rather
questionable,--as, for instance, the Osprey,--but I have always given
what evidence I have been able to collect in each case; and where
evidence of the occurrence was altogether wanting, I have thought it
better to omit all mention of the bird, though its occasional occurrence
may seem possible.
I have confined myself in this list to the Birds of Guernsey and the
neighbouring islands--Sark, Alderney, Jethou and Herm; in fact to the
islands included in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. I have done this as I
have had no opportunity of personally studying the birds of Jersey, only
having been in that island once some years ago, and then only for a
short time, and not because I think a notice of the birds of Jersey
would have been devoid of interest, though whether it would have added
many to my list maybe doubtful. Professor Ansted's list, included in his
large and very interesting work on the Channel Islands, is hitherto the
only attempt at a regular list of the Birds of the Channel Islands; but
as he, though great as a geologist, is no ornithologist, he was obliged
to rely in a great measure on information received from others, and this
apparently was not always very reliable, and he does not appear to have
taken much trouble to sift the evidence given to him. Professor Ansted
himself states that his list is necessarily imperfect, as he received
little or no information from some of the Islands; in fact, Guernsey and
Sark appear to be the only two from which much information had been
received. This is to be regretted, as it has made the notice of the
distribution of the various birds through the Islands, which he has
denoted by the letters _a, e, i, o, u_[1] appended to the name of each
bird, necessarily faulty. The ornithological notes, however, supplied by
Mr. Gallienne are of considerable interest, and are generally pretty
reliable. It is rather remarkable, however, that Professor Ansted has
not always paid attention to these notes in marking the distribution of
the birds through the various Islands.
No doubt many of the birds included in Professor Ansted's list were
included merely on the authority of specimens in the museum of the
Mechanics' Institute, which at one time was a pretty good one; and had
sufficient care been taken to label the various specimens correctly as
to place and date, especially distinguishing local specimens from
foreign ones, of which there were a good many, would have been a very
interesting and useful local museum; as it is, the interest of this
museum is considerably deteriorated. Some of the birds in the museum are
confessedly foreign, having been brought from various parts of the world
by Guernsey men, who when abroad remembered the museum in their own
Island, and brought home specimens for it. Others, as Mr. Gallienne, who
during his life took much interest in the museum, himself told me had
been purchased from various bird-stuffers, especially from one in
Jersey; and no questions were asked as to whether the specimens bought
were local or set-up from skins obtained from the Continent or England.
Amongst those so obtained may probably be classed the Blue-throated
Warblers, included in Professor Ansted's list and marked as Jersey
(these Mr. Gallienne himself told me he believed to be Continental and
not genuine Channel Island specimens), the Great Sedge Warbler, the
Meadow Bunting, the Green Woodpecker, and perhaps a few others.
This museum, partly from want of interest being taken in it and partly
from want of money, has never had a very good room, and has been
shuffled and moved about from one place to another, and consequently
several birds really valuable, as they could be proved to be genuine
Channel Island specimens, have been lost and destroyed; in fact, had it
not been for the care and energy of Miss C.B. Carey, who took great
pains to preserve what she found remaining of the collection, and place
it in some sort of order, distinguishing by a different coloured label
those specimens which could be proved to be Channel Island (in doing
this she worked very hard, and received very little thanks or
encouragement, but on the contrary met with a considerable amount of
genuine obstructiveness), the whole of the specimens in the museum would
undoubtedly have been lost; as it is, a good many valuable local
specimens--valuable as being still capable of being proved to be genuine
Channel Island specimens--have been preserved, and a good nucleus kept
for the foundation of a new museum, should interest in the subject
revive and the local authorities be disposed to assist in its formation.
In my notices of each bird I have mentioned whether there is a specimen
in the museum, and also whether it is included in Professor Ansted's
list, and if so in which of the Islands he has marked it as occurring.
No doubt the Ornithology of the Channel Islands, as is the case in many
counties of England, has been considerably changed by drainage works,
improved cultivation, and road-making; much alteration of this sort I
can see has taken place during the thirty years which I have known the
Islands as an occasional visitor. But Mr. MacCulloch, who has been
resident in the Islands for a much longer period--in fact, he has told
me nearly double--has very kindly supplied me with the following very
interesting note on the various changes which have taken place in
Guernsey during the long period he has lived in that island; he says, "I
can well recollect the cutting of most of the main roads, and the
improvement, still going on, of the smaller ones. It was about the
beginning of this century that the works for reclaiming the Braye du
Valle were undertaken; before that time the Clos du Valle[2] was
separated from the mainland by an arm of the sea, left dry at low water,
extending from St. Samson's to the Vale Church. This was bordered by
salt marshes only, covered occasionally at spring tides by the sea, some
of which extended pretty far inland. The meadows adjoining were very
imperfectly drained, as indeed some still are, and covered with reeds
and rushes, forming excellent shelter for many species of aquatic birds.
