it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is an Oystercatcher and also
a few of the eggs in the Museum.
110. CURLEW. _Numenins arquata_, Linnaeus. French, "Courlis," "Grand
courlis cendré."--A good many Curlews are to be found in the Islands
throughout the year, but I do not believe any of them breed there; I
have seen them in Guernsey, Jethou, Herm and Alderney, all through the
summer, but always in flocks on the mud and seaweed below high-water
mark, whenever they can be there, searching for food, and quite as wild
and wary as in the winter. I have never seen them paired, or in any
place the least likely for them to be breeding. I know Mr. Gallienne, in
his remarks to Professor Ansted's list, says, "Although I have never
heard of the eggs of either the Curlew or Whimbrel being found, I am
satisfied they breed here (I think at Herm), as they stay with us
throughout the year." I cannot from my observation agree with this
supposition of the Curlew breeding in the Islands; nor can I agree with
the statement made by a writer in 'Cassel's Magazine' for June or July,
1878, that he found a young Curlew in the down on one of the Islands
near Jethou, probably from the description 'La Fauconnière.' The writer
of this paper in 'Cassel's Magazine' was evidently no ornithologist,
and must, I think, have mistaken a young Oystercatcher, of which
several pairs were breeding there at the time, for a young Curlew; his
description of the cry of the old birds as they flew round was much more
like that of the Oystercatcher than the Curlew. All of the boatmen also,
with whom I have been about at various times, agree that the Curlews do
not breed in the Islands, though they are quite aware that they remain
throughout the year, and as many of them, in spite of the Guernsey Bird
Act, are great robbers of the eggs of the Gulls, Puffins, and
Oystercatchers, all of which they know well, they would hardly miss such
a fine mouthful as the egg of the Curlew if it was to be found. No doubt
the number of Curlews is largely increased in the autumn by migratory
visitors, which remain throughout the winter and depart again in the
spring: though numerous during autumn and winter, they are very wild and
wary, and, as everywhere else where I have had any experience of Curlews
at that time of year, very difficult to get a shot at; consequently very
few find their way into the market.
The Curlew is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum.
111. WHIMBREL. _Numenius phaeopus_, Linnaeus. French, "Courlis
corlieu."--A good many Whimbrel visit all the Islands during the spring
migration, and a few may stay some little time into the summer, as I
have seen them as late as June, but, as far as I have been able to make
out, none breed there; a few also may make their appearance on the
autumn migration, but very few in comparison with those which appear in
the spring, and I have never seen any there at that time. Purdy, one of
the Guernsey boatmen, who is pretty well up in the sea and shore birds,
told me the Whimbrel occurred commonly in May, but not on the autumn
migration. He added that it was known there as the "May-bird," and was
very good to eat, and much easier to shoot than a Curlew, in which he is
quite right.
Professor Ansted includes the Whimbrel in his list, and marks it only as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum.
112. REDSHANK. _Totanus calidris_, Linnaeus. French, "Chevalier
gambette."--An occasional but never numerous visitant to all the
Islands, on both spring and autumn migrations; none appear to remain
through the summer. I have, however, a Redshank in full breeding
plumage, killed in Guernsey as late as the 23rd of April.
Professor Ansted includes the Redshank in his list, but only marks it as
occurring in Guernsey. There are two specimens in the Museum.
113. GREEN SANDPIPER. _Totanus ochropus_, Linnaeus. French, "Chevalier
cul blanc."--The Green Sandpiper is an irregular, very scarce (not so
numerous indeed as the Redshank) visitant on the spring and autumn
migration. I have seen what was probably a family party about Vazon Bay,
in Guernsey, quite at the end of July, but I do not believe this bird
ever breeds in the Islands: those I saw were probably the parents and
young brood of an early-breeding pair, on their return from some not
very distant breeding-ground. Such parties seem only to pay the Islands
a very short visit on their return from their breeding-ground; at least
I have never seen a Green Sandpiper in the Islands as late as October or
November; it may, however, occasionally occur in the winter, as I have a
specimen from Torbay killed in December.
Professor Ansted does not include the Green Sandpiper in his list,
though he does the Wood Sandpiper, giving, however, no locality for it.
