Chapter 9

107. KENTISH PLOVER. _Ægialitis cantianus_, Latham. French, "Pluvier à collier interrompu." I have always looked upon the Kentish Plover as only a summer visitant to the Islands, never having seen it in any of my visits in October and November; but Mr. Harvie Brown mentions ('Zoologist' for 1869) seeing some of these birds in January, at Herm, feeding with the Ring Dotterel, but he says they always separated when they rose to fly. If he is not mistaken, which my own experience inclines me to think he was, we must look upon the Kentish Plover as partially resident in the Islands, the greater number, however, departing in the autumn. Until this summer (1878) I have been unsuccessful in finding the eggs of the Kentish Plover, though I have had many hard searches for them; and they are very difficult to find, unless the bird is actually seen to run from the nest, or rather from the eggs, for, as a rule, nest there is none, the eggs being only placed on the sand, with which they get half buried, when they may easily be mistaken for a small bit of speckled granite and passed by. In the summer of 1866, a friend and myself had a long search for the eggs of a pair we saw and were certain had eggs, as they practised all the usual devices to decoy us from them, till my friend, actually thinking one of the birds to be badly wounded, set his dog at it; after this all chance was over: this was in a small sandy bay, called Port Soif, near the Grand Rocques Barracks. I mention this as I am certain these birds had eggs or young somewhere close to us, and this was the farthest point towards Vazon Bay from the Vale I found them breeding. The sandy shores of Grand Havre and L'Ancresse Bay seemed to be their head breeding-quarters in Guernsey. Though I only found one set of eggs in Grand Havre, I am sure there were three or four pairs of birds breeding there; the two eggs I found were lying with their thick ends just touching each other and half buried in sand; there was no nest whatever, not even the sand hollowed out; they were in quite a bare place, just, and only just, above the high-water line of seaweed. I should not have found these if it had not been for the tracks of the birds immediately round them. In L'Ancresse Bay I was not equally fortunate, but there were quite as many pairs of birds breeding there. In Herm the shell-beach seems to be their head breeding-quarters, and there Mr. Howard Saunders, Colonel l'Estrange and myself found several sets of eggs, generally three in number, but in one or two instances four: these were probably hard-sat; in one instance, with four eggs, the eggs were nearly upright in the sand, the small end being buried, and the thick end just showing above the sand. In no instance in which I saw the eggs was there the slightest attempt at a nest; but Colonel l'Estrange told me that in one instance, in which he had found some eggs a day or two before I got to Guernsey, quite the end of May, he found there was a slight attempt at a nest, a few bents of the rough herbage which grew in the sand just above high-water mark having been collected and the nest lined with them. I have not found any eggs in Alderney, but I have no doubt they breed in some of the sandy bays to the north of the Island occasionally, if not always, as I have seen them there in the breeding-season, both in 1876 and in 1866. This summer (1878) I was so short a time in that Island that I had not time to search the most likely places, but Captain Hubbach wrote me--"I do not think the Kentish Plover remained here to breed this year, although I saw some about in April."

Professor Ansted includes the Kentish Plover in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey. There is one specimen, a male, in the Museum.

108. TURNSTONE. _Strepsilas interpres_, Linnaeus. French, "Tourne pierre," "Tourne pierre a collier." The cosmopolitan Turnstone is resident in the Channel Islands; throughout the year its numbers, however, are much increased in the autumn by migrants, many of which remain throughout the winter, leaving the Islands for their breeding-stations in the spring. Some of those that remain throughout the summer I have no doubt breed in the Islands, as I have seen the old birds about with their young and shot one in July; and on the 8th of June, 1876, I saw a pair in full breeding plumage in L'Ancresse Bay; I saw them again about the same place on the 16th: these birds were evidently paired, and I believe had eggs or young on a small rocky island about two or three hundred yards from the land, but there was no boat about, and so I could not get over to look for the eggs. Col. l'Estrange obtained some eggs on one of the rocky islands to the north of Herm, which certainly were not Tern's eggs as he supposed, and I believe them to have been Turnstone's; unluckily he did not take the eggs himself, but the boatman who was with him took them, so he did not see the bird go off the nest. This last summer (1878) I was in hopes of being more successful either in Guernsey itself or in Herm, or the rocks near there, but I did not see a single Turnstone alive the whole time I was in Guernsey. I think it very likely, however, I should have been successful in Herm, as I visited it several times both by myself and with Col. l'Estrange and Mr. Howard Saunders; our first visit was on June the 21st, when we did not see a single Turnstone; but this was afterwards accounted for, as on a visit to Jago, the bird-stuffer, a short time afterwards, I found him skinning a splendid pair of Turnstones which had been shot in Herm a few days before our visit on the 17th or 18th of June; the female had eggs ready for extrusion; I need not say I did not exactly bless the person who, in defiance of the Guernsey Sea Birds Act, had shot this pair of Turnstones, as had they been left I have no doubt we should have seen them, and probably found the eggs, and quite settled the question of the Turnstone's breeding there. I have long been very sceptical on this subject, but now I have very little doubt, as I think, seeing the birds about, paired, in Guernsey in June and the pair shot in Herm, the female with eggs in June, pretty well removes any doubt as to the Turnstone breeding in the Islands, and I do not see why it should not, as it breeds quite as far south in the Azores, and almost certainly in the Canaries.[18] Mr. Rodd, however, tells me he does not believe in its breeding in the Scilly Islands, though it is seen about there throughout the year, as it is in the Channel Islands. Mr. Gallienne, in his remarks on Professor Ansted's list, merely says, "The Turnstone is found about the neighbourhood of Herm throughout the year." It occurs also in Alderney in the autumn, but I have not seen it there in the breeding-season.

