BIRDS OF GUERNSEY. (continued 3)

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.

129. PURPLE HERON. Ardea purpurea, Linnaeus. French, "Heron 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.

147. SMEW. Mergus albellus, Linnaeus. French, "Harle piette," "Harle étoilé," "Petit harle huppé."—The Smew can only be considered an occasional accidental autumnal visitant, and the few that do occur are generally either females, young males, or males still in a state of change. I do not know of any instance in which a full-plumaged male has occurred in the Channel Islands.

It is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as occurring in Guernsey only. There are two specimens in the Museum, both females or immature males, or, at all events, males which have not begun to assume their proper plumage after the summer change.

148. LITTLE GREBE. Podiceps minor, Gmelin. French, "Grèbe castagneux."—The Little Grebe, or Dabchick, occurs occasionally in the Islands, mostly as an autumnal or winter visitant. I have occasionally seen freshly-killed ones hanging up in the market in November; I have, however, never seen it alive or shot it in the Islands. Mr. Couch, writing to me in December, 1876, told me that Mr. De Putron had told him that Little Grebes had bred in his pond in the Vale the summer before, and Mr. De Putron afterwards confirmed this; they can only breed there occasionally, however, as there were certainly none breeding there in 1878, when I was there.

The Little Grebe is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked by him as occurring in Guernsey only. There are two specimens in the Museum and some eggs, which were said to be Guernsey, and probably were so, perhaps from the Vale Pond.

149. EARED GREBE. Podiceps nigricollis, Sundeval. French, "Grèbe oreillard."—The Eared Grebe is an occasional autumnal visitant to the Islands, remaining on till the winter; it is never very numerous; in some years, however, it appears to visit the Islands in greater numbers than in others, as Mr. Couch mentions, at p. 4380 of the 'Zoologist' for 1875, that, amongst other grebes, four Eared Grebes were brought to him between the 4th and 13th of January. I do not know, however, that it ever occurs at any time of year except the winter and autumn; and I have never seen a Channel Island specimen in breeding plumage, or even in a state of change.

The Eared Grebe is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There is now no specimen in the Museum.

150. SCALAVONIAN GREBE. Podiceps auritus, Linnaeus. French, "Grèbe cornu ou Esclavon."—The Sclavonian Grebe is a regular and rather numerous autumn and winter visitor to all the Islands. In rough weather it may be seen fishing about the harbour at Guernsey when it can find any protection from the rough seas that so often rage all round the Island, and which drive it to seek shelter either about the harbour or some of the more protected bays. I do not know that it has ever bred in the Islands, but there was a very fine specimen in full breeding-plumage at the late Mr. Mellish's, which I often saw there; and, on subsequent inquiry from his son, Mr. William Mellish, he wrote in 1878 to me to say, "The Sclavonian Grebe was killed by my brother Alfred at Arnold's Pond, just the other side of the Vale Church to the one on which you were." This Arnold's Pond is the one I have so often mentioned before as Mr. De Putron's. I have not been able to ascertain the exact date at which this bird was killed, but it must have been some time in the spring, as it was in full breeding-plumage. There is also one in full breeding-plumage in the Museum, so it must occasionally stay on some time into the spring. The young birds and adults in winter plumage, when it is the Dusky Grebe of Bewick, are very much like the Eared Grebe in the same state of plumage; but they may always be distinguished, the Sclavonian Grebe always being rather the larger and having the bill straighter, and making a more regular cone than that of the Eared Grebe, which is slightly turned up. In the full breeding-plumage there can be no possibility of confounding the two species.

The Sclavonian Grebe is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There are two specimens in the Museum, one in full breeding-plumage and one in winter plumage.

151. RED-NECKED GREBE. Podiceps griseigena, Boddaert. French, "Grèbe jou-gris."—I have never seen a Channel Island specimen of the Red-necked Grebe in full breeding-plumage as I have the Sclavonian, but it is a tolerably regular autumn and winter visitant, and in some years appears to be the more numerous of the two. Certainly in November, 1875, this was the case, and the Red-necked Grebe was commoner than either the Great-crested or the Sclavonian Grebe, especially about the Guernsey coast between St. Peter's Port and St. Samson's, where I saw several; and a good many were also brought into Mr. Couch's about the same time more than usual. One which I obtained had slight traces of the red about the throat remaining, otherwise this one was like the others which I saw in complete winter plumage.

The Red-necked Grebe is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There is one specimen in the Museum.

152. GREAT-CRESTED GREBE. Podiceps cristatus, Linnaeus. French. "Grèbe huppé."—The Great-crested Grebe is a regular autumn and winter visitant to the Channel Islands, but not, I think, in quite such numbers as at Teignmouth and Exmouth and along the south coast of Devon. I have not shot this bird in the Channel Islands myself, nor have I seen it alive: but I have seen several Guernsey-killed specimens. These were all young birds or adults in winter plumage; and I have one, a young bird of the year, killed in the Guernsey harbour late in November, 1876.

It is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There is one specimen, a young bird of the year, in the Museum.

153. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. Colymbus glacialis, Linnaeus. French, "Plongeon imbrim."—The Great Northern Diver is a common autumn and winter visitant to all the Islands, arriving early in November, perhaps even about the last week in October. The earliest date at which I have seen it myself was on the 9th November. A considerable majority of these autumnal visitants are young birds of the year, the rest being adults in winter plumage; but, as is the case on the south coast of Devon, a few occasionally remain so late on in the spring as to have fully attained the breeding-plumage. There is one Guernsey-killed specimen in perfect, or nearly perfect, breeding-plumage in the Museum, which I think was killed some time in May by Mr. Peter Le Newry, a well-known fisherman and gunner living in Guernsey, who procured a good many specimens for that establishment, but, unluckily, no note as to date or locality has been preserved; he told me he had killed this bird late in the spring, but could not when I saw him remember the exact date. It must not be supposed that because this bird occasionally remains in the Islands late into the spring, and assumes its full breeding-plumage before leaving, that it ever remains to breed or avails itself of the protection so kindly afforded to it and its congeners, as well as their eggs, by the Guernsey Bird Act.

The Great Northern Diver is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There are four specimens in the Museum in full breeding plumage and change.

154. BLACK-THROATED DIVER. Colymbus arcticus, Linnaeus. French, "Plongeon à gorge noir."—The Black-throated Diver is a much less common visitor to the Islands than either the Great Northern or Red-throated Diver; it does, however, occasionally occur in the autumn and winter; all the specimens that have been obtained are either immature or in winter plumage, and I do not know of a single instance in which it has been procured in full plumage as the Great Northern has. In the 'Zoologist' for 1875 Mr. Couch records the occurrence of a Black-throated Diver on the 19th of January of that year, and of another on the 30th of the same month; these are the most recent occurrences of which I am aware. No doubt the young Black-throated Diver may be occasionally mistaken for and passed over as the young Northern Diver; but it may always be known by its much smaller size, being intermediate between that bird and the Red-throated Diver, from which, however, it may always be distinguished by wanting the white spots on the back and wing-coverts which are always present in the winter plumage of the adult Red-throated Diver, and the oval marks on the margins of the feathers of the same parts in the young birds of the year.

The Black-throated Diver is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as only occurring in Guernsey. There is one specimen, an immature bird, in the Museum.

155. RED-THROATED DIVER. Colymbus septentrionalis, Linnaeus. French, "Plongeon à gorge rouge," "Plongeon cat-marin."—The Red-throated Diver is a regular autumn and winter visitant to the Islands, and rather the most common of the three Divers. As with the Northern Diver, it occasionally remains until it has nearly assumed its full breeding-plumage, but it does not occur so frequently in that plumage as it does on the south coast of Devon and Dorset; indeed I have never found either this bird or the Great Northern Diver so common in the Channel Islands as they are about Exmouth and Teignmouth, even in the ordinary winter plumage; probably the mouths of rivers were more attractive to them as producing more food than the wild open seas of the Channel Islands. Owing to its various changes of plumage, from age or time of year, the Red-throated Diver has been made to do duty as more than one species, and is the Speckled Diver of Pennant, Montagu and Bewick.

It is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, but marked as only occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.

156. GUILLEMOT. Alca troile, Linnaeus. French, "Guillemot à capuchon," "Guillemot troile."—The Guillemot is very common about the Channel Islands in Autumn and winter, but is seldom seen during the summer season except near its breeding stations, which, as far as my district is concerned, are very few. It does not breed in Guernsey, Sark, or Herm, or even on the rocky islands to the north of Herm. In Alderney, I am told, it has one small station on the mainland on the side nearest the French coast. I was told of this by the person who shot the Greenland Falcon, and by one or two of the fishermen on my last visit to that Island. I had not time then to visit the place, and on former visits I must quite have overlooked it. Captain Hubbach, however, kindly promised that he would visit the spot, and soon after I left, about the middle of June, 1878, he did so, and his account to me was as follows:—"I have been twice along the cliffs with my glass, but have not seen either a Guillemot or Razorbill. An old boatman here tells me that he took their eggs off the rocks at the French side of Alderney last year (1877), and that they bred there every year. He describes the eggs as 'the same blue and green and white ones with black spots that are on the Ortack Rock.'" This very much confirms what Mr. Gallienne says, in his notes to Professor Ansted's list—"The Razorbill and Guillemot breed on the Ortack Rock and on the cliffs at Alderney." This Ortack Rock is to the west of Alderney, between Burhou and the Caskets, and a considerable number of Guillemots and Razorbills breed there, but it is not to be compared as a breeding station for these birds with those at Lundy Island and South Wales. During the summer a few Guillemots, probably non-breeding birds, may be seen at sea round Guernsey, and one or two stragglers may generally be seen when crossing from Guernsey to Sark or Herm. I have never seen the variety called the Ringed Guillemot, Alca lacrymans, in the Channel Islands, but, as it may occasionally occur, it is as well to mention it, although it is now rightly considered only a variety of the Common Guillemot, from which it differs only in summer plumage, when it has a white ring round the eye, and a white streak passing backwards from the eye down the side of the neck: this distinction is not apparent in the winter plumage, nor is there any distinction between the eggs.

The Guillemot is included in Professor Ansted's list, but is only marked as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in summer plumage in the Museum, and one in winter plumage.