I have never seen this latter bird in the Islands, however; nor have I
been able to find that one has ever passed through the hands of any of
the local bird-stuffers, and I cannot help thinking a mistake has been
made; as both birds may, however, occur, and they are something alike, I
may, for the benefit of my Guernsey readers, mention that they may
immediately be distinguished; the axillary plume or long feathers under
the wing, in the Green Sandpiper, being black narrowly barred with
white; and in the Wood Sandpiper the reverse, white with a few dark bars
and markings; the tail also, in the Green Sandpiper, is much more
distinctly and boldy barred with black and white. Alive and on the wing
they may be immediately distinguished by the pure white rump and
tail-coverts of the Green Sandpiper, which are very conspicuous,
especially as the bird rises; the white on the same parts of the Wood
Sandpiper is much marked with brown, and consequently never appears so
conspicuously. There is one Green Sandpiper at present in the Museum,
which there seems no reason to doubt is Guernsey killed.
114. COMMON SANDPIPER. _Totanus hypoleucos_, Linnaeus. French,
"Chevalier guignette."--The Common Sandpiper, or Summer Snipe as it is
sometimes called, is a spring and autumn visitant, but never a numerous
one, sometimes, however, remaining till the summer. One of Mr. De
Putron's men told me he had seen one or two about their pond all this
summer (1878), and he believed they bred there; but as to this I am very
sceptical; I could see nothing of the bird when I visited the pond in
June and July, and I fancy the birds stayed about, as they do sometimes
about my own pond here in Somerset, till late perhaps in May, and then
departed to breed elsewhere. The latest occurrence I know of was one
recorded by Mr. Couch in the 'Zoologist' for 1874, as having been killed
on the 3rd of October. Mr. Couch adds that this was the first specimen
of the Common Sandpiper he had had since he had been in the Islands.
The Common Sandpiper is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked
as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen in the Museum.
115. BARTAILED GODWIT. _Limosa lapponica_, Linnaeus. French, "Barge
rousse."--The Bar-tailed Godwit is a regular and sometimes rather
numerous spring and autumn visitant. In May, 1876, a considerable number
of these birds seem to have rested on the little Island of Herm, where
the keeper shot three of them; two of these are now in my possession,
and are very interesting, as though all shot at the same time--I believe
on the same day--they are in various stages of plumage, the most
advanced being in thorough breeding-plumage, and the other not nearly so
far advanced; and the third, which I saw but have not got, was not so
far advanced as either of the others. In the two which I have the change
of colour in the feathers, without moult, may be seen in the most
interesting manner, especially in the least advanced, as many of the
feathers are still parti-coloured, the colouring matter not having
spread over the whole feather; in the most advanced, however, nearly all
the feathers were fully coloured with the red of the breeding-plumage.
This red plumage remains till the autumn, when it is replaced, after the
moult, by the more sombre and less handsome grey of the winter plumage.
Though the Bar-tailed Godwit goes far north to breed, not breeding much
nearer than Lapland and the north of Norway and Sweden, both old and
young soon show themselves again in the Channel Islands on their return
journey, as I shot a young bird of the year in Herm the last week in
August. Most of the autumn arrivals, however, soon pass on to more
southern winter quarters, only a few remaining very late, perhaps quite
through the winter, as I have one shot in Guernsey as late as the 14th
of December; this one, I need hardly say, is in full winter plumage, and
of course presents a most striking difference to the one shot in Herm in
May.
The Bar-tailed Godwit is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only
marked as occurring in Guernsey. It is, however, as I have shown,
perhaps more common in Herm, and it also occurs in Alderney. There is a
series of these in the Museum in change and breeding-plumage.
The Blacktailed Godwit is also included in Professor Ansted's list, but
I have never seen the bird in the Islands or been able to glean any
information concerning it, and there is no specimen in the Museum.
116. GREENSHANK. _Totanus canescens_, Gmelin. French, "Chevalier gris,"
"Chevalier aboyeur."--The Greenshank can only be considered a rare
occasional visitant. I have never shot or seen it myself in the Islands,
but Miss C.B. Carey records one in the 'Zoologist' for 1872 as having
been shot on the 2nd of October of that year, and brought to Mr.
