Part 3
All the Harriers seem to have a special liking for eggs. In his notice of the Marsh Harrier Professor Newton says, in his edition of Yarrell,' that birds' eggs are an irresistible delicacy; and, in speaking of the food of the present species, he says it consists chiefly of grasshoppers, reptiles, small mammals, birds and their eggs; these last, if their size permit, being often swallowed whole, as was the case in the instance mentioned by Miss Carey. Mr. Howard Saunders also says he can bear witness to the egg-eating propensities of the Harriers.
Besides the two recorded by Miss C.B. Carey, I saw one--a young bird--in Mr. Maxwell's collection, which had been killed at Herm, and another--a young male--at Mr. Jago's, the bird-stuffer, which had also been killed at Herm. There were also two young birds in the bird-stuffer and carpenter's shop at Alderney, both of which had been killed in that Island shortly before my last visit, June, 1878.
As mistakes may occasionally arise in identifying specimens, especially in immature plumage, it may be as well to notice a distinction between the Hen Harrier and Montagu's Harrier, which has been pointed out by Mr. Howard Saunders, and which holds good in all ages and in both sexes. This distinction is, that in the Hen Harrier the outer web of the fifth primary is notched, whereas in Montagu's Harrier it is plain, or, in other words, the Hen Harrier has the exterior web of the primaries, up to and including the fifth, notched, and in Montagu's Harrier this is only the case as far as the fourth.[7] This distinction is very useful in identifying young birds and females, which are sometimes very much alike. In fully adult males the orange markings on the flanks and thighs, and the greyish upper tail-coverts of Montagu's Harrier, distinguish it immediately at a glance from the Hen Harrier, in which those parts are white.
Montagu's Harrier is not included by Professor Ansted in his list, nor is there a specimen in the Museum.
15. LONGEARED OWL. _Asiootus_, Linnaeus. French, "Hibou vulgaire," "Hibou moyen due."--The Long-eared Owl seems only a very rare and accidental visitant to the Channel Islands. I have never met with it myself, but Mr. Couch records the occurrence of one in the 'Zoologist' for 1875, p. 4296:--"I have a Long-eared Owl, shot at St. Martin's on the 9th of November in that year." This is the only occurrence I can be sure of, except that Mr. Couch, about two years afterwards, sent me a skin of a Guernsey-killed Long-eared Owl; but this may have been the bird mentioned above, as he sent me no date with it.
As it is partially migratory, and its numbers in the British Islands, especially in the Eastern Counties, are increased during the autumn by migratory arrivals, a few may wander, especially in the autumn, to the Channel Islands, but it can only be rarely.
Professor Ansted includes it in his list, and marks it as having been found both in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen of the Long-eared Owl at present in the Museum. If there has been one it must have got moth-eaten, like many of the other birds there, and been destroyed.
16. SHORTEARED OWL. _Asio accipitrinus_, Pallas. French, "Hibou brachyôte."--Unlike the Long-eared Owl, the Short-eared Owl is a regular autumnal visitant to the Channel Islands, arriving about October in considerable numbers, but remaining only for a short time, as I do not know of any making their appearance after the end of November, and the majority of those that have arrived seem to pass on about that time, not remaining throughout the winter, and I hear of no instances of their occurring on the spring migration, so the majority must pass north by a different line from that pursued by them on the southern migration.
There is only one specimen at present in the Museum. Professor Ansted mentions it in his list, but only as found in Guernsey and Sark; but it is quite as common in Alderney, from which Island I have seen specimens, and I think also from Herm, but I cannot be quite sure about this, though of course there can be no reason why it should not be found there, as Herm is only three miles as the crow flies from Guernsey.
17. BARN OWL. _Aluco flammeus_, Linnaeus. French, "Chouette effraie."--I have never seen the Barn or Yellow Owl alive in the Channel Islands myself, but Mr. MacCulloch does not consider it at all rare in Guernsey, and Mr. Jago informs me the Barn Owls have taken possession of a pigeon-hole in a house in the Brock Road opposite his, and that he sees and hears them every night. Some years ago he told me he shot one near the Queen's Tower. He was not scared like the man who shot one in the churchyard, and thought he had shot a cherubim, but he had to give up shooting owls, as the owner of the pigeon-hole where the owls have taken up their abode remonstrated with him, and he has since refrained, though he has had several chances. The vacancy caused by the one being shot was soon filled up.