157. LITTLE AUK. Mergulus alle, Linnaeus. French, "Guillemot nain."—The Little Auk can only be considered a rare occasional wanderer to the Channel Islands, generally driven before the heavy autumnal and winter gales. I only know of the occurrence of two specimens: one of these was recorded by Mr. Couch in the 'Zoologist' for 1875, as having been killed on the 30th January in that year; and I had a letter from Mr. Couch, dated the 20th December, 1872, in which he informed me that a Little Auk had been taken alive in Guernsey on the 17th of that month: this one had probably, as is often the case, been driven ashore during a gale, and, being too exhausted to rise, had been taken by hand.

The Little Auk is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.

158. PUFFIN. Fratercula arctica, Linnaeus. French, "Macareux."—The Puffin, or Barbelote^[27] as it is called by the Guernsey sailors and in the Guernsey Bird Act, is a regular and numerous summer visitant to the Islands, breeding in considerable numbers in many places. None breed, however, in Guernsey itself, or in any of the little rocky islands immediately surrounding it. Some breed on Sark and the islands about it, and a few also on Herm; but their great breeding quarters about these parts are from the Amfrocques to the north end of Herm. On every one of the little rocky islands between these places, and including the Amfrocques, considerable numbers of Puffins breed, either in holes in the soft soil which has accumulated on some of these islands, or amongst the loose rocks and stones; these latter, however, are the safest places for the Puffin, as, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, which protects the eggs as well as the birds, the Guernsey fishermen are fond of visiting these islands whenever they can for the purpose of what they call "Barbeloting;" and they soon lift up the loose earth with their hands and get at the eggs; but the Puffins, who have laid in holes in the rocks and amongst loose stones, are much better off, as a good big stone of two or three tons is not so easily moved. I visited all these little islands in the summer of 1878 with Mr. Howard Saunders, and we found all the Puffins who had had eggs in holes in the earth had been robbed almost without an exception; the others, however, were pretty safe. Besides these islands the Puffins breed in Alderney itself, and on Burhou, where, however, their eggs are robbed nearly as much as in the islands north of Herm, especially the eggs of those who choose holes in the soft earth. The Puffins do not seem to be very regular in their time of nesting; at least, when I was at Burhou on the 14th of June, 1876, I found quite fresh eggs, eggs just ready to hatch, young birds in the down, and young birds just beginning to get a few feathers and almost able to take to the water; it was fun to see one of these when he had been unearthed waddle off to the nearest hole as fast as his legs could carry him—generally, however, coming down every second or third step. The reason for the irregularity in hatching was probably owing to the first brood having been lost, the eggs probably having been robbed. During the breeding season the Puffins keep very close to their breeding-stations, and do not apparently wander more than a few hundred yards from them even in search of food; so that, unless you actually visit the islands on which they breed, you can form no idea of the number of Puffins actually breeding in the Channel Islands. The number of Puffins, however, at Burhou seem to me to have considerably diminished of late years, for in the summer of 1866, when going through the Swinge, we passed a great flock of these birds; "in fact, for more than a mile both air and water were swarming with them."^[28] This certainly was not the case in either 1876 or 1878, though there were still a great many Puffins there; probably the continued egg-stealing has had some effect in reducing their numbers. After the breeding-season the Puffins seem to leave the Channel Islands for the winter, as they do at Lundy Island and in the British Channel; they may return occasionally, as they do in the Bristol Channel, for a short time in foggy weather; but I have never seen a Puffin in any of my passages in October and November, or in any boating expedition at that time of year, and I have never heard any of the boatmen talk about Barbelotes being seen about in the winter. An unsigned paper, however, in the 'Star' for April 27th, 1878, mentions Puffins amongst other winter birds; but I very much doubt their making their appearance in the winter except as accidental visitants; there is one specimen, however, in the Museum, which, judging by the bill, must have been killed in the winter, or, at all events, to quote Dr. Bureau, "après la saison des amours." Dr. Bureau, in a very interesting paper^[29] on this curious change, or rather moult, which takes place in the bill of the Puffin, and which has been translated into the 'Zoologist' for 1878, where a plate showing the changes is given, says that Puffins are cast ashore on the coast of Brittany during the winter, for he says they leave the coast, as I believe they do that of the Channel Islands, and the only indication of their continuing there is that dead birds are rolled on the shore after severe gales in the autumn and winter; and "these birds are clad in a plumage different to that worn by those we get in the breeding-season. In the orbital region, for instance, they have a spot, more or less large, of a dusky brown; they have not the red eyelids, nor the horny plates above and below the eye, nor have they the puckered yellow skin at the base of the bill, and, what is still more remarkable, the bill is differently formed; it is neither of the same size, shape, nor colour, and the pieces of which it is composed are not even the same. It is small sliced off (trongué) in front, especially at the lower mandible, wanting the pleat (ourlet) at the base, and flattened laterally on a level with the nostrils, where a solid horny skin of a bright lead-colour is replaced by a short membrane." The whole paper by Dr. Bureau on this subject is most interesting, but is much too long for me to insert here; the nature, however, of the change which takes place must be so interesting to many of my readers who are familiar with the Puffin in its breeding plumage, and who, in spite of the Bird Act, perhaps occasionally enjoy a day's "Barbeloting," that I could not help quoting as much of the paper as would be sufficient to point out the general nature of the change.

