Birds of Guernsey (1879) by Cecil Smith

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101. THICK-KNEE. _Oedicnemus scolopax_, S.G. Gmelin. French, "Oedicneme
criard," "Poule d'Aurigny."[17]--The Thick-knee, Stone Curlew, or
Norfolk Plover, as it is called, though only an occasional visitant, is
much more common than the Little Bustard; indeed, Mr. MacCulloch says
that "it is by no means uncommon in winter. The French call it 'Poule
d'Aurigny,' from which one might suppose it was more common in this
neighbourhood than elsewhere." Miss C.B. Carey records one in the
'Zoologist' as killed in November, and Mr. Couch another as having been
shot on the 31st December. I have also seen one or two hanging up in the
market, and others at Mr. Couch's, late in November; and one is recorded
in the 'Guernsey Mail and Telegraph' as having been shot by Mr. De
Putron, of the Catel, on the 3rd January, 1879. From these dates, as
well as from Mr. MacCulloch's remark that it is not uncommon in the
winter, it would appear that--as in the Land's End district in
Cornwall--the Thick-knee reverses the usual time of its visits to the
British Islands, being a winter instead of a summer visitant; and
probably for the same reason, namely, that the latitude of the Channel
Islands, like that of Cornwall, is about the same as that of its most
northern winter range on the Continent.

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

102. PEEWIT. _Vanellus vulgaris_, Bechstein. French, "Vanneau
huppe."--The Peewit is a common and rather numerous autumn and winter
visitant to all the Islands, though I have never seen it in such large
flocks as in some parts of England, especially in Somerset. Those that
do come to the Islands appear to take very good care of themselves, for
I have always found them very difficult to get a shot at, and very few
make their appearance in the market. Though generally a winter visitant,
I have seen occasional stragglers in summer. On the 9th July this year
(1878), for instance, I saw one fly by me in L'Ancresse Bay; this was
either a young bird, or, if an adult, was not in breeding plumage, as I
could clearly see that the throat was white--- not black, as in the
adult in breeding plumage. A few days afterwards, July 19th,
another--or, perhaps, the same--was shot by some quarry-men on the
common; this was certainly a young bird of the year, and I had a good
opportunity of looking at it. In spite of occasional stragglers of this
sort making their appearance in the summer, I have never been able to
find that the Peewit breeds on any of the Islands; but, by the 9th of
July, stragglers, both old and young, might easily come from the
opposite coast of Dorsetshire, where a good many breed, or from the
north of France.

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

103. GREY PLOVER. _Squatarola helvetica_, Linnaeus. French, "Vanneau
pluvier."--The Grey Plover is a regular but by no means numerous
visitant to the coast of all the Islands during the winter months, but I
have never found it in flocks like the Golden Plover. A few fall victims
to the numerous gunners who frequent the shores during the autumn and
winter, and consequently it occasionally makes its appearance in the
market, where I believe it often passes for a Golden Plover, especially
in the case of young birds on their first arrival in November; but for
the sake of the unknowing in such matters, I may say that they need
never be deceived, as the Grey Plover has a hind toe, and also has the
axillary plume or the longish feathers under the wing black, while the
Golden Plover has no hind toe and the axillary plume white: a little
attention to these distinctions, which hold good at all ages and in all
plumages, may occasionally save a certain amount of disappointment at
dinner time, as the Grey Plover is apt to taste muddy and fishy, and is
by no means so good as the Golden Plover.

It is included in Professor Ansted's list, but only marked as occurring
in Guernsey. There are two specimens in the Museum, both in winter
plumage. Indeed, I do not know that it even remains long enough in the
Channel Islands to assume, even partially, the black-breast of the
breeding plumage, as it so often does in England.

104. GOLDEN PLOVER. _Charadrius pluvialis_, Linnaeus. French, "Pluvier
dore."--A common winter visitant to all the Islands, arriving about the
end of October or beginning of November, and remaining till the spring,
sometimes till they have nearly assumed the black breast of the
breeding-season; but I do not know that the Golden Plover ever breeds in
the Islands, at all events in the present day.

Professor Ansted includes the Golden Plover in his list, and marks it as
occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is one specimen in the Museum,
probably killed rather late in the spring, as it is assuming the black
breast.

105. DOTTEREL. _Eudromias morinellus_, Linnaeus. French, "Pluvier
guignard."--The common Dotterel is a rare occasional visitant to the
Channel Islands, occurring, however, on both the spring and autumn
migration, as Mr. MacCulloch says he has a note of a Dotterel killed in
May, 1849; he does not say in which of the Islands, but probably in
Guernsey; and I have a skin of one, a fine full-plumaged bird, according
to Mr. Couch, who forwarded me the skin, a female by dissection, killed
in Herm on the 26th of April, 1877. Another skin I have is that of a
young bird of the year, killed in the autumn, I should think early in
the autumn--August or September; and the Rev. A. Morres, who kindly gave
me this last one, has also a skin of one killed at the same time; both
of these were Guernsey killed.

The Dotterel is included in Professor Ansted's list, and by him marked
as having occurred in Guernsey and Sark. I should think Alderney a more
likely place for the bird to have occurred than Sark, but I have not
been able to gain any information about its occurrence there; neither
the carpenter bird-stuffer nor his sporting friend had a skin or any
part of the bird. There is no specimen now in the Museum.

106. RING DOTTEREL. _AEgialitis hiaticula_, Linnaeus. French, "Grand
pluvier a collier," "Pluvier a collier."--The Ring Dotterel is very
common in all the Islands in places suited to it. Some remain throughout
the summer, and a few of these, but certainly very few, may breed in the
Islands; the great majority, however, of those that frequent the coast
in the winter are migrants, arriving in the autumn and departing again
in the spring. Some, however, appear to arrive very early, and cannot
have bred very far off, perhaps on the neighbouring coast of France or
Dorset. I have the following note on the subject in the 'Zoologist' for
1866, which gives the time of their arrival pretty correctly. During the
first two or three weeks after my arrival--that was on the 21st of June,
1866--I found Ring Dotterels excessively scarce even on parts of the
coast, where, on other visits later in the year, I had found them very
numerous. Towards the middle of July, however, they began to frequent
their usual haunts in small parties of six or seven, most probably the
old birds with their young. These parties increased in number to twenty
or thirty, and before my departure, on the last day of July, they
mustered quite as thickly as I had ever seen them before. On another
summer visit to Guernsey, from the 3rd to the 19th of June, 1876, I did
not see any Ring Dotterel at all, though at the time Kentish Plover were
common in most of the bays in the low parts of the Island. The Ring
Dotterel must therefore have selected some breeding-place separate from
the Kentish Plover, probably not very far off; but I do not believe it
breeds at all commonly in the Islands. This agrees very much with what I
saw of the Ring Dotterel this year (1878); there were a few in
L'Ancresse and one or two other bays, but none in Grand Havre, close to
which I was living, and I very much doubt if any of those I saw were
breeding. Neither Colonel l'Estrange nor I found any eggs, though we
searched hard for them both in '76 and '78; neither did we find any eggs
either in Herm or Alderney.

Professor Ansted includes the Ring Dotterel in his list, but marks it
as only occurring in Guernsey. There is a specimen in the Museum.

107. KENTISH PLOVER. _AEgialitis cantianus_, Latham. French, "Pluvier a
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, "Hiutrier
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 cendre."--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 Fauconniere.' 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.

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