The Barn Owl is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and restricted to Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum, both of which are said to have been killed in Guernsey.
18. REDBACKED SHRIKE. _Lanius Collurio_, Linnaeus. French, "Pie-grieche écorcheur."--The Red-backed Shrike may be considered a tolerably regular, but not very common, summer visitant to the Channel Islands. In June, 1876, I several times saw a male bird about the Vallon, in Guernsey. The female no doubt had a nest at the time in the Vallon grounds, but I could not then get in there to search for it.
As the Red-backed Shrike frequently returns to the same place every year, I expected again to find this bird, and perhaps the female and the nest this year, 1878, about the Vallon, but I could see nothing of either birds or nest, though I searched both inside and outside the Vallon grounds.
Young Mr. Le Cheminant, who lives at Le Ree and has a small collection of Guernsey eggs mostly collected by himself in the Island, had one Red-backed Shrike's egg of the variety which has the reddish, or rather perhaps pink, tinge. There were also some eggs in a Guernsey collection in the Museum. These were all of the more ordinary variety. There were also two skins--a male and female--in the Museum. The bird seems rather local in its distribution about the Island, as I never saw one about the Vale in any of my visits, not even this year, 1878, when I was there for two months, and had ample opportunity of observing it had it been there. There are, however, plenty of places nearly as well suited to it in the Vale as about the Vallon or Le Ree. I have never seen it in either of the other Islands, though no doubt it occasionally occurs both in Sark and Herm, if not in Alderney.
Professor Ansted includes the Red-backed Shrike in his list, and marks it only as occurring in Guernsey. I have no evidence of any other Shrike occurring in the Islands, though I should think the Great Grey Shrike, _Lanius excubitor_, might be an occasional autumn or winter visitant to the Islands; but I have never seen a specimen myself or been able to glean any satisfactory information as to the occurrence of one, either from the local bird-stuffers or from Mr. MacCulloch, or any of my friends who have so kindly supplied me with notes; neither does Professor Ansted mention it in his list.
19. SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. _Muscicapa grisola_, Linnaeus. French, "Gobe-mouche gris."--The Spotted Flycatcher is a regular and numerous summer visitant, generally quite as numerous in certain localities as in England, its arrival and departure being about the same time. It occurs also in Sark and Herm, and probably in Alderney, but I do not remember having seen one there. In Guernsey it is perhaps a little local in its distribution, avoiding to a great extent such places as the Vale and the open ground on the cliffs, but in all the gardens and orchards it is very common.
Spotted Flycatchers appear, however, to vary in numbers to a certain extent in different years. This year, 1878, they came out in great force, especially on the lawn at Candie where they availed themselves to a large extent of the croquet-hoops, from which they kept a good look-out either for insects on the wing or on the ground, and they might be as frequently seen dropping to the ground for some unfortunate creeping thing that attracted their attention as rising in the air to give chase to something on the wing. Certainly, when I was in Guernsey about the same time in 1866, Spotted Flycatchers did not appear to be quite so numerous as in 1878. This was probably only owing to one of those accidents of wind and weather which render migratory birds generally, less numerous in some years than they are in others, however much they may wish and endeavour, which seems to be their usual rule, to return to their former breeding stations.
Professor Ansted mentions the Spotted Flycatcher in his list, but does not add, as he usually does, any letter showing its distribution through the Islands. This probably is because it is generally distributed through them all. There is no specimen in the Museum.