Now, as you know, by far the greater part of the land is well cultivated
and thickly covered with habitations. The old roads were everywhere
enclosed between high hedges, on which were planted rows of elms; and
the same kind of hedge divided the fields and tenements. Every house,
too, in those days had its orchard, cider being then universally drunk;
and the hill-sides and cliffs were covered with furze brakes, as in all
country houses they baked their own bread and required the furze for
fuel. Now all that is changed. The meadows are drained and planted with
brocoli for the early London market, to be replaced by a crop of
potatoes at the end of the summer. The trees are cut down to let in the
sun. Since the people have taken to gin-drinking, cider is out of favour
and the orchards destroyed. The hedges are levelled to gain a few
perches of ground, and replaced in many places by stone walls; the furze
brakes rooted up, and the whole aspect and nature of the country
changed. Is it to be wondered at that those kinds of birds that love
shelter and quiet have deserted us? You know, too, how every bird--from
the Wren to the Eagle--is popped at as soon as it shows itself, in
places where there are no game laws and every man allowed to carry a
gun."
This interesting description of the changes--agricultural and
otherwise--which have taken place in the Islands, especially Guernsey,
during the last fifty or sixty years (for which I have to offer Mr.
MacCulloch my best thanks), gives a very good general idea of many of
the alterations that have taken place in the face of the country during
the period above mentioned; but does not by any means exhaust them, as
no mention is made of the immense increase of orchard-houses in all
parts of Guernsey, which has been so great that I may fairly say that
within the last few years miles of glasshouses have been built in
Guernsey alone: these have been built mostly for the purpose of growing
grapes for the London market. These orchard-houses have, to a certain
extent, taken the place of ordinary orchards and gardens, which have
been rooted up and destroyed to make place for this enormous extent of
glass. But what appeared to me to have made the greatest change, and has
probably had more effect on the Ornithology of the Island, especially of
that part known as the Vale, is the enormous number of granite quarries
which are being worked there (luckily the beautiful cliffs have hitherto
escaped the granite in those parts, probably not being so good); but in
the Vale from St. Samson's to Fort Doyle, and from there to the Vale
Church, with the exception of L'Ancresse Common itself, which has
hitherto escaped, the whole face of the country is changed by quarry
works and covered with small windmills used for pumping the water from
the quarries. These quarry works and the extra population brought by
them into the Island, all of whom carry guns and shoot everything that
is fit to eat or is likely to fetch a few "doubles" in the market, have
done a good deal to thin the birds in that part of the Islands,
especially such as are in any way fit for sale or food, and probably
have done more to make a change in the Ornithology of that part of the
Island than all the agricultural changes mentioned by Mr. MacCulloch.
Indeed, I am rather sceptical as to the agricultural changes above
described having produced so much change in the avifauna of the Islands
during the last fifty years as Mr. MacCulloch appears to think; there is
still a great deal of undrained or badly drained land in the
Island--especially about the Vale, the Grand Mare and L'Eree--which
might still afford a home for Moorhens, Water Rails, and even Bitterns,
and all that class of wading birds which delight in swampy land and reed
beds. Though no doubt, as Mr. MacCulloch said, many orchards have been
destroyed to make room for more profitable crops or for orchard-houses,
still there are many orchards left in the Island. I think, however,
many, if not all the cherry orchards (amongst which the Golden Orioles
apparently at one time luxuriated) are gone. There is also still a great
deal of hedgerow timber, none of it indeed very large, but in places
very thick; in fact, I could point out miles of hedges in Guernsey where
the trees, mostly elm, grow so thick together that it would be nearly
impossible to pick out a place where one could squeeze one's horse
between the trees without rubbing one's knees on one side or the other,
probably on both, against them, if one found it necessary to ride across
the country. True, on a great extent of the higher part of the Island,
all along on both sides of what is known as the Forest Road, there is
little or no hedgerow timber, the fields here being divided by low banks
with furze growing on the top of them. Furze brakes also are still
numerous, the whole of the flat land on the top of the cliffs and the
steep valleys and slopes down to the sea on the south and east side of
the Island, from Fermain Bay to Pleimont, being almost uninterrupted
wild land covered with heather, furze, and bracken; besides this wild
furze land, there are several thick furze brakes inland in different
parts of the Island. All these places seem to me to have remained almost
without change for years. The furze, however, never grows very high, as
it is cut every few years for fuel; in consequence of this, however, it
is more beautiful in blooming in the spring than if it had been allowed
several years' growth, covering the whole face of the ground above the
cliffs like a brilliant yellow carpet; but being kept so short, it is
not perhaps so convenient for nesting purposes as if it was allowed a
longer growth.