The Puffin is included in Professor Ansted's list, but marked as occurring only in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum; one in the ordinary summer plumage, and one apparently in the winter plumage above described; but it is difficult to be quite certain on the subject, as it has been smeared over with bird-stuffer's paint, probably with the view of making it as like the ordinary summer plumage as possible.

159. RAZORBILL. Alca torda, Linnaeus. French, "Pingouin macroptere."—The Razorbill is not by any means numerous in the Channel Islands, but a few breed about Ortack, and, as has been said before, in Alderney, but nowhere else; and they are by no means so numerous as the Guillemot. It is resident throughout the year, though perhaps more common in the autumn than at any other time. Mr. Harvey Brown,^[30] however, mentions seeing a small flock swim by with the tide, at the north-end of Herm, in January. Mr. MacCulloch writes me word he has a note of a Razorbill Auk shot in Guernsey on the 14th February, 1847; this, of course, is only a young Razorbill of the previous year, which had not at that time fully developed its bill.

The Razorbill is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There are two Razorbills in the Museum, one in summer and one in winter plumage.

160. CORMORANT. Phalacrocorax carbo, Linnaeus. French, "Grand cormoran."—The Cormorant is by no means common in the Islands; I have never seen it about Guernsey, though I have seen one or two near Herm; I do not know that it breeds anywhere in the Islands, except at Burhou, and there only one or two pairs breed. I was shown the nesting-place just at the opening of a small sort of cavern; there was, however, only the remains of one egg that had been hatched, and probably the young gone off with its parents. I, however, received an adult bird and a young bird of the year, shot in the harbour at Alderney in August of that year, and those are the only Channel Island specimens of the Cormorant that I have seen.

Professor Ansted includes the Cormorant in his list, and marks it as occurring only in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.

161. SHAG. Phalacrocorax graculus, Linnaeus. French, "Cormoran largup."—The Shag almost entirely takes the place, as well as usurps the name, of its big brother, as in the Islands it is invariably called the Cormorant. The local Guernsey-French name "Cormoran" is applicable probably to either the Shag or the Cormorant. The Shag is the most numerous of the sea birds which frequent the Islands, the Herring Gull not even excepted, every nook and corner of the high cliffs in all the Islands being occupied by scores of Shags during the breeding-season. They take care, however, to place their nests in tolerably inaccessible places that cannot well be reached without a rope. The principal breeding-places are—in Guernsey, about the Gull Cliffs, and from there to Petit Bo, and a few, but not so many, on the rocks between there and Fermain, wherever they can find a place; none breed on the north or west side of the Island; in Jethou and Herm, and on the rock called La Fauconnière, a few also breed, but not so many as in Guernsey, and we did not find any breeding on the Amfrocques or the other rocks to the north of Herm. On Sark they breed in great numbers, mostly on the west side nearest to Guernsey, and on the Isle de Marchant or Brechou, especially on the grand cliffs on both sides the narrow passage which divides that Island from the mainland of Sark, and from there to the Coupée, and from there round Little Sark to the Creux Harbour on the south-east. On the east side, that towards the French coast, there are few or none breeding, the cliffs not being so well suited to them; a great number breed also on Alderney, on the high cliffs on the south and east, but none on Burhou. The Shags appear to breed rather earlier than the Herring Gulls; when I was in the Islands in June, 1876, almost all the Shags had hatched, and the young were standing by their parents on the rocks close to their nests. When I visited some of the breeding-places of the Shags on the 27th of May, 1878, neither Gulls nor Shags had hatched, but when I went to the Gull Cliff on the 20th of June I found nearly all the Shags had hatched, though none or very few of the Herring Gulls had done so; some of the young Shags had left the nests and were about on the water; others were nearly ready to leave, and several were little things quite in the down. Though it is generally easy to look down upon the Shags on their nests, and to get a good view at a short distance of the eggs and the young, it is, as a rule, by no means easy to get at them without a rope; in a few places, however, their nests are more accessible, and a hard climb on the rocks, perhaps with a burning sun making them almost too hot to hold, will bring you within reach of a Shag's nest; but I would not advise any one who tries it to put on his "go-to-meeting clothes," as the deposit of guano on the rocks will spoil anything; and only let him smell his hands after his exploit—they do smell so nice! One of the parents generally stands by the young after they are hatched, I suppose to prevent them from wandering about and falling off the rocks, as the positions of some of them seem very critical, there being only just room for the family to stand; the other parent is generally away fishing, only returning at intervals to feed his family and dry his feathers before making a fresh start; sometimes one parent takes a turn to stay by the young, and sometimes the other. The usual number of young appeared to be three, sometimes only one or two; but in these cases it is probable that a young one or two may have waddled off the rock, or got into a crevice from which the parents could not extricate it, accidents which I should think frequently happen; or an egg or two may have been blown from the nest, or egg or young fallen a victim to some marauding Herring Gull during the absence of the parents. The Shag assumes its full breeding-plumage and crest very early; I have one in perfect breeding-plumage, killed in February; and Miss C.B. Carey mentions in the 'Zoologist' having seen one in Mr. Couch's shop with its full crest in January. I do not quite know at what time the young bird assumes adult plumage, but I have one just changing from the brown plumage of the young to adult plumage. Many of the green feathers of the adult are making their appearance amongst the brown ones; this one I shot on the 26th June, 1866, near the harbour Goslin, at Sark, near a large breeding-station of Shags and Herring Gulls: if it is, as I suppose, a young bird of the year, it would show a very early change to adult plumage, but of course it might have been a young bird of the previous year; but, as a rule, young birds of the previous year are not allowed about the breeding-stations, any more than they are by the Herring Gulls.