Couch's, at whose shop she saw it.
The Greenshank is included in Professor Ansted's list, but there is no
letter to note which of the Islands it has occurred in. There is no
specimen in the Museum.
117. RUFF. _Machetes pugnax,_ Linnaeus. French, "Combatant," "Combatant
variable."--The Ruff is an occasional but not very common autumn and
winter visitant; it occurs, probably, more frequently in the autumn than
the winter. Mr. MacCulloch writes me, "I have a note of a Ruff shot in
October, 1871." This probably was, like all the Guernsey specimens I
have seen, a young bird of the year in that state of plumage in which it
leads to all sorts of mistakes, people wildly supposing it to be either
a Buff-breasted or a Bartram's Sandpiper. Miss C.B. Carey records one in
the 'Zoologist' for 1871 as shot in September of that year; this was a
young bird of the year. Miss C.B. Carey also records two in the
'Zoologist' for 1872 as having been shot about the 13th of April in that
year; these she describes as being in change of plumage but having no
ruff yet; probably the change of colour in the feathers was beginning
before the long feathers of the ruff began to grow; and this agrees with
what I have seen of the Ruff in confinement; the change of colour in the
feathers of the body begins before the ruff makes its appearance.
Professor Ansted includes the Ruff in his list, and only marks it as
occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen in the Museum at present.
118. WOODCOCK. _Scolopax rusticola_, Linnaeus. French, "Becasse
ordinaire."--The Woodcock is a regular and tolerably common autumnal
visitant to all the Islands, arriving and departing about the same time
as in England,--none, however, remaining to breed, as is so frequently
the case with us. There might be some good cock shooting in the Islands
if the Woodcocks were the least preserved, but as soon as one is heard
of every person in the Island who can beg, borrow, or steal a gun and
some powder and shot is out long before daylight, waiting for the first
shot at the unfortunate Woodcock as soon as there should be sufficient
daylight. In fact, such a scramble is there for a chance at a Woodcock
that a friend of mine told me he got up long before daylight one morning
and went to a favourite spot to begin at; thinking to be first on the
ground, he sat on a gate close by waiting for daylight; but so far from
his being the first, he found, as it got light, three other people, all
waiting, like himself, to begin as soon as it was light enough, each
thinking he was going to be first and have it all his own way with the
cocks. Besides the gun, another mode of capturing the Woodcocks used
till very lately to be, and perhaps still is, practised at Woodlands and
some other places where practicable in Guernsey. Nets are set across
open paths between the trees, generally Ilex, through which the
Woodcocks take their flight when going out "roading," as it is
called--that is, when on their evening excursion for food; into these
nets the Woodcocks fly and become easy victims.
Professor Ansted includes the Woodcock in his list, but only marks it as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is one specimen in the Museum.
119. SOLITARY SNIPE. _Scolopax major_, Gmelin. French, "Grande
becassine."--I have never been fortunate enough to shoot a Solitary
Snipe myself in the Channel Islands, neither have I seen one at any of
the bird-stuffers; but that is not very likely, as the shooter of a
Solitary Snipe only congratulates himself on having killed a fine big
Snipe, and carries it off for dinner, but, from some of the
descriptions I have had given me of these fine big Snipes, I have no
doubt it has occasionally been a Solitary Snipe. Mr. MacCulloch also
writes me word that the Solitary Snipe occasionally occurs.
It is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked by him as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the
Museum.
120. SNIPE. _Gallinago gallinaria_, Gmelin. French, "Bécassine
ordinaire."--The Common Snipe is a regular and rather numerous autumnal
visitant to all the Islands, remaining through the winter and departing
again in the spring, some few remaining rather late into the summer. I
am very sceptical myself about the Snipe breeding in the Channel Islands
in the present day, although I was told one or two were seen about Mr.