The Guernsey Bird Act, which applies to all the Islands in the
Bailiwick, and has been in force for some few years, seems to me to have
had little effect on the numbers of the sea-birds of the district,
though it includes the eggs as well as the birds, except perhaps to
increase the number of Herring Gulls and Shags (which were always
sufficiently numerous) in their old breeding-stations, and perhaps to
have added a few new breeding-stations. These two birds scarcely needed
the protection afforded by the Act, as their nests are placed amongst
very inaccessible rocks where very few nests can be reached without the
aid of a rope, and consequently but little damage was done beyond a few
young birds being shot soon after they had left the nest while they were
flappers, and the numbers were fully kept up; other birds, however,
included in the Act, and not breeding in quite such inaccessible places,
seem to gain but little advantage from it, as nests of the Lesser
Black-backed Gulls, Terns, Oystercatchers and Puffins are ruthlessly
robbed in a way that bids fair before long to exterminate all four
species as breeding birds; perhaps, also, the increase in the number of
Herring Gulls does something to diminish the numbers of other breeding
species, especially the Lesser Black-backs, as Herring Gulls are great
robbers both of eggs and young birds. The Act itself, after reciting
that "le nombre des oiseaux de mer sur les côtes des Isles de cet
Bailliage a considerablement diminué depuis plusieurs années; que les
dits oiseaux sont utiles aux pêcheurs, en ce qu'ils indiquent les
parages ou les poissons se trouvent; que les dits oiseaux sont utiles
aux marins en ce qu'ils annoncent pendant la durée des brouillards la
proximite des rochers," goes on to enact as follows:--"Il est défendu de
prendre, enlever ou détruire les ceufs des oiseaux de mer dans toute
I'entendue de la jurisdiction de cette isle, sur la peine d'une amende
qui ne sera pas moindre de sept livres tournois et n'excédera pas trente
livres tournois."[3] Sec. 2 enacts, "Depuis ce jour[4] au 15 Octobre
prochain, il est défendu de tuer, blesser, prendre ou chasser les
oiseaux de mer dans toute l'entendue de la jurisdiction de cette isle."
Sec. 3, "Ceux qui depuis ce jour au 15 Octobre prochain auront été
trouvés en possession d'un oiseau de mer récemment tué, blessé ou pris,
ou qui auront été trouvés en possession de plumage frais appartenant
d'un oiseau de mer seront censés avoir tué, blessé ou pris tel oiseau de
mer sauf è eux de prouver le contraire. Pareillement ceux qui depuis ce
jour au 15 Octobre prochain auront été trouvés en possession d'un oeuf
de l'annee d'un oiseau de mer seront censés avoir pris et enleve le dit
oeuf sauf à eux de prouver le contraire." The penalty in each case is
the same as in Section 1. Section 4 contains the list of the oiseaux de
mer which come under the protection of the Act, which is as
follows:--Les Mauves Mouettes, Pingouins, Guillemots, Cormorans,
Barbelotes, Hirondelles de mer, Pies-marants, Petrel, Plongeons, Grebes,
Puffins, Dotterells, Alouettes de mer, Toumpierres, Gannets, Courlis et
Martin pêcheur.
As far as the eggs of many of the species actually breeding in the
Islands are concerned, this Act seems to be a dead letter: the only
birds of any size whose eggs are not regularly robbed are the Herring
Gulls and Shags, and they take sufficient care of themselves; were the
Act strictly enforced it would probably be found that there would be--as
would be the case in England--a good deal of opposition to this part of
it, which would greatly interfere with what appears to be a considerable
article of food with many of the population. Probably the only
compromise which would work, and could be rigidly enforced, would be to
fix a later date for the protection of the eggs--say as late as the 15th
June; this would allow those who wanted to rob the eggs for food to take
the earlier layings, and the birds would be able to bring up their
second or third broods in peace; and probably the fishermen and others,
who use the eggs as an article of consumption, would be glad to assist
in carrying out such an Act as this, as they would soon find the birds
increase so much that they would be able to take as many eggs by the
middle of June as they do now in the whole year, especially the
Black-back Gulls and the Puffins, which are the birds mostly
robbed,--the latter of which are certainly decreasing considerably in
numbers in consequence.
This plan is successfully carried out by many private owners of the
large breeding-stations of the Gannets, Eider Duck, and other sea-birds
in the north of England and Scotland. Of course, it must not be supposed
that all the birds mentioned in the Act whose eggs are protected breed
in the Islands, or anywhere within ten or fifteen degrees of latitude of
the Islands; in fact, a great many of them are not there at all during
the breeding-season, except perhaps an occasional wounded bird which has
been unable to join its companions on their migratory journey, or a few
non-breeding stragglers.
It has often struck me that a small but rigidly collected and enforced
gun-tax would be a more efficacious protection--not only to the oiseaux
de mer, but also to the inland birds, many of which are quite as much in
want of protection though not included in the Act--than the Sea-bird
Protection Act is. I am glad to see that there is some chance of this
being carried out, for, while this work was going through the press, I
see by the newspaper ('Gazette Officielle de Guernsey' for the 26th
March, 1879) that the Bailiff had then just issued a _Billet d'Etat_
which contained a "Projet de loi" on the subject, to be submitted to the
States at their next meeting; and in concluding its comments on this
_Projet de loi_ the Gazette says, "Il n'est que juste en fait que ceux
qui veulent se lier au plaisir de la chasse paient pour cette fantaisie
et que par ce moyen le trop grand nombre de nos chasseurs maladroits et
inexpérimentes se voit réduit au grand avantage de nos fermiers et de
nos promeneurs;" and probably also to the advantage of the chasseurs
themselves.