Professor Ansted includes it in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey. There are a male and female, in breeding plumage, in the Museum, and also one in winter plumage.

109. OYSTERCATCHER, _Haematopus ostralegus_, Linnaeus. French, "Hiûtrier pie."--The Guernsey Bird Act includes these birds under the name 'Piesmarans,' which is the name given to the Oystercatcher by all the French-speaking fishermen and boatmen, and which I suppose must be looked upon only as the local name, though I have no doubt it is the common name also on the neighbouring coast of Normandy and Brittany. The Oystercatcher is resident all the year, and breeds in all the Islands; I think, however, its numbers are considerably increased in the autumn by migratory arrivals; certainly the numbers actually breeding in the Islands are not sufficient to account for the immense flocks one sees about in October and November. There seem, however, to be considerable numbers remaining in flocks throughout the summer, without apparently the slightest intention of separating for breeding purposes, as I have often counted as many as forty or fifty together in June and July. The Oystercatcher breeds in Guernsey itself about the cliffs. Mr. Howard Saunders, Colonel l'Estrange and myself found one very curiously placed nest of the Oystercatcher on the ridge of a hog-backed rock at the bottom of the cliff, near the south end of the Island; it was not much above high-water mark, and quite within reach of heavy spray when there was any sea on: we could distinctly see the eggs when looking down from the cliffs on them, and the two old birds were walking about the ridge of rock as if dancing on the tight-rope; how they kept their eggs in place on that narrow ridge, exposed as it was to wind and sea, was a marvel. The Oystercatcher breeds also in both the small Islands, Jethou and Herm, on almost all the rocky islands to the north of Herm, in Sark and Alderney, and on Burhou, near Alderney, where I found one clutch of three of the most richly marked Oystercatcher's eggs I ever saw: these, as well as another clutch, also of three eggs, were placed on rather curious nests; they were on the smooth rock, but in both cases the birds had collected a number of small stones and made a complete pavement of them, on which they placed their eggs; there was no protection, however, to prevent the eggs from rolling off. Both in Burhou as well as on the Amfroques and other rocks to the north of Herm, the eggs of the Oystercatchers, as well as of the other sea-birds breeding there, had been ruthlessly robbed by fishermen and others, who occasionally visit these wild rocks and carry off everything in the shape of an egg, without paying any respect to the Bird Act, which professes to protect the eggs as well as the birds.

Professor Ansted includes the Oystercatcher in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is an Oystercatcher and also a few of the eggs in the Museum.

110. CURLEW. _Numenins arquata_, Linnaeus. French, "Courlis," "Grand courlis cendré."--A good many Curlews are to be found in the Islands throughout the year, but I do not believe any of them breed there; I have seen them in Guernsey, Jethou, Herm and Alderney, all through the summer, but always in flocks on the mud and seaweed below high-water mark, whenever they can be there, searching for food, and quite as wild and wary as in the winter. I have never seen them paired, or in any place the least likely for them to be breeding. I know Mr. Gallienne, in his remarks to Professor Ansted's list, says, "Although I have never heard of the eggs of either the Curlew or Whimbrel being found, I am satisfied they breed here (I think at Herm), as they stay with us throughout the year." I cannot from my observation agree with this supposition of the Curlew breeding in the Islands; nor can I agree with the statement made by a writer in 'Cassel's Magazine' for June or July, 1878, that he found a young Curlew in the down on one of the Islands near Jethou, probably from the description 'La Fauconnière.' The writer of this paper in 'Cassel's Magazine' was evidently no ornithologist, and must, I think, have mistaken a young Oystercatcher, of which several pairs were breeding there at the time, for a young Curlew; his description of the cry of the old birds as they flew round was much more like that of the Oystercatcher than the Curlew. All of the boatmen also, with whom I have been about at various times, agree that the Curlews do not breed in the Islands, though they are quite aware that they remain throughout the year, and as many of them, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, are great robbers of the eggs of the Gulls, Puffins, and Oystercatchers, all of which they know well, they would hardly miss such a fine mouthful as the egg of the Curlew if it was to be found. No doubt the number of Curlews is largely increased in the autumn by migratory visitors, which remain throughout the winter and depart again in the spring: though numerous during autumn and winter, they are very wild and wary, and, as everywhere else where I have had any experience of Curlews at that time of year, very difficult to get a shot at; consequently very few find their way into the market.