The Shag is included in Professor Ansted's list, but curiously enough only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There are two adult specimens and one young bird and one young in down in the Museum.

162. GANNET. Sula bassana, Linnaeus. French, "Fou de bassan."—The Gannet, or Solan Goose, as it is sometimes called, is a regular autumn and winter visitant to all the Islands, but never so numerous, I think, as on the south coast of Devon; birds, however, in all states of plumage, young birds as well as adults, and in the various intermediate or spotted states of plumage, make their appearance. It stays on through the winter, but never remains to breed as it does regularly at Lundy Island. I have seen both adults and young birds fishing round Guernsey, and Mrs. Jago (late Miss Cumber) told me she had had several through her hands when she was the bird-stuffer there; she also wrote to me on the 16th March, 1879, to say a fully adult Gannet had been shot in Fermain Bay on the 15th; and Mr. Grieve, the carpenter and bird-stuffer at Alderney, had the legs and wings of an adult bird, shot by him near that Island, nailed up behind the door of his shop. I do not think, however, that the strong tides, rough seas, and sunken rocks of the Channel Islands suit the fishing operations of the Gannet as well as the smoother seas of the south coast of Devon; not but what the Gannet can stand any amount of rough sea; and I have seen it dash after fish into seas that one would have thought must have rolled it over and drowned it, especially as it rose to the surface gulping down its prey.

It is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. There are three specimens, an adult and two young, in the Museum.

163. COMMON TERN. Sterna fluviatilis, Naumann. French, "Hirondelle de mer," "Pierre garin." The Common Tern is a regular but not numerous spring and autumn visitant to the Islands, some remaining to breed. I do not know that it breeds anywhere in Guernsey itself, but it may do so, for in the Vale in the summer of 1878 I saw more than one pair about the two bays, Grand Havre and L'Ancresse, all through the summer; some of them certainly seemed paired, but I never could find where their nests were; some of the others apparently were non-breeding birds, as they did not appear to be paired. These bays and along the coast near St. Samson were the only places in Guernsey itself that I saw the Terns; there were some also about Herm, but we could not find any nests there; but Mr. Howard Saunders and myself found a few pairs breeding on one of the rocky islands to the north of Herm; when we visited them on the 27th June, 1878, we only found four nests, two with two eggs each and two with only one egg each. Probably these were a second laying, the nests having been robbed, as had everything else on these Islands; there must have been more than four nests there really, as there were several pairs of birds about, but we could not find any other nests; these four were on the hard rocks, with little or no attempt at a real nest. This was the only one of the small rocky islands on which we found Terns breeding, though we searched every one of them that had any land above water at high tide; the others, of course, were useless. I had expected for some time that Common Terns did breed on some of these rocks, as I have an adult female in full breeding-plumage, which had been shot on the 29th June, 1877, near St. Samson's, which is only about three miles from these Islands, and which certainly showed signs of having been sitting; and Mr. Jago, the bird-stuffer, had one in full breeding-plumage, killed at Herm early in June, 1878; but several of the sailors about, and some friends of mine who were in the habit of visiting these islands occasionally, seemed very sceptical on the subject; but Mr. Howard Saunders and I quite settled the question by finding the eggs, and we also thoroughly identified the birds. The Common Tern seemed to be the only species of Tern breeding on the rocks; we certainly saw nothing else, and no Common Terns even, except on the one island on which we found the eggs. The autumnal visitants are mostly young birds of the year, some of them, of course, having been bred on the Islands and others merely wanderers from more distant breeding-stations. No young Terns appeared to have flown when I left the Islands at the end of July; at least, I saw none about, though there were several adults about both Grand Havre and L'Ancresse Bay. The same remark applies to Herm, where my last visit to the shell-beach was on the 22nd of July, when I saw several adult Common Terns about, but no young ones with them; all these were probably birds which had been robbed of one or more clutches of eggs.

Professor Ansted includes the Common Tern in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey. There is one specimen in the Museum, a young bird of the year.

164. ARCTIC TERN. Sterna macrura, Naumann. French, "Hirondelle de mer arctique."^[31]—The Arctic Tern is by no means so common in the Islands as the Common Tern, and is, as far as I can make out, only an occasional autumnal visitant, and then young birds of the year most frequently occur, as I have never seen a Guernsey specimen of an adult bird. I do not think it ever visits the Islands during the spring migration; I did not see one about the Vale in the summer of 1878, nor did Mr. Howard Saunders and myself recognise one when we visited the rocks to the north of Herm. It may, however, have occurred more frequently than is supposed, and been mistaken for the Common Tern, so it may be as well to point out the chief distinctions: these are the short tarsus of the Arctic Tern, which only measures 0.55 of an inch, whilst that of the Common Tern measures 0.7 of an inch; and the dark grey next to the shaft on the inner web of the primary quills of the Arctic Tern, which is much narrower than in those of the Common Tern. These two distinctions hold good at all ages and in all states of plumage; as to fully adult birds in breeding plumage there are other distinctions, the tail of the Arctic Tern being much longer in proportion to the wing than in the Common Tern, and the bill being nearly all red instead of tipped with horn-colour.