In regard to the nomenclature, I have done the best I can to follow the
rule laid down by the British Association; but not living in London, and
consequently not having access to a sufficiently large ornithological
library to enable me to search out the various synonyms for myself and
ascertain the exact dates, I have therefore been obliged to rely on the
best authorities whose works I possess, and accept the name given by
them. In doing this, I have no doubt I have been quite as correct as I
should have been had I waded through the various authors who have
written on the subject, as I have invariably accepted the name adopted
by Professor Newton in his edition of Yarrell, and by Mr. Dresser in his
'Birds of Europe', as far as these works are yet complete: for the birds
not yet included in either I have for the most part taken the scientific
names from Mr. Howard Saunders's 'Catalogue des oiseaux du midi de
L'Espagne,' published in the 'Proceedings' of the Société Zoologique de
France; and for the names of the Gulls and Terns I have entirely
followed Mr. Howard Saunders's papers on those birds published in the
'Proceedings' of our own Zoological Society, for permission to use
which, and for other assistance,--especially in egg-hunting,--I have to
give him my best thanks.
As French is so much spoken in Guernsey and the other Islands included
in my district, I have (wherever I have been able to ascertain it) given
the French name of each bird, as it may be better known to my Guernsey
readers than either the English or the scientific name. I have also,
where there is one and I have been able to ascertain it, mentioned the
local name in the course of my notes on each bird.
It now only remains to give my best thanks to the various friends who
have assisted me, especially to Mr. MacCulloch, who, though he says he
is no naturalist, has supplied me with various very interesting notes,
which he has taken from time to time of ornithological events which have
occurred in Guernsey, and from which I have drawn rather largely; and I
have, also, again to thank him for the interesting accounts he has given
me of the various changes--agricultural and otherwise--which have taken
place during his memory, and which may have had some effect on the
ornithology of the Islands, especially of Guernsey.
My thanks are also due to Col. L'Estrange for the assistance he has
given me in egg-hunting, and also to Captain Hubback for his notes from
Alderney during the times he was quartered there.
BIRDS OF GUERNSEY.
1. WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. _Haliaeetus albicilla_, Linnsaeus. French, "Aigle
pygarque," "Pygarque ordinaire."--The White-tailed Eagle is an
occasional but by no means uncommon visitant to all the Islands. I have
seen specimens from Alderney, Guernsey, and Herm, and have heard of its
having been killed in Sark more than once. It usually occurs in the
autumn, and, as a rule, has a very short lease of life after its arrival
in the Islands, which is not to be wondered at, as it is considered, and
no doubt is, mischievous both to sheep and poultry; and in so thickly
populated a country, where every one carries a gun, a large bird like
the White-tailed Eagle can hardly escape notice and consequent
destruction for any length of time. It might, however, if unmolested,
occasionally remain throughout the winter, and probably sometimes
wanders to the Islands at that time, as Mr. Harvie Brown records
('Zoologist' for 1869, p. 1591) one as having been killed, poisoned by
strychnine, in Herm in the month of January. This was, no doubt, a late
winter visitant, as it is hardly possible that the bird can have escaped
for so long a time, as it would have done had it visited the Islands at
its usual time, October or November. All the Channel Island specimens of
the White-tailed Eagle which I have seen have been young birds of the
first or second year, in the immature plumage in which the bird is known
as the Sea Eagle of Bewick, and in which it is occasionally mistaken for
the Golden Eagle, which bird has never, I believe, occurred in the
Islands. Of course in the adult plumage, when this bird has its white
tail and head, no such mistake could occur, but in the immature plumage
in which the bird usually makes its appearance such a mistake does
occasionally happen, and afterwards it becomes difficult to convince the
owner that he has not a Golden Eagle; in fact he usually feels rather
insulted when told of his mistake, and ignores all suggestions of
anything like an infallible test, so it may be as well to mention that
the birds may be distinguished in any state of plumage and at any age by
the tarsus, which in the White-tailed Eagle is bare of feathers and in
the Golden Eagle is feathered to the junction of the toes. I have one in
my possession shot at Bordeaux harbour on the 14th of November, 1871,
and I saw one in the flesh at Mr. Couch's, the bird-stuffer, which had
been shot at Alderney on the 2nd of November in the same year; and Mr.
MacCulloch writes to me that one was wounded and taken alive in the
parish of the Forest in Guernsey in 1845. It was said to be one of a
pair, and he adds--"I have known several instances of its appearance
since both here (Guernsey) and in Herm," but unluckily he gives no dates
and could not remember at what time of year any of the occurrences he
had noted had taken place. This is to be regretted, as although the bird
occurs almost every autumn--indeed, so frequently as to render mention
of further instances of its occurrence at that time of year
unnecessary--its occurrence in the spring is rare, and some of those
noted by Mr. MacCulloch might have been at that time of year. As it is,
I only know of one spring occurrence, and that was reported to me by Mr.
Couch as having taken place at Herm on the 23rd of March, 1877.
The White-tailed Eagle is included in Professor Ansted's list, but its
range in the Islands is restricted to Guernsey. There is one in the
museum, probably killed in Guernsey, in the plumage in which the Channel
Island specimens usually occur, but no note is given as to locality or
date.
