pourpre."--The Purple Heron is an occasional accidental wanderer to all
the Islands. Mr. MacCulloch writes me word, "I have notes of that
beautiful bird, the Purple Heron, being killed here (Guernsey) in May,
1845, and in 1849; also in Alderney on the 8th May, 1867." Curiously
enough Mr. Rodd records the capture of one, a female, near the Lizard,
in Cornwall, late in April of the same year.[20] When at Alderney this
summer (1878) I was told that a Heron of some sort, but certainly not a
Common Heron, had been shot in that Island about six weeks before my
visit on the 27th of June. Accordingly I went the next morning to the
bird-stuffer, Mr. Grieve, and there I found the bird and the person who
shot it, who told me that it rose from some rather boggy ground at the
back of the town--that he shot at it and wounded it, but it flew on
towards the sea; and as it was getting rather late he did not find it
till next morning, when he found it dead near the place he had marked it
down the night before. It was in consequence of going to look up this
bird that I found the Greenland Falcon before mentioned, which had been
shot by the same person. These are all the instances I have been able to
collect of the occurrence of the Purple Heron in the Channel Islands.
It is, however, included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as
occurring in Guernsey, probably on the authority of one of the earlier
specimens mentioned by Mr. MacCulloch. There is no specimen at present
in the Museum.
130. SQUACCO HERON. _Ardeola cornuta_, Pallas. French, "Heron
crabier."--I have in my collection a Guernsey-killed specimen of the
Squacco Heron, which Mr. Couch informed me was shot in that island in
the summer of 1867, and from inquiries I have made I have no doubt this
information is correct. Mr. MacCulloch also writes to me to say, "A
Squacco Heron was shot in the Vale Parish on the 14th of May, 1867, no
doubt the one Couch sent to you." This was duly recorded by me in the
'Zoologist' for 1872, and is, I believe, the first recorded instance of
its occurrence in the Channel Islands.
It is not mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and there is no specimen
in the Museum.
131. BITTERN. _Botaurus stellaris_, Linnaeus. French, "Heron grand
butor," "Le grand butor."--Bitterns were probably at one time more
common in Guernsey than they are at present, drainage and better
cultivation having contributed to thin their numbers, as it has done in
England; and Mr. MacCulloch tells me that in his youth they were by no
means uncommon. Of late years, however, they have become much more
uncommon, though, as he adds, specimens have been shot within the last
three or four years. They seem now, however, to be confined to
occasional autumnal and winter visitants. Mr. Couch says ('Zoologist'
for 1871):--"On the 30th December, 1874, after a heavy fall of snow, I
had a female Bittern brought to me to be stuffed, shot in the morning in
the Marais; and on the 2nd of January following another was shot on the
beach near the Vale Church. I had also part of some of the
quill-feathers of a Bittern sent to me for identification by Mrs. Jago,
which had been killed in the Islands the last week in January, 1879."
These are the most recent specimens I have been able to get any account
of. The bird-stuffer in Alderney (Mr. Grieve) and his friend told me
they had shot Bitterns in that island, but did not remember the date.
The Bittern is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen in the Museum.
132. AMERICAN BITTERN. _Botaurus lentiginosus_, Montagu. French, "Heron
lentigineux."[21]--This occasional straggler from the New World has
once, in its wanderings, reached the Channel Islands, and was shot in
Guernsey on the 27th October, 1870, and was duly recorded by me in the
'Zoologist' for 1871; it is now in my collection. This is the only
occurrence of this bird in the Channel Islands yet recorded; but as the
bird occasionally crosses to this side of the Atlantic--several
specimens having occurred in the British Islands--it may possibly occur
in Guernsey or some of the Channel Islands again. It may, therefore, be
as well to point out the principal distinctions between this bird and
the Common Bittern last mentioned. Between the adult birds there can be
no mistake: the longer and looser feathers on the fore part of the neck,
which are slightly streaked and freckled with dark brown, may be
immediately distinguished from the much shorter and more regularly
marked feathers on the neck of the adult American Bittern. This
distinction, however, is not perfectly clear in young birds; but, at
any age or in any state of plumage, the birds may be immediately
distinguished by the primary quill-feathers, which in the American
Bittern are a uniform dark chocolate-brown without any marks whatever,
while in the Common Bittern they are much marked and streaked with pale
yellowish brown; this may be always relied on at any age or in any
plumage.