De Putron's pond late this summer, and were supposed to be breeding
there; however, I could see nothing of them when there in June and July,
although, as I have said before, Mr. De Putron kindly allowed me to
search round his pond for either birds or eggs. Mr. MacCulloch, however,
thinks they still breed in Guernsey, as he writes to me to say, "I
believe that Snipes continue to breed here occasionally; I have heard of
them, and put them up myself in summer." If they do, I should think the
most likely places would be the wild gorse and heath-covered valleys
leading down to the Gouffre and Petit Bo Bay, as there is plenty of
water and soft feeding places in both; I have never seen one there,
however, though I have several times walked both those valleys and the
intervening land during the breeding-season, and I should think all
these places were much too much overrun with picnic parties and
excursionists to allow of Snipes breeding there now. Should the Snipe,
however, still breed in the Island, it would be as well to give it a
place in the Guernsey Bird Act, as it is much more worthy of protection
during the breeding-season than many of the birds there mentioned.
Sometimes in the autumn I have seen and shot Snipe in the most unlikely
places when scrambling along between huge granite boulders lying on a
surface of hard granite rock, where it would be perfectly impossible for
a Snipe to pick up a living; indeed with his sensitive bill I do not
believe a Snipe, if he found anything eatable, could pick it off the
hard ground. Probably the Snipes I have found in these unlikely places
were not there by choice, but because driven from their more favourite
places by the continual gunning going on in almost every field inland.
The Snipe is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey: it is difficult to say why this should be, when
the Solitary Snipe and the Jack Snipe are marked as occurring in
Guernsey and Sark, and all three are, at least, as common in Alderney as
in the other two Islands. There is one specimen in the Museum.
121. JACK SNIPE. _Gallinago gallinula_, Linnaeus. French, "Bécassine
Jourde."--The Jack Snipe is a regular autumnal visitant to all the
Islands, but never so numerous as the Common Snipe. A few may always be
seen, however, hung up in the market with the Common Snipes through the
autumn and winter.
Professor Ansted includes it in his list, and marks it only as occurring
in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.
122. KNOT. _Tringa canutus_, Brisson. French, "Becasseau canut,"
"Becasseau maubèche."--Common as the Knot is on the south and west coast
of England during autumn and winter, it is by no means so common in the
Channel Islands. I have never shot it there myself in any of my autumnal
expeditions. Miss C.B. Carey records one, however, in the 'Zoologist'
for 1871, as having been shot on September the 23rd of that year; and
Mr. Harvie Brown mentions seeing a solitary Knot far out on the shore at
Herm in January, 1869. These are the only occasions I am certain about,
although it probably occurs sparingly every year, but I have never seen
it even in the market, and were it at all common a few certainly would
have occasionally found their way there.
Professor Ansted includes it in his list, but only marks it as occurring
in Guernsey. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.
123. CURLEW SANDPIPER. _Tringa subarquata_, Güldenstaedt. French,
"Becasseau cocorli."--The Curlew Sandpiper, or Pigmy Curlew as it is
sometimes called, can only be considered a rare occasional visitant to
the Channel Islands. I have never seen or shot one there myself, but Mr.
Couch records one in the 'Zoologist' for 1874 as having been shot near
the Richmond Barracks on the 5th of October of that year. Colonel
L'Estrange told me also that some were seen in a small bay near Grand
Rocque in the autumn of 1877. It may, however, have occurred at other
times and been passed over or looked upon as only a Purre, from which
bird, however, it may immediately be distinguished by its longer legs
and taller form when on the ground, and by the white rump.
It is not included in Professor Ansted's list, and there is no specimen
in the Museum.
124. PURRE or DUNLIN. _Tringa alpina_, Linnaeus. French, "Becasseau
brunette," "Becasseau variable."--The Purre is resident in all the
Islands throughout the year in considerable numbers, which however are
immensely increased in the autumn by migratory arrivals, most of which
remain throughout the winter, departing in the spring for their breeding
stations. Though resident throughout the year, and assuming full
breeding plumage, I am very doubtful as to the Purre breeding in the
Islands; I have never been able to find eggs, nor, as a rule, have I
found the bird anywhere but on its ordinary winter feeding-ground,
amongst the mud and seaweed between high and low water mark. The most
likely parts to find them breeding seem to be some of the high land and
heather in Guernsey and the sandy common on the northern part of Herm,
near which place I saw a few this summer (1878) in perfect breeding
plumage, and showing more signs of being paired than they generally do,
and in parts of Alderney.