2. OSPREY. _Pandion halioeetus_, Linnaeus. French, "Balbusard."--I have
never met with the Osprey myself in the Channel Islands, nor have I, as
far as I remember, seen a Channel Island specimen. I include it,
however, on the authority of a note kindly sent to me by Mr. MacCulloch,
who says:--"An Osprey was shot at St. Samsons, in Guernsey, on the 29th
of October, 1868. I cannot, however, say whether at the time it was
examined by a competent naturalist, and as both the Osprey and the
White-tailed Eagle are fishers, a mistake may have been made in naming
it." Of course such a mistake as suggested is possible, but as the
Guernsey fishermen and gunners, especially the St. Samsons men, are well
acquainted with the White-tailed Eagle, I should not think it probable
that the mistake had been made. The bird, however, cannot be considered
at all common in the Islands; there is no specimen in the Guernsey
Museum, and Mr. Couch has never mentioned to me having had one through
his hands, or recorded it in the 'Zoologist,' as he would have done had
he had one; neither does Mrs. Jago (late Miss Cumber), who used to do a
good deal of stuffing in Guernsey about thirty years ago, remember
having had one through her hands. There can be no reason, however, why
it should not occasionally occur in the Islands, as it does so both on
the French and English side of the Channel. The wonder rather is that it
is so rare as it appears to be.
The Osprey, however, is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and only
marked as occurring in Guernsey.
3. GREENLAND FALCON. _Falco candicans_, Gmelin.--I was much surprised
on my last visit to Alderney, on the 27th of June, 1878, on going into a
small carpenter's shop in the town, whose owner, besides being a
carpenter, is also an amateur bird-stuffer, though of the roughest
description, to find, amongst the dust of his shop, not only the Purple
Heron, which I went especially to see, and which is mentioned
afterwards, but a young Greenland Falcon which he informed me had been
shot in that island about eighteen months ago. This statement was
afterwards confirmed by the person who shot the bird, who was sent for
and came in whilst I was still in the shop. Unfortunately, neither the
carpenter nor his friend who shot the bird had made any note of the
date, and could only remember that the one had shot the bird in that
Island about eighteen months ago and the other had stuffed it
immediately after. This would bring it to the winter of 1876-77, or,
more probably, the late autumn of 1876. In the course of conversation it
appeared to me that the Snow Falcon--as they called this bird--was not
entirely unknown to the carpenter or his friend, though neither could
remember at the time another instance of one having been killed in that
Island. It is, however, by no means improbable that either this species
or the next mentioned, or both, may have occurred in the Islands before,
as Professor Ansted, though he gives no date or locality, includes the
Gyr Falcon in his list of Channel Island birds. As all three of the
large northern white Falcons were at one time included under the name of
Gyr Falcons, and, as Professor Ansted gives no description of the bird
mentioned by him, it is impossible to say to which species he alluded.
We may fairly conclude, however, that it was either the present species
or the Iceland Falcon, as it could hardly have been the darker and less
wandering species, the Norway Falcon, the true Gyr Falcon of falconers,
_Falco gyrfalco_ of Linnaeus, which does not wander so far from its
native home, and has never yet, as far as is at present known, occurred
in any part of the British Islands, and certainly not so far south as
the Channel Islands. This latter, indeed, is an extremely southern
latitude for either the Greenland or Iceland Falcon, the next being in
Cornwall, from which county both species have been recorded by Mr. Rodd.
Neither species, however, is recorded as having occurred in any of the
neighbouring parts of France.
4. ICELAND FALCON. _Falco islandus_, Gmelin.--An Iceland Falcon was
killed on the little Island of Herm on the 11th of April, 1876, where it
had been seen about for some time, by the gamekeeper. It had another
similar bird in company with it, and probably the pair were living very
well upon the game-birds which had been imported and preserved in that
island, as the keeper saw them kill more than one Pheasant before he
shot this bird. The other fortunately escaped. The bird which was killed
is now in my possession, and is a fully adult Iceland Falcon, and Mr.
Couch, the bird-stuffer who skinned it, informed me a male by
dissection. Though to a certain extent I have profited by it, so far as
to have the only Channel Island example of the Iceland Falcon in my
possession, I cannot help regretting that this bird was killed by the
keeper, as it seems to me not impossible that the two birds being
together in the island so late as the 11th of April, and certainly one,
probably both, being adult, and there being plenty of food for them,
might, if unmolested, have bred in the island. Perhaps, however, this is
too much to have expected so far from their proper home. It would,
however, have been interesting to know how late the birds would have
remained before returning to their northern home; but the
breeding-season for the Pheasants was beginning, and this was enough for
the keeper, as he had actually seen two or three Pheasants--some
hens--killed before he shot the Falcon. As these Falcons can only be
considered very rare accidental visitants to the Islands, it may be
interesting to some of my readers to mention that they may distinguish
them easily by colour, the Greenland, _Falco candicans_, being always
the most white, and the Norway bird--the Gyr Falcon of falconers--being
the darkest, the Iceland Falcon (the present species) being
intermediate. This is generally a good guide at all ages, but
occasionally there may be some difficulty in distinguishing young birds,
especially as between the Iceland and the Norway Falcon. In a doubtful
case in the Channel Islands, however, it would always be safer to
consider the bird an Iceland rather than a Norway Falcon.