20. GOLDEN ORIOLE. _Oriolus galbula_, Linnaeus. French, "Le Loriot."--I have never seen the bird alive or found any record of the occurrence of the Golden Oriole in Guernsey or the neighbouring Islands, and beyond the fact that there was one example--a female--in the Museum (which may have been from Jersey) I had been able to gain no information on the subject except of a negative sort. No specimen had passed through the hands of the local bird-stuffers certainly for a good many years, for Mr. Jago's mother who about twenty or thirty years ago, when she was Miss Cumber, had been for some considerable time the only bird-stuffer in the Island, told me she did not know the bird, and had never had one through her hands. It seemed to me rather odd that a bird which occurs almost every year in the British Islands, occasionally even as far west as Ireland, as a straggler, and which is generally distributed over the continent of Europe in the summer, should be totally unknown in the Channel Islands. Consequently writing to the 'Star' about another Guernsey bird--a Hoopoe--which had been recorded in that paper, I asked for information as to the occurrence of the Golden Oriole in the Islands, and shortly after the following letter signed "Tereus"[8] appeared in the 'Star':--"Concerning the occurrence of the Golden Oriole I cannot speak from my own personal knowledge, but I believe there can be no doubt that the bird has been occasionally seen here. Its presence, however, must be much more rare than that of the Hoopoe, for a bird of such plumage as the Oriole would be more likely to attract even more attention than the comparatively sober-coloured Hoopoe, and if half so common as the latter would be sure to fall before the gun of the fowler. There was a specimen of the female bird in the Museum of the Mechanics' Institution, but I am not sure about its history, and I have some reason to suppose it was shot in Jersey. Our venerable national poet, Mr. George Métivier, has many allusions to the Oriole in his early effusions, whether written in English, French, or our vernacular dialect. It seems to have been an occasional visitor at St. George's; but in Mr. Métivier's early days the island was far more wooded than it is at present, and it is possible that the wholesale destruction of hedgerow elms and the grubbing-up of so many orchards in order to employ the ground more profitably in the culture of early potatoes and brocoli, by which the island has lost much of its picturesque beauty, may have had the effect of deterring some of the occasional visitors from alighting here in their periodical migrations." Signed "Tereus."
A short time after the appearance of this letter in the 'Star' on the 16th of May, 1878, Mr. MacCulloch himself wrote to me on the subject and said:--"I had yesterday a very satisfactory interview with Mr. George Métivier. He is now in his 88th or 89th year. He told me he was about thirteen when he went to reside with his relations, the Guilles, at St. George. There was then a great deal of old timber about the place and a long avenue of oaks, besides three large cherry orchards. One day he was startled by the sight of a male Oriole. He had never seen the bird before. Whether it was that one that was killed or another in a subsequent year I don't know, but he declares that for several years afterwards they were seen in the oak trees and among the cherries, and that he has not the least doubt but that they bred there. One day an old French gentleman of the name of De l'Huiller from the South of France, an emigrant, noticed the birds and made the remark--'Ah! vous avez des loriots ici; nous en avons beaucoup chez nous, ils sont grands gobeurs de cerises.' It would appear from this that cherries are a favourite food with this bird, and the presence of cherry orchards would account for their settling down at St. George. I believe they are said to be very shy, and the absence of wood would account for their not being seen in the present day."
I have no doubt that Mr. MacCulloch is right that the cherry orchards, to say nothing of other fruit trees, tempted the Golden Orioles to remain to breed in the Island, for they are "grand gobeurs" not only of "cerises," but of many other sorts of fruit, particularly of grapes and figs--in grape countries, indeed, doing a deal of damage amongst the vineyards. This damage to grapes would not, however, be much felt in Guernsey, as all the grapes are protected by orchard-houses. But though the grapes are protected, and most, if not all, the cherry orchards cut down, still there is plenty of unprotected fruit in Guernsey to tempt the Golden Oriole to remain in the Islands, and to bring the wrath and the gun of the gardener both to bear upon him when he is there. This, however, only shows that from the time spoken of by Mr. Métivier down to the present time very few Golden Orioles could have visited Guernsey, and still fewer remained to breed; for what with their fruit-eating propensities and their bright plumage, hardly a bird could have escaped being shot and subsequently making its appearance in the bird-stuffers' windows, and affording a subject for a notice in the 'Star,' or some other paper. I think therefore, on the whole, that though Guernsey still affords many temptations to the Golden Oriole, and is sufficiently well-wooded to afford shelter to suit its shy and suspicious habits, yet for some reason or other the bird has not visited the Island of late years even as an accidental visitant, or, if so, very rarely.