The Arctic Tern is not included in Professor Ansted's list, and there is no specimen at present in the Museum.

165. BLACK TERN. Hydrochelidon nigra, Linnaeus. French, "Guifette noire," "Hirondelle de mer épouvantail."^[32]—The Black Tern is by no means a common visitant to the Islands, and only makes its appearance in the autumn, and then the generality of those that occur are young birds of the year. I have one specimen of a young bird killed at the Vrangue on the 1st October, 1876. It does not seem to occur at all on the spring migration; at least I have never heard of or seen a Channel Island specimen killed at that time of year. As this is a marsh-breeding Tern, it is not at all to be wondered at that it does not, at all events at present, remain to breed in the Islands, there being so few places suited to it, though it is possible that before the Braye du Valle was drained, and large salt marshes were in existence in that part of the Island, the Black Tern may have bred there. I can, however, find no direct evidence of its having done so, and therefore can look upon it as nothing but an occasional autumnal straggler.

The Black Tern is not included in Professor Ansted's list, and there is no specimen in the Museum. These are all the Terns I have been able to prove as having occurred in the Channel Islands, though it seems to me highly probable that others occur—as the Sandwich Tern, the Lesser Tern, and the Roseate Tern (especially if, as I have heard stated, it breeds in small numbers off the coast of Brittany). Professor Ansted includes the Lesser Tern in his list, but that may have been a mistake, as my skin of a young Black Tern was sent to me for a Lesser Tern.

166. KITTIWAKE. Rissa tridactyla, Linnaeus. French, "Mouette tridactyle."—The Kittiwake is a regular and numerous autumn and winter visitant to all the Islands, sometimes remaining till late in the spring, which misled me when I made the statement in the 'Zoologist' for 1866 that it did breed in the Channel Islands; subsequent experience, however, has convinced me that the Kittiwake does not breed in any of the Islands. Captain Hubback, however, informed me that a few were breeding on the rocks to the south of Alderney in 1878, but when Mr. Howard Saunders and I went with him to the spot on the 25th June, we found no Kittiwakes there, all those Captain Hubback had previously seen having probably departed to their breeding-stations before our visit, and after they had been seen by him some time in May. Professor Ansted includes the Kittiwake in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum, an adult bird and a young one in that state of plumage in which it is the Tarrock of Bewick and some of the older authors.