5. PEREGRINE FALCON. _Falco peregrinus_, Tunstall. French, "Faucon
pèlerin."--The Peregrine can now, I think, only be considered an
autumnal visitant to the Islands, though, if not shot or otherwise
destroyed, it would, no doubt, remain throughout the winter, and might
perhaps have been resident, as Mr. MacCulloch sends me a note of one
killed in Herm in December. All the Channel Island specimens I have seen
have been young birds of the year, and generally killed in October or
November. Adult birds, no doubt, occasionally occur, but they are
comparatively rare, and it certainly does not breed anywhere in the
Islands at present, though I see no reason why it should not have done
so in former times, as there are many places well suited to it, and a
constant supply of sea-birds for food. Mr. MacCulloch also seems to be
of opinion that the Peregrine formerly bred in the Islands, as he says,
speaking, however, of the _Falconidae_ generally, "There must have been
a time when some of the species were permanent residents, for the high
pyramidal rock south of the little Island of Jethou bears the name of
'La Fauconnière,' evidently denoting that it must have been a favourite
resort of these birds, and there are other rocks with the same name."
Certainly the rock here mentioned looks much like a place that would be
selected by the Peregrine for breeding purposes, but that must have been
before the days of excursion steamers once or twice a week to Jethou and
Herm. Occasionally a young Peregrine is made to do duty as a Lanner, and
is recorded in the local papers accordingly (see 'Star' for November
11th, 1876, copying, however, a Jersey paper), but in spite of these
occasional notes there is no satisfactory reason for supposing that the
true Lanner has ever occurred in either of the Islands. The birds,
however, certainly resemble each other to a certain extent, but the
young Lanner in which state it would be most likely to occur, may always
be distinguished from the young Peregrine by its whiter head, and the
adult has more brown on the head and neck.
The Peregrine is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the
Museum.
6. HOBBY. _Falco subbuteo_, Linnaeus. French, "Le Hobereau." The Hobby
can only be considered as a rather rare occasional visitant, just
touching the Islands on its southern migration in the autumn, and late
in the autumn, for Mr. MacCulloch informs me that a Hobby was killed in
the Islands, probably Guernsey, in November, 1873, and Mr. Couch,
writing to me on the 10th of November, told me he had had a Hobby
brought to him on the 8th of the same month. Both of these occurrences
seem rather late, but probably the Hobby only touches the Islands for a
very short time on passage, and quite towards the end of the migratory
period. I do not know of any instance of the Hobby having occurred in
the Islands on its northern migration in the spring, or of its remaining
to breed.
It is included in Professor Ansted's list, and only marked as occurring
in Guernsey. There is no specimen in the Museum.
7. MERLIN. _Falco aesalon_,[5] Bris., 1766. French, "Faucon
Emérillon."--The pretty little Merlin is a much more common autumnal
visitant to the Islands than the Hobby, but, like the Peregrine, the
majority of instances are young birds of the year which visit the
Islands on their autumnal migration. When I was in Guernsey in November,
1875, two Merlins, both young birds, were brought in to Mr. Couch's.
Both were shot in the Vale, and I saw a third near Cobo, but did not
shoot it. This also was a young bird. In some years Merlins appear to be
more numerous than in others, and this seems to have been one of the
years in which they were most numerous. Unlike the Hobby, however, the
Merlin does occasionally visit the Islands in the spring, as I saw one
at Mr. Jago's, the bird-stuffer in Guernsey, which had been killed at
Herm in the spring of 1876. This is now in the collection of Mr.
Maxwell, the present owner of Herm. Though the Merlin visits the Islands
both in the spring and autumn, I do not know that there is any instance
of its having remained to breed, neither do I know of an occurrence
during the winter. In the 'Zoologist' for 1875 Mr. Couch, in a
communication dated November 29th, 1874, says--"A Merlin--a female--was
shot in the Marais, which had struck down a Water Rail a minute or two
before it was shot. After striking down the Rail the Merlin flew into a
tree, about ten yards from which the man who shot it found the Rail
dead. He brought me both birds. The skin of the Rail was broken from the
shoulder to the back of the skull."
The more common prey, however, of the Merlin during the time it remains
in the Islands is the Ring Dotterell, which at that time of year is to
be found in large flocks mixed with Purres and Turnstones in all the
low sandy or muddy bays in the Islands.
The Merlin is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen in the Museum at present.