The Curlew is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum.

111. WHIMBREL. _Numenius phaeopus_, Linnaeus. French, "Courlis corlieu."--A good many Whimbrel visit all the Islands during the spring migration, and a few may stay some little time into the summer, as I have seen them as late as June, but, as far as I have been able to make out, none breed there; a few also may make their appearance on the autumn migration, but very few in comparison with those which appear in the spring, and I have never seen any there at that time. Purdy, one of the Guernsey boatmen, who is pretty well up in the sea and shore birds, told me the Whimbrel occurred commonly in May, but not on the autumn migration. He added that it was known there as the "May-bird," and was very good to eat, and much easier to shoot than a Curlew, in which he is quite right.

Professor Ansted includes the Whimbrel in his list, and marks it only as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum.

112. REDSHANK. _Totanus calidris_, Linnaeus. French, "Chevalier gambette."--An occasional but never numerous visitant to all the Islands, on both spring and autumn migrations; none appear to remain through the summer. I have, however, a Redshank in full breeding plumage, killed in Guernsey as late as the 23rd of April.

Professor Ansted includes the Redshank in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey. There are two specimens in the Museum.

113. GREEN SANDPIPER. _Totanus ochropus_, Linnaeus. French, "Chevalier cul blanc."--The Green Sandpiper is an irregular, very scarce (not so numerous indeed as the Redshank) visitant on the spring and autumn migration. I have seen what was probably a family party about Vazon Bay, in Guernsey, quite at the end of July, but I do not believe this bird ever breeds in the Islands: those I saw were probably the parents and young brood of an early-breeding pair, on their return from some not very distant breeding-ground. Such parties seem only to pay the Islands a very short visit on their return from their breeding-ground; at least I have never seen a Green Sandpiper in the Islands as late as October or November; it may, however, occasionally occur in the winter, as I have a specimen from Torbay killed in December.

Professor Ansted does not include the Green Sandpiper in his list, though he does the Wood Sandpiper, giving, however, no locality for it. I have never seen this latter bird in the Islands, however; nor have I been able to find that one has ever passed through the hands of any of the local bird-stuffers, and I cannot help thinking a mistake has been made; as both birds may, however, occur, and they are something alike, I may, for the benefit of my Guernsey readers, mention that they may immediately be distinguished; the axillary plume or long feathers under the wing, in the Green Sandpiper, being black narrowly barred with white; and in the Wood Sandpiper the reverse, white with a few dark bars and markings; the tail also, in the Green Sandpiper, is much more distinctly and boldy barred with black and white. Alive and on the wing they may be immediately distinguished by the pure white rump and tail-coverts of the Green Sandpiper, which are very conspicuous, especially as the bird rises; the white on the same parts of the Wood Sandpiper is much marked with brown, and consequently never appears so conspicuously. There is one Green Sandpiper at present in the Museum, which there seems no reason to doubt is Guernsey killed.

114. COMMON SANDPIPER. _Totanus hypoleucos_, Linnaeus. French, "Chevalier guignette."--The Common Sandpiper, or Summer Snipe as it is sometimes called, is a spring and autumn visitant, but never a numerous one, sometimes, however, remaining till the summer. One of Mr. De Putron's men told me he had seen one or two about their pond all this summer (1878), and he believed they bred there; but as to this I am very sceptical; I could see nothing of the bird when I visited the pond in June and July, and I fancy the birds stayed about, as they do sometimes about my own pond here in Somerset, till late perhaps in May, and then departed to breed elsewhere. The latest occurrence I know of was one recorded by Mr. Couch in the 'Zoologist' for 1874, as having been killed on the 3rd of October. Mr. Couch adds that this was the first specimen of the Common Sandpiper he had had since he had been in the Islands.

The Common Sandpiper is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen in the Museum.