The American Bittern is not mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, no
specimen having been found in the Channel Islands till after the
publication of his list, and of course there is no specimen in the
Museum.
133. LITTLE BITTERN. _Ardetta minuta_, Linnaeus. French, "Heron
Blongios."[22]--I only know of one occurrence of the Little Bittern in
the Channel Islands, and that was towards the end of November, 1876; and
Mr. Couch writes to me as follows on the 3rd of December: "A very good
Little Bittern was caught alive in the Vale Road; after being shot at
and missed by two men, a young man in the road threw his
pocket-handkerchief at it and brought it in to me alive." Mr. Couch also
informed me, when he forwarded me the specimen, that it was a male by
dissection. It is now in my collection, and is a young bird of the year.
I am rather sorry that as Mr. Couch got it alive he did not forward it
to me in that state, as, unless it had been wounded by the two shots, I
have no doubt I should have been able to keep it alive and observe its
habits and changes of plumage as it advanced towards maturity.
The Little Bittern is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as
occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen in the Museum.
134. SPOONBILL. _Platalea leucorodia_, Linnaeus. French, "Spatule
blanche."--An occasional but by no means common visitant to the Channel
Islands. I have been able to hear of but very few instances of its
occurrence or capture of late years; Mr. Couch, however, writes me, in a
letter dated November, 1873, that a Spoonbill was brought to him to
stuff. In all probability this is the same bird recorded by Mr.
Broughton in the 'Field' for October 25th, 1873, and in the 'Zoologist'
for January, 1874. This is the only very recent specimen I have been
able to trace; but Mr. Broughton in his note mentions the occurrence of
one about twenty years before; and Mrs. Jago, who, when she was Miss
Cumber, did a good deal of bird-stuffing in Guernsey, told me she had
stuffed a Spoonbill for the Museum about twenty years ago. This is
probably the other one mentioned by Mr. Broughton, and he may have seen
it in the Museum; it is not there, however, now--either having become
moth-eaten, and consequently thrown away, or lost when the Museum
changed its quarters across the market-place. Mr. MacCulloch does not
seem to consider the Spoonbill such a very rare visitant to the Channel
Islands, as he writes to me, "The Spoonbill is not near so rare a
visitor as you seem to think; specimens were killed here in 1844, and in
previous years, and again in 1849, and in October, 1873.[23] They are
seldom solitary, but generally appear in small flocks. I forget whether
it was in 1844 or 1849 that flocks were reported to have been seen in
various parts of England, even as far west as Penzance. I think that in
one of these years as many as a dozen were seen here in a flock." Mr.
Rodd, in his 'List of the Birds of Cornwall,' does not mention either of
these years as great years for Spoonbills, only saying, "Occasionally,
and especially of late years, observed in various parts of the county; a
flock of several was seen and captured at Gwithian; others have been
obtained from the neighbourhood of Penzance, and also from Scilly."[24]
The Spoonbill is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as
occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen at present in the Museum,
the one stuffed by Miss Cumber having, as above mentioned, disappeared.
135. WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. _Anser albifrons_, Scopoli. French, "Oie
rieuse, ou à front blanc."--None of the Grey Geese seem common in
Guernsey; neither the Greylag, the Bean, nor the Pink-footed Goose have,
as far as I am aware, been obtained about the Islands, nor have I ever
seen any either alive or in the market, where they would be almost sure
to be brought had they been shot by any of the fishermen or gunners
about the Islands. There is one specimen, however, of the White-fronted
Goose in the Museum, which I have reason to believe was killed in or
near Guernsey; and this is the only specimen of this Goose which, as far
as I am aware, has been taken in the Islands.
The White-fronted Goose is included in Professor Ansted's list, and
marked as occurring in Guernsey. The Greylag and the Bean Goose are also
included in the list, the Greylag marked as occurring in Guernsey and
Sark, and the Bean as only in Guernsey; but no information beyond the
letter marking the locality is given as to either; and the only specimen
in the Museum is the White-fronted Goose above mentioned, neither of the
others being represented there now, nor do I remember ever having seen a
specimen of either there.