167. HERRING GULL. Larus argentatus, Gmelin. French, "Goeland argenté," "Goeland à manteau bleu."—The Herring Gull is very common, indeed the commonest Gull, and is resident in all the Islands throughout the year, breeding in nearly all of them in such places as are suited to it. In Guernsey it breeds on the high cliffs, from the so-called Gull Cliff, near Pleinmont, to the Corbiere, the Gouffre, the Moye Point to Petit Bo in considerable numbers; from Petit Bo Bay to St. Martin's Point much more sparingly. In Sark it breeds in considerable numbers; on Little Sark on both sides of the Coupée, and on nearly all the west side; that towards Guernsey, especially about Harbour Goslin, a place called the Moye de Moutton near there, which is a most excellent place for watching the breeding operations of this Gull as well as of the Shags, as with a moderate climb on the rocks one can easily look into several nests and see what both old and young are about. On the island close to Sark, called Isle de Merchant, or Brechou, especially on the steep rocky side nearest to Sark; a great many also breed on and about the Autelets: in fact, almost all the grandest and wildest scenery in Sark has been appropriated by the Herring Gulls for their breeding-places, who, except for the Shags, hold almost undisputed possession of the grandest part of the Island. On the east side, or that towards France, few or no Herring Gulls breed; the cliffs being more sloping, and covered with grass and gorse, and heather, are not at all suited for breeding purposes for the Herring Gull. A few pairs have lately set up a small breeding-station on the rock before mentioned near Jethou, as La Fauconnière; a very few also breed on Herm on the south part nearest to Jethou, but none that we could see on the rocks to the north of Herm. A great many breed also in Alderney on the south and east sides, but none on the little island of Burhou, which has been entirely appropriated by the Lesser Black-backs; in all these places the Herring Gulls and Shags take almost entire possession of the rocks, the Lesser Black-backs apparently never mixing with them; indeed, except a chance straggler or two passing by, a Lesser Black-back is scarcely to be seen at any of these stations. The Herring Gull and the Lesser Black-back, though very distinct in their adult plumage, and even before they fully arrive at maturity, as soon as they begin to show the different colour of the mantle, which they do in their second autumn, when a few of either the dark or the pale grey feathers appear amongst the brownish ones of the young bird, are before this change begins very much alike. In the down I think they are almost, if not quite, indistinguishable after that in their first feathers, and up to their first winter they appear to me distinguishable. As far as the primary quills go I do not see much difference; the shafts, perhaps, of the quills of the Lesser Black-back are darker than those of the Herring, but the difference if anything is very slight; but the head and neck and the centres of the feathers of the back of the Lesser Black-back are darker,—more of a dark smoky brown than those of the Herring Gull: this difference of colour is even more apparent on the under surface, including the breast, belly, and flanks. The shoulder of the wing and the under wing-coverts of the Lesser Black-back are much darker, nearly dull sooty black, and much less margined and marked with pale whitey brown than those of the Herring Gull. The dark bands on the end of the tail-feathers of the Lesser Black-back are broader and darker than in the Herring Gull: this seems especially apparent on the two outer tail-feathers on each side; besides this, there is a slight difference in the colour of the legs, those of the Lesser Black-back showing a slight indication of the yellow of maturity. I have noted these distinctions both from living specimens of both species which I have kept, and noted their various changes from time to time, and from skins of both: unfortunately the two skins of the youngest birds I have are not quite of the same age, one being that of a young Herring Gull, killed at the Needles in August,—the other a young Lesser Black-back, killed in Guernsey in December; but I do not think that this difference of time from August to December, the birds being of the same year, makes much difference in the colour of the feathers; at least this is my experience of live birds: it is not till the next moult that more material distinctions begin to appear; after that there can be no doubt as to the species. Two young Herring Gulls which I have, and which I saw in the flesh at Couch's shop just after they had been shot, seem to me worthy of some notice as showing the gradual change of plumage in the Herring Gull; they were shot on the same day, and appear to me to be one exactly a year older than the other; they were killed in November, when both had clean moulted, and show examples of the second and third moult. No. 1, the oldest, has the back nearly uniform grey, and the rump and upper tail-coverts white, as in the adult. In No. 2, the younger one, the grey feathers on the back were much mixed with the brownish feathers of the young bird, and there are no absolutely white feathers on the rump and tail-coverts, all of them being more or less marked with brown. The tail in No. 2 has the brown on it collected in large and nearly confluent blotches, whilst that of No. 1 is merely freckled with brown. But perhaps the greatest difference is in the primary quills; the first four primaries, however, are much alike, those of No. 1, being a little darker and more distinctly coloured; in both they are nearly of a uniform colour, only being slightly mottled on the inner web towards the base; there is no white tip to either. In No. 1 the fifth primary has a distinct white tip; the sixth also has a decided white tip, and is much whiter towards the base, the difference being quite as perceptible on the outer as on the inner web. The seventh has a small spot of brown towards the tip on the outer web, the rest of the feather being almost uniform pale grey, with a slightly darker shade on the outer web, and white at the tip; the eighth grey, with a broad white tip. In No. 2 the fifth primary has no white tip; the sixth also has no white tip, and not so much white towards the base; the seventh is all brown, slightly mottled towards the base, and only a very slight indication of a white tip; and the eighth is mottled throughout. I think it worth while to mention these two birds, as I have their exact dates, and the difference of a year between them agrees exactly with young birds which I have taken in their first feathers and brought up tame. I may also add, with regard to change of plumage owing to age, that very old birds do not appear to get their heads so much streaked with brown in the winter as younger though still adult birds, as a pair which I caught in Sark when only flappers, and brought home in July, 1866, had few or no brown streaks about their heads in the winter of 1877-8, and in the winter of 1878-9 their heads are almost as white as in the breeding-season. These birds had their first brood in 1873, and have bred regularly every year since that time, and certainly have considerably more white on their primary quills than when they first assumed adult plumage and began to breed. Probably this increase of white on the primaries as age increases, even after the full-breeding-plumage is assumed, is always the case in the Herring Gull, and also in both the Lesser and Greater Black-backs, thus distinguishing very old birds from those which, though adult, have only recently assumed the breeding-plumage. I know Mr. Howard Saunders is of this opinion, certainly as far as Herring Gulls are concerned. Besides the live ones, two skins I have, both of adult birds, as far as breeding-plumage only is concerned, are evidently considerably older than the other. No. 1, the youngest of these,—shot in Guernsey in August, when just assuming winter plumage, the head being much streaked, even then, with brown, showing that though adult it was not a very old bird,—has the usual white tip on the first primary, below which the whole feather is black on both webs, and below that a white spot on both webs, for an inch; the white, however, much encroached upon on the outer part of the outer web by a margin of black. In No. 2, probably the older bird, the first primary has the white tip and the white spot running into each other, thus making the tip of the feather for nearly two inches white, with only a slight patch of black on the outer web. On the second primary of No. 1 the white tip is present, but no white spot; but on the same feather of No. 2 there is a white spot on the inner web, about an inch from the white tip; this would, probably, in a still older bird, become confluent with the white tip, as in the first primary. I have not, however, a sufficiently old bird to follow out this for certain. In No. 1, the older bird, the pale grey on the lower part of the feathers also extends farther towards the tip, thus encroaching on the black of the primaries from below as well as from above. I think these examples are sufficient to show that the white does encroach on the black of the primaries as the bird grows older, till at last, in very old birds, there would not be much more than a bar of black between the white tip and the rest of the feather; and this is very much the case with the tame ones I caught in Sark in 1866, and which are therefore, now in the winter of 1879, twelve and a half years old; but I do not believe that at any age the black wholly disappears from the primaries, leaving them white as in the Iceland and Glaucous Gulls. The Herring Gull is an extremely voracious bird, eating nearly everything that comes in its way, and rejecting the indigestible parts as Hawks do. Mr. Couch, in the 'Zoologist' for 1874, mentions having taken a Misseltoe Thrush from the throat of one; and I can quite believe it, supposing it found the Thrush dead or floating half drowned on the water. I have seen my tame ones catch and kill a nearly full-grown rat, and bolt it whole; and young ducks, I am sorry to say, disappear down their throats in no time, down and all. They are also great robbers of eggs, no sort of egg coming amiss to them; Guillemots' eggs, especially, they are very fond of; this may probably account for there being no Guillemots breeding in Guernsey or Sark, and only a very few at Alderney; in fact, Ortack being the only place in the Channel Islands in which they do breed in anything like numbers.