The Golden Oriole is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as having occurred in Guernsey and Sark, but nothing more is said about the bird. Probably Guernsey was mentioned as a locality on account of the female specimen in the Museum, but with this exception I have never heard of its making its appearance in Sark even as a straggler.
21. DIPPER. _Cinclus aquaticus_, Bechstein. French, "Aquassière," "Cincle plongeur."--The Dipper or Water Ouzel, though not very common, less so, indeed, than the Kingfisher, is nevertheless a resident species, finding food all through the year in the clear pools left by the tide, and also frequenting the few inland ponds, especially the rather large ones, belonging to Mr. De Putron in the Vale, where there is always a Dipper or a Kingfisher to be seen, though I do not think the Dipper ever breeds about those ponds--in fact there is no place there which would suit it; but though I have never found the nest myself in Guernsey, I have been informed, especially by Mr. Gallienne, that the Dipper makes use of some of the rocky bays, forming his nest amongst the rocks as it would on the streams of Dartmoor and Exmoor.
Captain Hubboch, however, writes me word he saw one in Alderney in the winter of 1861-62, and there seems no reason why a few should not remain there throughout the year as in Guernsey.
All the Guernsey Dippers I have seen, including the two in the Museum, which are probably Guernsey-killed, have been the common form, _Cinclus_ _aquations_. The dark-breasted form, _Cinclus melanogaster_, may occur as an occasional wanderer, though the Channel Islands are somewhat out of its usual range. There being no trout or salmon to be protected in Guernsey, the Dipper has not to dread the persecution of wretched keepers who falsely imagine that it must live entirely by the destruction of salmon and trout ova, though the contrary has been proved over and over again.
Professor Ansted includes the Dipper in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey.
22. MISTLETOE THRUSH. _Turdus viscivorus_, Linnaeus. French, "Merle Draine," "Grive Draine."--I quite agree with the remarks made by Professor Newton, in his edition of 'Yarrell,' as to the proper English name of the present species, and that it ought to be called the Mistletoe Thrush. I am afraid, however, that the shorter appellation of Missel Thrush will stick to this bird in spite of all attempts to the contrary. In Guernsey the local name of the Mistletoe Thrush is "Geai," by which name Mr. Métivier mentions it in his 'Dictionary of Guernsey and Norman French.' He also adds that the Jay does not exist in this Island. This is to a certain extent confirmed by Mr. MacCulloch, who says he is very doubtful as to the occurrence of the Jay in the Island, and adds that the local name for the Mistletoe Thrush is "Geai." Mr. Gallienne, in a note to Professor Ansted's list, confirms the scarcity of the Jay, as he says the Rook and the Jay are rarely seen here, although they are indigenous to Jersey. The local name "Geai" may perhaps have misled him as to the occasional appearance of the Jay. I have never seen a real Jay in Guernsey myself.
As far as I am able to judge from occasional visits to the Island for the last thirty years the Mistletoe Thrush has greatly increased in numbers in Guernsey, especially within the last few years, and Mr. MacCulloch and others who are resident in the Island quite agree with me in this. I do not think its numbers are much increased at any time of year by migrants, though a few foreigners may arrive in the autumn, at which time of year considerable numbers of Mistletoe Thrushes are brought into the Guernsey market, where they may be seen hanging in bunches with Common Thrushes, Redwings, Blackbirds, Fieldfares, Starlings, and an occasional Ring Ouzel. Fieldfares and Mistletoe Thrushes usually sell at fourpence each, the rest at fourpence a couple.
Professor Ansted mentions it in his list, but confines it to Guernsey and Sark. This is certainly not now the case, as I have seen it nearly as numerous in Alderney and Herm as any of the other Islands. There is a specimen in the Museum.