136. BRENT GOOSE. _Bernicla brenta_, Brisson. French, "Oie cravant,"
"Bernache cravant."--The Brent Goose is a regular winter visitant to all
the Islands, varying, however, in numbers in different years: sometimes
it is very numerous, and affords good sport during the winter to the
fishermen, who generally take a gun in the boat with them as soon as the
close season is over, sometimes before. The flocks generally consist
mostly of young birds of the year; the fully adult birds, however,
though fewer in number, are in sufficient numbers to make a very fair
show.
Professor Ansted includes it in his list, but only marks it as occurring
in Guernsey and Sark; it is, however, quite as common about Herm and
Alderney. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.
137. MUTE SWAN. _Cygnus olor_, Linnaeus. French, "Cygne tuberculé."--I
do not believe this bird has ever visited the Channel Islands in a
thoroughly wild state, though it is pretty widely spread over Europe;
its range, however, being generally more to the east than the Channel
Islands. Mr. Couch, however, at page 4939 of the 'Zoologist' for 1874,
records the occurrence of two Mute Swans on the 7th of September at the
Braye Pond, where they were shot. He also says that "five others passed
over the Island the same day; they were flying low, and, judging from
their colour, were young birds." As no one in the Islands keeps Swans,
these were most probably a family party that had strayed away from the
Swannery at Abbotsbury, on the opposite coast of Dorset, where some
three hundred and fifty pairs still breed annually. I have myself seen
as many six hundred and thirty birds there, the hens sitting and the old
males each resting quietly by the nest, keeping guard over the female
and the eggs. The distance from the Abbotsbury Swannery, which is at the
extreme end of the Chesil Beach, in Dorsetshire, to Guernsey is nothing
great for Swans to wander; and they often, both old and young (after the
young are able to fly), wander away from their home as far as Exmouth on
one side and Weymouth Bay or the Needles on the other; and an expedition
to Guernsey would be little more than to one of these places, and by
September the young, which are generally hatched tolerably early in June
(I have seen a brood out with their parents on the water as early as the
27th of May), would be perfectly able to wander, either by themselves or
with their parents, as far as the Channel Islands, and, as at this time
they rove about outside the Chesil Beach a good deal, going sometimes a
long way out to sea, there is no reason they should not do so. It seems
a great pity that these fine birds should be shot when they wander
across channel to Guernsey, especially when it must be apparent to every
one that they are really private property. If the present long close
season is to be continued, the Mute Swan might well be added to the
somewhat unreasonable list of birds in the Guernsey Sea-birds Act; at
all events, Swans would be better worth preserving than Plongeons or
Cormorants.
138. HOOPER. _Cygnus musicus_, Bechstein. French, "Cygne sauvage."--The
Wild Swan or Hooper[25] is an occasional visitor to the Channel Islands
in hard winters, sometimes probably in considerable numbers, as Mrs.
Jago (late Miss Cumber) told me she had had several to stuff in a very
hard winter about thirty years ago; some of these were young birds, as
she told me some were not so white as others. Mr. MacCulloch also says
that the Hooper visits the Channel Islands in severe winters; and the
capture of one is recorded by a correspondent of the 'Guernsey Mail and
Telegraph' for 4th January, 1879, as having been shot in that Island a
few days before; it is said to have been a young bird, grey in colour.
The writer of the notice, while distinguishing this bird from the Mute
Swan, does not, however, make it so clear whether it was really the
present species or Bewick's Swan; from the measurement of the full
length (5 ft. 3 in.) given, however, it would appear that it was the
present species, as that would be full length for it, while Bewick's
Swan would be about one-third less; some description of the bill,
however, would have been more satisfactory. It would certainly have been
interesting to have had some more particulars about this Swan, as this
last severe winter (1878 and 1879) has been very productive of Swans in
the south-west of England, the greater number of those occurring in this
county of Somerset, however, curiously enough, having been Bewick's
Swan, which is generally considered the rarer species. Though Swans have
been so exceptionally numerous in various parts of England this winter,
the above-mentioned is the only occurrence I have heard of in the
Channel Islands.
