Birds of Guernsey Part 10

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

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

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

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

156. GUILLEMOT. _Alca troile_, Linnaeus. French, "Guillemot a capuchon,"

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

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

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

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

158. PUFFIN. _Fratercula arctica_, Linnaeus. French, "Macareux."--The Puffin, or Barbelote[27] as it is called by the Guernsey sailors and in the Guernsey Bird Act, is a regular and numerous summer visitant to the Islands, breeding in considerable numbers in many places. None breed, however, in Guernsey itself, or in any of the little rocky islands immediately surrounding it. Some breed on Sark and the islands about it, and a few also on Herm; but their great breeding quarters about these parts are from the Amfrocques to the north end of Herm. On every one of the little rocky islands between these places, and including the Amfrocques, considerable numbers of Puffins breed, either in holes in the soft soil which has acc.u.mulated on some of these islands, or amongst the loose rocks and stones; these latter, however, are the safest places for the Puffin, as, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, which protects the eggs as well as the birds, the Guernsey fishermen are fond of visiting these islands whenever they can for the purpose of what they call "Barbeloting;" and they soon lift up the loose earth with their hands and get at the eggs; but the Puffins, who have laid in holes in the rocks and amongst loose stones, are much better off, as a good big stone of two or three tons is not so easily moved. I visited all these little islands in the summer of 1878 with Mr. Howard Saunders, and we found all the Puffins who had had eggs in holes in the earth had been robbed almost without an exception; the others, however, were pretty safe. Besides these islands the Puffins breed in Alderney itself, and on Burhou, where, however, their eggs are robbed nearly as much as in the islands north of Herm, especially the eggs of those who choose holes in the soft earth. The Puffins do not seem to be very regular in their time of nesting; at least, when I was at Burhou on the 14th of June, 1876, I found quite fresh eggs, eggs just ready to hatch, young birds in the down, and young birds just beginning to get a few feathers and almost able to take to the water; it was fun to see one of these when he had been unearthed waddle off to the nearest hole as fast as his legs could carry him--generally, however, coming down every second or third step.

The reason for the irregularity in hatching was probably owing to the first brood having been lost, the eggs probably having been robbed.

During the breeding season the Puffins keep very close to their breeding-stations, and do not apparently wander more than a few hundred yards from them even in search of food; so that, unless you actually visit the islands on which they breed, you can form no idea of the number of Puffins actually breeding in the Channel Islands. The number of Puffins, however, at Burhou seem to me to have considerably diminished of late years, for in the summer of 1866, when going through the Swinge, we pa.s.sed a great flock of these birds; "in fact, for more than a mile both air and water were swarming with them."[28] This certainly was not the case in either 1876 or 1878, though there were still a great many Puffins there; probably the continued egg-stealing has had some effect in reducing their numbers. After the breeding-season the Puffins seem to leave the Channel Islands for the winter, as they do at Lundy Island and in the British Channel; they may return occasionally, as they do in the Bristol Channel, for a short time in foggy weather; but I have never seen a Puffin in any of my pa.s.sages in October and November, or in any boating expedition at that time of year, and I have never heard any of the boatmen talk about Barbelotes being seen about in the winter. An unsigned paper, however, in the 'Star' for April 27th, 1878, mentions Puffins amongst other winter birds; but I very much doubt their making their appearance in the winter except as accidental visitants; there is one specimen, however, in the Museum, which, judging by the bill, must have been killed in the winter, or, at all events, to quote Dr. Bureau, "apres la saison des amours." Dr.

Bureau, in a very interesting paper[29] on this curious change, or rather moult, which takes place in the bill of the Puffin, and which has been translated into the 'Zoologist' for 1878, where a plate showing the changes is given, says that Puffins are cast ash.o.r.e on the coast of Brittany during the winter, for he says they leave the coast, as I believe they do that of the Channel Islands, and the only indication of their continuing there is that dead birds are rolled on the sh.o.r.e after severe gales in the autumn and winter; and "these birds are clad in a plumage different to that worn by those we get in the breeding-season.

In the orbital region, for instance, they have a spot, more or less large, of a dusky brown; they have not the red eyelids, nor the h.o.r.n.y plates above and below the eye, nor have they the puckered yellow skin at the base of the bill, and, what is still more remarkable, the bill is differently formed; it is neither of the same size, shape, nor colour, and the pieces of which it is composed are not even the same. It is small sliced off (trongue) in front, especially at the lower mandible, wanting the pleat (ourlet) at the base, and flattened laterally on a level with the nostrils, where a solid h.o.r.n.y skin of a bright lead-colour is replaced by a short membrane." The whole paper by Dr.

Bureau on this subject is most interesting, but is much too long for me to insert here; the nature, however, of the change which takes place must be so interesting to many of my readers who are familiar with the Puffin in its breeding plumage, and who, in spite of the Bird Act, perhaps occasionally enjoy a day's "Barbeloting," that I could not help quoting as much of the paper as would be sufficient to point out the general nature of the change.