Professor Ansted has not mentioned it in his list. There are two
specimens in the Museum, both in breeding plumage.
125. LITTLE STINT. _Tringa minuta_, Leishler. French, "Becasseau
echasses," "Becasseau minute."--The Little Stint is only an occasional
and never numerous autumnal visitant. I have seen one or two in the
flesh at Mr. Couch's, killed towards the end of October, but I have
never seen one alive or shot one myself.
It is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as occurring in
Guernsey only. There is no specimen in the Museum.
126. SANDERLING. _Calidris arenaria_, Linnaeus. French, "Sanderling
variable."--The Sanderling is a regular and rather early autumn visitant
to all the Islands, as I have shot one as early as the end of August in
Cobo Bay in Guernsey; this is about the time the Sanderling makes its
first appearance on the opposite side of the Channel at Torbay. I have
not met with it later on in October and November, but no doubt a few
remain throughout the winter as they do in Torbay, where I have shot
Sanderlings as late as the 27th of December; a few also probably visit
the Islands on their return migration in the spring. The two in the
Museum seem to bear out this, as one is nearly in winter plumage, and
the other is assuming the red plumage of the breeding season, and could
not have been killed before April or May.
The Sanderling is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked by him
as occurring in Guernsey and Sark.
127. GREY PHALAROPE. _Phalaropus fulicarius_, Linnaeus. French,
"Phalarope gris," "Phalarope roussâtre," "Phalarope
phatyrhinque."[19]--The Grey Phalarope is a tolerably regular and
occasionally numerous autumnal visitant to all the Islands, not,
however, arriving before the end of October or beginning of November. At
this time of year the greater numbers of birds are in the varied
autumnal plumage so common in British-killed specimens, showing partial
remains of the summer plumage; but one I have, killed in November, 1875,
was in most complete winter plumage, there not being a single dark or
margined feather on the bird. This perfect state of winter plumage is by
no means common either in British or Channel Island specimens, so much
so that I do not think I have seen one in such perfect winter plumage
before.
The Grey Phalarope is included in Professor Ansted's list, but no
letters marking its distribution through the Islands are added, perhaps
because it was considered to be generally distributed through all of
them. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.
128. HERON. _Ardea cinerea_, Linnaeus. French, "Heron cendré", "Heron
huppé."--A good many Herons may be seen about the Islands at all times
of the year; those that remain through the summer, though scattered over
all the Islands, are probably all non-breeding birds. I have seen them
fishing along the shore in Guernsey, Herm, Alderney, and the rocky
islands north of Herm, but I have never seen or heard of an egg being
found in either of the Islands, nor have I ever seen anything that bore
the most remote resemblance to the nest of a Heron. Mr. MacCulloch,
however, writes to me as follows: "The Heron is said to breed
occasionally on the Amfrocques and others of those small islets north of
Herm." Mr. Howard Saunders, Col. L'Estrange, and myself, however,
visited all these islets this last breeding season (1878), and though we
saw Herons about fishing in the shallow pools left by the tide, we could
see nothing that would lead us to suppose that Herons ever bred there,
in fact, though Herons have been known to breed on cliffs by the sea;
the Amfroques and all the other little wild rocky islets are apparently
the most unlikely places for Herons to breed on. In Guernsey itself,
however, it is more likely that a few Herons formerly bred, and that
there was once a small Heronry in the Vale. As Mr. MacCulloch writes to
me, "There is a locality in the parish of St. Samson, at the foot of
Delancy Hill, in the vicinity of the marshes near the Ivy Castle,
formerly thickly wooded with old elms, which bears the name of La
Heronière. It may have been a resort of Herons, but I am bound to say
the name may have been derived from a family called 'Heron,' now
extinct." It seems to me also possible that the family derived their
name from being the proprietors of the only Heronry in Guernsey. In the
place mentioned by Mr. MacCulloch there are still a great many elm
trees quite big enough for Herons to build in, supposing they were
allowed to do so, which would not be likely at the present time. The
number of Herons in the Channel Islands seems to me to be considerably
increased in the autumn, probably by wanderers from the Heronries on the
south coast of Devon and Dorset; on the Dart and the Exe, and near
Poole.
The Heron is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.