The Hooper is included in Professor Ansted's list, but marked as only
occurring in Guernsey. There are two specimens in the Museum, one adult
and one young bird.
139. BEWICK'S SWAN. _Cygnus minor_, Keys and Blasius. French, "Cygne de
Bewick."[26]--I have very little authority for including Bewick's Swan
in my list of Guernsey birds; Mr. MacCulloch, however, writes me word,
"The Common Hooper has visited us in severe winters, and is certainly
not the _only_ species of _wild_ Swan that has been shot here." In all
probability the other must have been Bewick's Swan, which no doubt has
occasionally occurred, perhaps more frequently than is supposed, though
not so frequently as the Hooper. Probably the difference between the two
is not sufficiently known; it may, therefore, be as well to point out
the distinctions. Bewick's Swan is much smaller than the Hooper, but the
great outward distinction is, that in the Hooper the yellow at the base
of the bill extends to and includes the nostrils, whereas in Bewick's
Swan the yellow occupies a very small portion of the base of the bill,
not extending so far as the nostrils: this is always sufficient to
distinguish the two, and is almost the only exterior distinction, but on
dissection the anatomical structure, especially of the trachea, shows
material difference between the two.
Professor Ansted includes Bewick's Swan in his list, and marks it as
occurring in Guernsey. There is, however, no specimen at present in the
Museum.
140. WILD DUCK. _Anas boschas_, Linnaeus. French, "Canard
sauvage."---The Wild Duck is an occasional autumn and winter visitant. I
have never shot one myself in the Islands, but I have several times seen
Guernsey-killed ones in the market. Though a visitant to all the
Islands, I do not believe the Wild Duck breeds, at all events at
present, in any of them; Mr. MacCulloch, however, writes me word "The
Wild Duck formerly bred here;" and Mr. Gallienne, in his 'Notes' to
Professor Ansted's list, says--"The Wild Duck formerly bred in Guernsey
rather abundantly, but it seldom does so now. Last year a nest was found
on one of the rocks near Herm." This would be about 1861. The rocks to
the northward of Herm do not seem to me a likely place for the Wild Duck
to breed; however, there are one or two places where they might possibly
do so. A much more likely place would be in some of the reed beds in the
Grande Mare, or even amongst the heather and gorse above the high cliffs
on the south and east side of the Island,--a sort of place they are fond
of selecting in this county, Somerset, where they frequently nest
amongst the heather high up in the hills, and quite away from any water.
The Wild Duck is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the
Museum.
141. PINTAIL. _Dafila acuta_, Linnaeus. French, "Pilet," "Canard pilet."
The Pintail is an occasional autumn and Winter visitant, but never very
common. I have one specimen, a female, killed in Guernsey in November,
1871, and this Mr. Couch told me was the only one he had had through his
hands whilst in Guernsey; and Captain Hubbach writes me word that he
shot one in Alderney in January, 1863. I have never seen it in the
Guernsey market, like the Wild Duck and Teal.
Professor Ansted includes it in his list, but only marks it as occurring
in Guernsey. There is one specimen, a male in full plumage, in the
Museum.
142. TEAL. _Querquedula crecca_, Linnaeus. French, "Sarcelle
d'hiver."--Like the Wild Duck, the Teal is a regular but never numerous
visitant to all the Islands. A few make their appearance in the Guernsey
market in October and November, and occasionally through the winter; but
Teal do not, as a rule, add much to the Guernsey sportsman's bag. In
November, 1871, a friend of mine told me that, after a long day's
shooting from daylight till dark, he succeeded in bagging one Teal and
one Woodcock. I was rather glad I was not with him on this occasion, but
chose the wild shooting on the shore, where I got one or two Golden
Plovers, and Turnstone and Ring Dotterel enough for a pie--and,
by-the-bye, a very good pie they made.
Professor Ansted includes the Teal in his list, and marks it as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen in the Museum at
present.
143. EIDER DUCK. _Somateria mollissima,_ Linnaeus. French, "Canard
eider," "Morillon eider."--The Eider Duck occasionally straggles to the
Channel Islands in the autumn, but very seldom, and the majority of
those that do occur are in immature plumage. I have one immature bird,
killed in Guernsey in the winter of 1876; and that is the only Channel
Island specimen that has come under my notice, and I think almost the
only one Mr. Couch had had through his hands.