8. KESTREL. _Falco tinnunculus_, Linnaeus. French, "Faucon
cresserelle."--The Kestrel is by far the commonest hawk in the Islands,
and is resident throughout the year. I do not think that its numbers are
at all increased during the migratory season. It breeds in the rocky
parts of all the Islands. The Kestrel does not, however, show itself so
frequently in the low parts--even in the autumn--as on the high cliffs,
so probably Ring Dotterell, Purres, and Turnstones do not form so
considerable a part of its food as they do of the Merlin. Skylarks, Rock
and Meadow Pipits, and, in the summer, Wheatears, with a few rats and
mice, seem to afford the principal food of the Kestrel, and to obtain
these it has not to wander far from its breeding haunts.
The Kestrel is quite as common in Alderney and Herm, and even in the
little Island of Jethou, as it is in Guernsey and Sark. One or two
pairs, perhaps more, breed on the before-mentioned rock close to Jethou
"La Fauconnière," though a few pairs of Kestrels breeding there would
scarcely have been sufficient to give it its name.
It is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens, a male and
female, in the Museum.
9. SPARROWHAWK. _Accipiter nisus_, Linnaeus. French, "L'Epervier,"
"Tiercelet."--The Sparrowhawk, though a resident species and breeding in
the Islands, is by no means so common as the Kestrel. In fact, it must
certainly be considered rather a rare bird, which perhaps is not to be
wondered at, as it is a more tree-breeding bird and less given to
nesting amongst the rocks than the Kestrel. It does so sometimes,
however, as I saw one fly out of some ivy-covered rocks near Petit Bo
Bay the last time I was in the Islands on the 27th of May, 1878. I am
certain this bird had a nest there, though the place was too
inaccessible to be examined closely. The trees, however, at the Vallon
or Woodlands would be much more likely nesting-places, especially as it
might have an opportunity of appropriating a deserted nest of a Magpie
or a Wood Pigeon, rather a favourite nesting-place of the Sparrowhawk.
Professor Ansted includes the Sparrowhawk in his list, but confines it
to Guernsey and Sark; and probably, as a resident and breeding bird, he
is right as far as my district is concerned, but I should think it must
occasionally occur both in Alderney and Herm, though I have never seen a
specimen from either Island, nor have I seen the bird about alive in
either. There is one specimen in the Museum.
10. COMMON BUZZARD. _Buteo vulgaris_, Leach. French, "Buse."--The
Buzzard is a tolerably regular, and by no means uncommon, autumnal
visitant, specimens occurring from some of the Islands almost every
autumn. But it is, I believe, an autumnal visitant only, as I do not
know of a single specimen taken at any other time of year, nor can I
find a record of one. I have seen examples in the flesh from both
Alderney and Herm, in both of which Islands it occurs at least as
frequently as it does in Guernsey, though still only as an autumnal
visitant.
It is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring
in Guernsey, and there is one specimen in the Museum.
11. ROUGHLEGGED BUZZARD. _Buteo lagopus_, Gmelin. French, "Archibuse
pattue" or "Buse pattue."--Though its visits seem not so absolutely
confined to the autumn as the Common Buzzard, the Rough-legged Buzzard
is a much more uncommon visitant to the Channel Islands, and can only be
looked upon as a rare occasional straggler. Mr. MacCulloch informs me
that one was killed near L'Hyvreuse, which is perhaps now more commonly
known as the New Ground, in Guernsey, about Christmas, 1870, and I
found one at the bird-stuffer and carpenter's shop at Alderney, which
had been shot by his friend who shot the Greenland Falcon, but I could
get no information about the date except that it was late autumn or
winter, and about two years ago. These are the only Channel Island
specimens of which I have been able to glean any intelligence. Probably,
however, it has occurred at other times and been overlooked. As it may
have occasionally been mistaken for the more common Common Buzzard, I
may say that it is always to be distinguished from that bird by the
feathered tarsus. On the wing, perhaps, when flying overhead, the most
readily observed distinction is the dark band on the lower part of the
breast. I have, however, seen a very dark variety of the Rough-legged
Buzzard, in which nearly the whole of the plumage was a uniform dark
chocolate-brown, and consequently the dark band on the breast could not
be seen even when one had the bird in one's hand, and had it not been
for the feathered tarsus this bird might easily have been mistaken for a
very dark variety of the Common Buzzard, and when on the wing it would
have been impossible to identify it. Indeed, though it was immediately
distinguishable from the Common Buzzard by its feathered legs, there was
some little difficulty about identifying it, even when handling it as a
skin.
Professor Ansted includes the Rough-legged Buzzard in his list, but
only marks it as occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen at present
in the Museum.
12. MARSH HARRIER. _Circus Oeruginosus_, Linnaeus. French, "Busard
des Marais."--This seems to be the least common of the Harriers in the
Channel Islands, though it does occur occasionally, and perhaps more
frequently than is generally supposed.
There are two specimens in the Museum in Guernsey both in immature
plumage; in that state, in fact, in which this bird most commonly
occurs, and in which it is the Bald Buzzard of Bewick.
Miss C.B. Carey records one in the November number of the 'Zoologist'
for 1874 in the following words:--"In the May of this year an adult male
Marsh Harrier was found in Herm. Unfortunately it got into the hands of
some person who, I believe, kept it too long before bringing it over to
be preserved, so that all that remains of it is the head." I had no
opportunity of examining this bird myself, not even the head, but I am
disposed to doubt its being fully adult, as it seems to me much more
probable that it was much in the same state as those in the Museum, in
which state it is much more common than in the fully adult plumage. Miss
Carey seems only to have seen the head herself, so there may easily
have been a mistake on this point.
