Birds of Guernsey (1879) by Cecil Smith

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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
ecorcheur."--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 Metivier, 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. Metivier'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
Metivier. 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. Metivier 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, "Aquassiere,"
"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. Metivier 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 a
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.

Mr. Gallienne, in his remarks appended to Professor Ansted's list, says
the Ring Ouzel stays with us throughout the year, but is more plentiful
in winter than in summer. But I have never myself seen one either dead
or alive in the spring or summer. It may, however, occasionally visit
the Island in the spring migration, but I know of no authentic instance
of its remaining to breed, nor have I seen the eggs in any Guernsey
collection. I have seen specimens of the Ring Ouzel from Alderney, and
it appears to me about equally common at the same time of year in all
the Islands. Mr. MacCulloch, however, writes to me:--"From what I have
heard the Ring Ouzel is more common in Alderney than Guernsey, where it
is seen mostly on the southern cliffs." The south end of the Island is
no doubt its favourite resort in Guernsey. As far as Alderney is
concerned Captain Hubback, R.A., who has been quartered there at
different times, says he has never seen one there; but I do not think he
has been much there in the early autumn.

Professor Ansted includes it in his list, and marks it as occurring in
Guernsey and Sark. There are several, both male and female and young, in
the Guernsey Museum.

28. HBDGESPARROW. _Accentor modularis_, Linnaeus. French, "Mouchet,"
"Traine buisson," "Accenteur mouchet."--The Hedgesparrow is, I think,
quite as common as in England, and resident throughout the year in all
the Islands. According to Mr. Metivier's 'Dictionary' its local name is
"Verdeleu," and he describes it as "Oiseau qui couvre les oeufs de
Coucou." In Guernsey, however, Cuckoos are much too numerous for the
Hedgesparrow to afford accommodation for them all.

Professor Ansted mentions the Hedgesparrow in his list, but restricts
it to Guernsey and Sark. I have, however, frequently seen it in Alderney
and Herm, and the little Island of Jethou.

29. ROBIN. _Ericathus rubecula_, Linnaeus. French. "Bec-fin
rouge-gorge," "Rouge gorge." The Robin, like the Hedgesparrow, is a
common resident in all the Islands, and I cannot find that its numbers
are increased at any time of year by migration. But on the other hand I
should think a good many of the young must be driven off to seek
quarters elsewhere by their most pugnacious parents, for of all birds
the Robin is by far the most pugnacious with which I am acquainted, and
deserves the name of "pugnax" much more than the Ruff, and in a limited
space like Jethou and Herm battles between the old and the young would
be constant unless some of the young departed altogether from the
Island.

Professor Ansted includes the Robin in his list, but, as with the
Hedgesparrow, only mentions it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. It is,
however, equally common in Alderney, Jethou, and Herm.

30. REDSTART. _Ruticilla phoenicurus_, Linnaeus. French, "Rouge-queue,"
"Bec-fin des murailles."--I should not have included the Redstart in
this list, as I have never seen it in the Islands myself, but on
sending a list of the birds I intended to include to Mr. MacCulloch, he
wrote to say--"You mention Tithy's Redstart; the common one is also seen
here." In consequence of this information I looked very sharply out for
the birds during the two months (June and July) which I was in Guernsey
this year (1878), but I never once saw the bird in any of the Islands,
nor could I find any one who had; and such a conspicuous and generally
well known bird could hardly have escaped observation had it been in the
Island in any numbers. I may add that I have had the same bad luck in
all my former visits to the Islands, and never seen a Redstart. I
suppose, however, from Mr. MacCulloch's note that it occasionally visits
the Islands for a short time on migration, very few, if any, remaining
to breed.

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

31. BLACK REDSTART. _Ruticilla titys_, Scopoli. French, "Rouge queue
Tithys."--The Black, or Tithys Redstart, as it is sometimes called, is a
regular and by no means uncommon autumnal visitant to Guernsey. It seems
very much to take the place of the Wheatear, arriving about the time the
Wheatear departs, and mostly frequenting the same places. In Guernsey
it is most common near the sea about the low part of the Island, from
L'ancresse Common to Perrelle Bay. In habits it puts one very much in
mind of the Wheatear, being very fond, like that bird, of selecting some
big stone or some other conspicuous place to perch on and keep a
look-out either for intruders or for some passing insect, either flying
or creeping, for it is an entirely insect-feeding bird.

I have never seen the Black Redstart about the high part of the Island
amongst the rocks, which I am rather surprised at, as in the south coast
of Devon it seems particularly partial to high cliffs and rocks, such as
the Parson and Clerk Rock near Teignmouth; but in Guernsey the wild
grassy commons, with scattered rocks and large boulders, and
occasionally a rough pebbly beach, especially the upper part of it where
the pebbles join the grass, seem more the favourite resort of this bird
than the high rocks, such places probably being more productive of food.
It is of course quite useless to look for this bird in the interior of
the Island in gardens and orchards, and such places as one would
naturally look for the Common Redstart.

The male Black Redstart may be immediately distinguished from the Common
Redstart by the black breast and belly, and by the absence of the white
mark on the forehead. The male Black Redstart has also a white patch on
the wing caused by the pale, nearly white, margins of the feathers. The
females are more alike, but still may easily be distinguished, the
general colour of the female Black Redstart being much duller--a dull
smoke-brown instead of the reddish brown of the Common Redstart.

Some slight variations of plumage take place in the Black Redstart at
different ages and seasons, which have led to some little difficulties,
and to another supposed species, _Ruticilla cairii_ of Gerbe being
suggested, but apparently quite without reason. I have never seen the
Black Redstart in the Islands at any time of year except the autumn, and
do not know of its occurrence at any other time.

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