Professor Ansted includes the Herring Gull in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two, an old and a young bird, in the Museum.

168. LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Larus fuscus, Linnaeus. French, "Goeland à pieds jaunes."—The Lesser Black-backed Gull is common in the Islands, remaining throughout the year and breeding in certain places. None of these birds breed in Guernsey itself, or on the mainland of Sark, and very few, if any, on Alderney. A few may be seen, from time to time, wandering about all the Islands during the breeding-season; but these are either immature birds or wanderers from their own breeding-stations. About Sark a few pairs breed on Le Tas^[33] and one or two other outlying islets; their principal breeding-stations, however, appear to be on the small rocky islands to the north of Herm, on all of which, as far out as the Amfrocques, we found considerable numbers breeding, or rather attempting to do so; for this summer, 1878, having been generally fine, all these rocks were tolerably easily landed on, and the fishermen had robbed the Lesser Black-backs to an extent which threatens some day to exterminate them, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, which professes to protect the eggs as well as the birds; but a far better protection for these poor Black-backs is a roughish summer, when landing on these islands is by no means safe or pleasant, and frequently impossible. On Burhou, near Alderney, there are also a considerable number of Lesser Black-backs breeding, though they fare quite as badly from the Alderney and French fishermen as those on the Amfrocques and other islands north of them do from the Guernsey fishermen. On all these islands the nests of the Lesser Black-backs were placed amongst the bracken, sea stock, thrift, &c, which grew amongst the rocks, and on the shallow soil which had collected in places. When I was at Burhou in 1876 I found Lesser Black-backs breeding all over the Island, some of the nests being placed on the low rocks, some amongst the bracken and thrift; so thickly scattered amongst the bracken were the nests, that one had to be very careful in walking for fear of treading on the nests and breaking the eggs. On this Island there is an old deserted cottage, sometimes used as a shelter by the lessees of the Island, who go over there to shoot a few wretched rabbits which pick up a precarious subsistence by feeding on the scanty herbage; on the roof of this cottage several of the Lesser Black-backs perched themselves in a row whilst I was looking about at the eggs, and kept up a most dismal screaming at the top of their voices. The eggs, as is generally the case with gulls, varied considerably both in ground colour and marking; some were freckled all over with small spots—dark brown, purple, or black; others had larger markings, principally collected at the larger end; the ground colour was generally blue, green, or dull olive-green. None of the Gulls had hatched when I was there on the 14th of June, though some of the eggs were very hard set; and on the 29th of July I received two young birds which had been taken on Burhou; these still had down on them when I got them, and were then difficult to tell from young Herring Gulls. The distinctions I have mentioned in my note of that bird were, however, apparent, and the slight difference in the colour of the legs is perhaps more easily seen in the live birds than in skins which have been kept and faded into "Museum colour." It is some time, however, before either bird assumes the proper colour, either of the legs or bill, the change being very gradual. After the autumnal moult of 1878, however, the dark feathers of the mantle almost entirely took the place of the brownish feathers of the young birds; the quills, however, have still (February, 1879) no white tips, and the tail-feathers are still much mottled with brown. One Lesser Black-back, which I shot near the Vale Church on the 17th of July, 1866, is perhaps worthy of note as being in transition, and perhaps a rather abnormal state of change considering the time of year at which it was shot; it was in a full state of moult; the new feathers on the head, neck, tail-coverts, and under parts are white; the tail also is white, except four old feathers, two on each side not yet moulted, which are much mottled with brown. The primary quills had not been moulted, and are quite those of the immature bird, with no white tip whatever. All the new feathers of the back and wing-coverts are the dark slate-grey of the adult, but the old worn feathers are the brownish feathers of the young bird; these feathers are much worn and faded, being a paler brown than is usual in young birds. The legs and bill are also quite as much in a state of change as the rest of the bird. Before finishing this notice of the Lesser Black-back I think it is worth while to notice that it selects quite a different sort of breeding-place to the Herring Gull; the nests are never placed on ledges on the steep precipitous face of the cliffs, but amongst the bracken and the flat rocks, as at Burhou, the only rather steep rock I have seen any nests on was at the Amfrocques, but there they were on the flattish top of the rock, and not on ledges on the side.