23. SONG THRUSH. _Turdus musicus_, Linnaeus. French, "Grive," "Merle Grive."--Very common and resident in all the Islands, and great is the destruction of snails by Thrushes and Blackbirds--in fact, nowhere have I seen such destruction as in the Channel Islands, especially in Guernsey and Herm, where every available stone seems made use of, and to considerable purpose, to judge from the number of snail-shells to be found about; and yet the gardeners complain quite as much of damage to their gardens, especially in the fruit season, by Blackbirds and Thrushes, as the English gardeners and seem equally unready to give these birds any credit for the immense destruction of snails, which, if left alone, would scarcely have left a green thing in the garden.
The local name of the Thrush is "Mauvis." It is, of course, included in Professor Ansted's list, but with the Fieldfare, Redwing, and Blackbird, marked as only occurring in Guernsey and Sark. All these birds, however, are equally common in Alderney, Herm, and Jethou. There is also a specimen of each in the Museum.
24. REDWING. _Turdus iliacus_, Linnaeus. French, "Grive mauvis," "Merle mauvis."--A regular and numerous winter visitant to all the Islands, arriving about the end of October, and those that are not shot and brought into the market departing again in March and April.
25. FIELDFARE. _Turdus pilaris_, Linnaeus. French, "Grive litorne," "Merle litorne."--Like the Redwing, the Fieldfare is a regular and numerous winter visitant, and arrives and departs about the same time.
When in Guernsey in November, 1871, I did not see either Redwings or Fieldfares till a few days after my arrival on the 1st; after that both species were numerous, and a few days later plenty of them might be seen hanging up in the market with the Thrushes and Blackbirds, but for the first few days there were none to be seen there. Probably this was rather a late year, as neither bird could have arrived in any numbers till the first week in November, and in all probability not till towards the end of the week.
26. BLACKBIRD. _Turdus merula_, Linnaeus. French, "Merle noir."--- The Blackbird is a common and numerous resident in all the Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The Guernsey gardeners, like their brethren in England, make a great fuss about the mischief done by Blackbirds in the gardens, and no doubt Blackbirds, like the Golden Orioles, are "grand gobeurs" of many kinds of fruit; but the gardeners should remember that they are equally "grand gobeurs" of many kinds of insects as well, many of the most mischievous insects to the garden, including wasps (I have myself several times found wasps in the stomach of the blackbird) forming a considerable portion of their food, the young also being almost entirely fed upon worms, caterpillars, and grubs; and when we remember that it is only for a short time of the year that the Blackbird can feed on fruit, which in most cases can be protected by a little care, and that during the whole of the other portion of the year it feeds on insects which would do more damage in the garden than itself, it will be apparent that the gardener has really no substantial ground of complaint.
As in England, variations in the plumage of the Blackbird are not uncommon. I have one Guernsey specimen of a uniform fawn colour, and another rather curiously marked with grey, the tail-feathers being striped across grey and black. This is a young bird recently out of the nest, and I have no doubt would, after a moult or two, have come to its proper plumage, probably after the first moult, as seems to me frequently the case with varieties of this sort, though I have known a Blackbird show a good deal af white year after year in the winter, resuming its proper plumage in the summer; and Mr. Jago mentions a case of a Blackbird which passed through his hands which was much marked with grey. This bird was found dead, and the owner of the estate on which it was found informed Mr. Jago that it had frequented his place for four years, and that he had seen it with its mate during the summer; so in this case the variation certainly seems to have been permanent.
27. RING OUZEL. _Turdus torquatus_, Linnaeus. French, "Merle à plastron."--I do not think the Ring Ouzel is ever as common in the Channel Islands as it is on migration in South Devon. A few, however, make their appearance in each of the Islands every autumn, but they are never very numerous, and do not remain very long, arriving generally about the end of September and remaining till the end of November or beginning of December, during which time a few may always be seen hung up in the market. Many of the autumnal arrivals are young birds of the year, with the white crescent on the breast nearly wanting or only very faintly marked.