Mr. MacCulloch writes me word that a Marsh Harrier was killed in Herm in
May, 1875. It may be just possible, however, that this is the same bird
recorded by Miss C.B. Carey, and that Mr. MacCulloch only heard of it in
the May of the following year, and noted it accordingly. This, however,
is mere supposition on my part, for which I have no reason except that
both birds were said to have been killed in Herm, and both in May.
Professor Ansted mentions the Marsh Harrier in his list, but marks it as
only found in Guernsey.
12. HEN HARRIER. _Circus cyaneus_, Linnaeus. French, "Busard St.
Martin."[6]--The Hen Harrier, perhaps, occurs rather more frequently
than the Marsh Harrier, but it can only be considered a rare occasional
visitant. In June, 1876, I saw one young Hen Harrier, which had been
shot in Herm in the April of that year, about the same time as the
Iceland Falcon, and by the same keeper, who had brought it to Mr. Couch
to stuff. Another was shot in Herm on the 19th of June, 1877. This bird
is now in Mr. Maxwell's collection, where I saw it on the 27th of June.
It was first reported to me by Mr. Jago, the bird-stuffer in Guernsey.
These are the only two Channel Island specimens of the Hen Harrier
which I have been able to find. I have never shot it myself or seen it
alive. It is, however, included in Professor Ansted's list, but marked
as occurring in Guernsey only.
[13. Omitted.]
14. MONTAGU'S HARRIER. _Circus cineraceus_, Montagu. French, "Busard
Montagu," "Busard cendré."--Montagu's Harrier is certainly a more
frequent visitant to the Islands than either the Hen Harrier or the
Marsh Harrier. Miss C.B. Carey records one in the 'Zoologist' for 1873
as having been shot in Alderney in July of that year. She adds that it
was an adult male in full plumage, and that she saw it herself at Mr.
Couch's shop. In the 'Zoologist' for 1874 she records another Montagu's
Harrier--a young one--shot in Herm in July of that year. She adds
that--"It was brought to Mr. Couch to skin. He found a whole Lark's egg,
and also the shell of another, in its throat. He showed me how the whole
egg was sticking in the empty shell of the broken one."
All the Harriers seem to have a special liking for eggs. In his notice
of the Marsh Harrier Professor Newton says, in his edition of Yarrell,'
that birds' eggs are an irresistible delicacy; and, in speaking of the
food of the present species, he says it consists chiefly of
grasshoppers, reptiles, small mammals, birds and their eggs; these last,
if their size permit, being often swallowed whole, as was the case in
the instance mentioned by Miss Carey. Mr. Howard Saunders also says he
can bear witness to the egg-eating propensities of the Harriers.
Besides the two recorded by Miss C.B. Carey, I saw one--a young bird--in
Mr. Maxwell's collection, which had been killed at Herm, and another--a
young male--at Mr. Jago's, the bird-stuffer, which had also been killed
at Herm. There were also two young birds in the bird-stuffer and
carpenter's shop at Alderney, both of which had been killed in that
Island shortly before my last visit, June, 1878.
As mistakes may occasionally arise in identifying specimens, especially
in immature plumage, it may be as well to notice a distinction between
the Hen Harrier and Montagu's Harrier, which has been pointed out by Mr.
Howard Saunders, and which holds good in all ages and in both sexes.
This distinction is, that in the Hen Harrier the outer web of the fifth
primary is notched, whereas in Montagu's Harrier it is plain, or, in
other words, the Hen Harrier has the exterior web of the primaries, up
to and including the fifth, notched, and in Montagu's Harrier this is
only the case as far as the fourth.[7] This distinction is very useful
in identifying young birds and females, which are sometimes very much
alike. In fully adult males the orange markings on the flanks and
thighs, and the greyish upper tail-coverts of Montagu's Harrier,
distinguish it immediately at a glance from the Hen Harrier, in which
those parts are white.
Montagu's Harrier is not included by Professor Ansted in his list, nor
is there a specimen in the Museum.
15. LONGEARED OWL. _Asiootus_, Linnaeus. French, "Hibou vulgaire,"
"Hibou moyen due."--The Long-eared Owl seems only a very rare and
accidental visitant to the Channel Islands. I have never met with it
myself, but Mr. Couch records the occurrence of one in the 'Zoologist'
for 1875, p. 4296:--"I have a Long-eared Owl, shot at St. Martin's on
the 9th of November in that year." This is the only occurrence I can be
sure of, except that Mr. Couch, about two years afterwards, sent me a
skin of a Guernsey-killed Long-eared Owl; but this may have been the
bird mentioned above, as he sent me no date with it.
As it is partially migratory, and its numbers in the British Islands,
especially in the Eastern Counties, are increased during the autumn by
migratory arrivals, a few may wander, especially in the autumn, to the
Channel Islands, but it can only be rarely.