115. BARTAILED GODWIT. _Limosa lapponica_, Linnaeus. French, "Barge rousse."--The Bar-tailed Godwit is a regular and sometimes rather numerous spring and autumn visitant. In May, 1876, a considerable number of these birds seem to have rested on the little Island of Herm, where the keeper shot three of them; two of these are now in my possession, and are very interesting, as though all shot at the same time--I believe on the same day--they are in various stages of plumage, the most advanced being in thorough breeding-plumage, and the other not nearly so far advanced; and the third, which I saw but have not got, was not so far advanced as either of the others. In the two which I have the change of colour in the feathers, without moult, may be seen in the most interesting manner, especially in the least advanced, as many of the feathers are still parti-coloured, the colouring matter not having spread over the whole feather; in the most advanced, however, nearly all the feathers were fully coloured with the red of the breeding-plumage. This red plumage remains till the autumn, when it is replaced, after the moult, by the more sombre and less handsome grey of the winter plumage. Though the Bar-tailed Godwit goes far north to breed, not breeding much nearer than Lapland and the north of Norway and Sweden, both old and young soon show themselves again in the Channel Islands on their return journey, as I shot a young bird of the year in Herm the last week in August. Most of the autumn arrivals, however, soon pass on to more southern winter quarters, only a few remaining very late, perhaps quite through the winter, as I have one shot in Guernsey as late as the 14th of December; this one, I need hardly say, is in full winter plumage, and of course presents a most striking difference to the one shot in Herm in May.

The Bar-tailed Godwit is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring in Guernsey. It is, however, as I have shown, perhaps more common in Herm, and it also occurs in Alderney. There is a series of these in the Museum in change and breeding-plumage.

The Blacktailed Godwit is also included in Professor Ansted's list, but I have never seen the bird in the Islands or been able to glean any information concerning it, and there is no specimen in the Museum.

116. GREENSHANK. _Totanus canescens_, Gmelin. French, "Chevalier gris," "Chevalier aboyeur."--The Greenshank can only be considered a rare occasional visitant. I have never shot or seen it myself in the Islands, but Miss C.B. Carey records one in the 'Zoologist' for 1872 as having been shot on the 2nd of October of that year, and brought to Mr. Couch's, at whose shop she saw it.

The Greenshank is included in Professor Ansted's list, but there is no letter to note which of the Islands it has occurred in. There is no specimen in the Museum.

117. RUFF. _Machetes pugnax,_ Linnaeus. French, "Combatant," "Combatant variable."--The Ruff is an occasional but not very common autumn and winter visitant; it occurs, probably, more frequently in the autumn than the winter. Mr. MacCulloch writes me, "I have a note of a Ruff shot in October, 1871." This probably was, like all the Guernsey specimens I have seen, a young bird of the year in that state of plumage in which it leads to all sorts of mistakes, people wildly supposing it to be either a Buff-breasted or a Bartram's Sandpiper. Miss C.B. Carey records one in the 'Zoologist' for 1871 as shot in September of that year; this was a young bird of the year. Miss C.B. Carey also records two in the 'Zoologist' for 1872 as having been shot about the 13th of April in that year; these she describes as being in change of plumage but having no ruff yet; probably the change of colour in the feathers was beginning before the long feathers of the ruff began to grow; and this agrees with what I have seen of the Ruff in confinement; the change of colour in the feathers of the body begins before the ruff makes its appearance.

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

118. WOODCOCK. _Scolopax rusticola_, Linnaeus. French, "Becasse ordinaire."--The Woodcock is a regular and tolerably common autumnal visitant to all the Islands, arriving and departing about the same time as in England,--none, however, remaining to breed, as is so frequently the case with us. There might be some good cock shooting in the Islands if the Woodcocks were the least preserved, but as soon as one is heard of every person in the Island who can beg, borrow, or steal a gun and some powder and shot is out long before daylight, waiting for the first shot at the unfortunate Woodcock as soon as there should be sufficient daylight. In fact, such a scramble is there for a chance at a Woodcock that a friend of mine told me he got up long before daylight one morning and went to a favourite spot to begin at; thinking to be first on the ground, he sat on a gate close by waiting for daylight; but so far from his being the first, he found, as it got light, three other people, all waiting, like himself, to begin as soon as it was light enough, each thinking he was going to be first and have it all his own way with the cocks. Besides the gun, another mode of capturing the Woodcocks used till very lately to be, and perhaps still is, practised at Woodlands and some other places where practicable in Guernsey. Nets are set across open paths between the trees, generally Ilex, through which the Woodcocks take their flight when going out "roading," as it is called--that is, when on their evening excursion for food; into these nets the Woodcocks fly and become easy victims.

Professor Ansted includes the Woodcock in his list, but only marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is one specimen in the Museum.

119. SOLITARY SNIPE. _Scolopax major_, Gmelin. French, "Grande becassine."--I have never been fortunate enough to shoot a Solitary Snipe myself in the Channel Islands, neither have I seen one at any of the bird-stuffers; but that is not very likely, as the shooter of a Solitary Snipe only congratulates himself on having killed a fine big Snipe, and carries it off for dinner, but, from some of the descriptions I have had given me of these fine big Snipes, I have no doubt it has occasionally been a Solitary Snipe. Mr. MacCulloch also writes me word that the Solitary Snipe occasionally occurs.

It is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked by him as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.