The Eider Duck is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as
occurring in Guernsey. The King Eider is also included in the list, but
no letter marking the distribution through the Islands is given, and no
information beyond the mere name, so I should think in all probability
this must have been a mistake, especially as I can find no other
evidence whatever of its occurrence. There is no specimen of either bird
in the Museum.
144. COMMON SCOTER. _Oidemia nigra_, Linnaeus. French, "Macreuse,"
"Canard macreuse."--The Scoter is a common autumn and winter visitant to
all the Islands, generally making its appearance in considerable flocks;
sometimes, however, the flocks get broken up, and single birds may then
be seen scattered about in the more sheltered bays. Some apparently
remain till tolerably late in the spring as Mr. MacCulloch wrote me word
that a pair of Scoters were killed in the last week in April, 1878, off
the Esplanade; he continues, "I had only a cursory glance of them as I
was passing through the market in a hurry, and I am not sure they were
not Velvet Scoters. The male had a great deal of bright yellow about the
nostrils." Mr. MacCulloch, however, told me afterwards, when I asked him
more about them, and especially whether he had seen any white about the
wing, that he had not seen any white whatever about them, so I have but
little doubt that they were Common Scoters, and he could hardly have
failed to be struck by the conspicuous white bar on the wing, by which
the Velvet Scoter, both male and female, may immediately be
distinguished from the Common Scoter. As on the South Coast of Devon or
Dorset, a few scattered Scoters--non-breeding birds, of course--remain
throughout the summer. I have one, a male, killed off Guernsey on July
19th: this bird is in that peculiar state of plumage which all the males
of the _Anatidae_ put on from about July to October, and in which many
of them look so like the females.
The Common Scoter is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked
only as occurring in Guernsey. The Velvet Scoter is also included in
Professor Ansted's list, and marked as occurring in Guernsey; but there
seems to be no other evidence of its having occurred in the Islands;
and a mistake may easily have been made, however, as the Velvet Scoter
occurs tolerably frequently on the south coast of Devon, though never in
such numbers as the Common Scoter; it may, of course, occur in the
Channel Islands occasionally. There is no specimen of either bird in the
Museum.
145. GOOSANDER. _Mergus merganser_, Linnaeus. French, "Grand
Harle."--The Goosander is a regular and tolerably numerous visitant to
all the Islands, arriving in the autumn and remaining throughout the
winter. The heavy-breaking seas of the Channel Islands do not appear to
disturb the composure of these birds in the least, for once, on my
voyage home on the 16th November, 1871, I saw a small flock of
Goosanders off Herm, close to the steamer; they were swimming perfectly
unconcerned in a heavy-breaking sea, which made the steamer very lively,
dipping first one and then the other paddle-box into the water; as we
got close up to them they rose, but only flew a short distance and
pitched again in the white water. They seem to me to keep the sea better
than the Red-breasted Merganser--at least, I have not seen them seek
shelter so much in the different bays.
The Goosander is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as
occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen in the Museum at present,
though I think there used to be one, but I suppose it has got
moth-eaten and been thrown away.
146. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. _Mergus serrator,_ Linnaeus. French, "Harle
Huppé."--Like the Goosander, the Red-breasted Merganser is a regular and
by no means uncommon autumn and winter visitant to the Channel Islands.
It seems to me, as I said before, that these birds seek the more
sheltered bays during wild squally weather more than the Goosanders do;
not but what they can keep the sea well even in bad weather, but I have
never seen or shot the Goosander close to the shore seeking smooth
water, as I have done the Red-breasted Merganser. The greater number of
Red-breasted Mergansers killed in the Channel Islands which I have seen
have been either females or males that had not assumed the full adult
plumage--in fact, in that state of plumage in which they are the "Dun
Diver" of Bewick; full-plumaged adult males do, however, occur as well
as females and young males, or males in a state of change.
Professor Ansted includes the Red-breasted Merganser in his list, but
only marks it as occurring in Guernsey. There are two specimens in the
Museum--a male in full plumage and a female or young male.