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

159. RAZORBILL. _Alca torda_, Linnaeus. French, "Pingouin macroptere."--The Razorbill is not by any means numerous in the Channel Islands, but a few breed about Ortack, and, as has been said before, in Alderney, but nowhere else; and they are by no means so numerous as the Guillemot. It is resident throughout the year, though perhaps more common in the autumn than at any other time. Mr. Harvey Brown,[30]

however, mentions seeing a small flock swim by with the tide, at the north-end of Herm, in January. Mr. MacCulloch writes me word he has a note of a Razorbill Auk shot in Guernsey on the 14th February, 1847; this, of course, is only a young Razorbill of the previous year, which had not at that time fully developed its bill.

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

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

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

161. s.h.a.g. _Phalacrocorax graculus_, Linnaeus. French, "Cormoran largup."--The s.h.a.g almost entirely takes the place, as well as usurps the name, of its big brother, as in the Islands it is invariably called the Cormorant. The local Guernsey-French name "Cormoran" is applicable probably to either the s.h.a.g or the Cormorant. The s.h.a.g is the most numerous of the sea birds which frequent the Islands, the Herring Gull not even excepted, every nook and corner of the high cliffs in all the Islands being occupied by scores of s.h.a.gs during the breeding-season.

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

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

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

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

163. COMMON TERN. _Sterna fluviatilis_, Naumann. French, "Hirondelle de mer," "Pierre garin." The Common Tern is a regular but not numerous spring and autumn visitant to the Islands, some remaining to breed. I do not know that it breeds anywhere in Guernsey itself, but it may do so, for in the Vale in the summer of 1878 I saw more than one pair about the two bays, Grand Havre and L'Ancresse, all through the summer; some of them certainly seemed paired, but I never could find where their nests were; some of the others apparently were non-breeding birds, as they did not appear to be paired. These bays and along the coast near St. Samson were the only places in Guernsey itself that I saw the Terns; there were some also about Herm, but we could not find any nests there; but Mr.

Howard Saunders and myself found a few pairs breeding on one of the rocky islands to the north of Herm; when we visited them on the 27th June, 1878, we only found four nests, two with two eggs each and two with only one egg each. Probably these were a second laying, the nests having been robbed, as had everything else on these Islands; there must have been more than four nests there really, as there were several pairs of birds about, but we could not find any other nests; these four were on the hard rocks, with little or no attempt at a real nest. This was the only one of the small rocky islands on which we found Terns breeding, though we searched every one of them that had any land above water at high tide; the others, of course, were useless. I had expected for some time that Common Terns did breed on some of these rocks, as I have an adult female in full breeding-plumage, which had been shot on the 29th June, 1877, near St. Samson's, which is only about three miles from these Islands, and which certainly showed signs of having been sitting; and Mr. Jago, the bird-stuffer, had one in full breeding-plumage, killed at Herm early in June, 1878; but several of the sailors about, and some friends of mine who were in the habit of visiting these islands occasionally, seemed very sceptical on the subject; but Mr. Howard Saunders and I quite settled the question by finding the eggs, and we also thoroughly identified the birds. The Common Tern seemed to be the only species of Tern breeding on the rocks; we certainly saw nothing else, and no Common Terns even, except on the one island on which we found the eggs. The autumnal visitants are mostly young birds of the year, some of them, of course, having been bred on the Islands and others merely wanderers from more distant breeding-stations. No young Terns appeared to have flown when I left the Islands at the end of July; at least, I saw none about, though there were several adults about both Grand Havre and L'Ancresse Bay. The same remark applies to Herm, where my last visit to the sh.e.l.l-beach was on the 22nd of July, when I saw several adult Common Terns about, but no young ones with them; all these were probably birds which had been robbed of one or more clutches of eggs.

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

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

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

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

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

166. KITTIWAKE. _Rissa tridactyla_, Linnaeus. French, "Mouette tridactyle."--The Kittiwake is a regular and numerous autumn and winter visitant to all the Islands, sometimes remaining till late in the spring, which misled me when I made the statement in the 'Zoologist'

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

167. HERRING GULL. _Larus argentatus_, Gmelin. French, "Goeland argente," "Goeland a manteau bleu."--The Herring Gull is very common, indeed the commonest Gull, and is resident in all the Islands throughout the year, breeding in nearly all of them in such places as are suited to it. In Guernsey it breeds on the high cliffs, from the so-called Gull Cliff, near Pleinmont, to the Corbiere, the Gouffre, the Moye Point to Pet.i.t Bo in considerable numbers; from Pet.i.t Bo Bay to St. Martin's Point much more sparingly. In Sark it breeds in considerable numbers; on Little Sark on both sides of the Coupee, and on nearly all the west side; that towards Guernsey, especially about Harbour Goslin, a place called the Moye de Moutton near there, which is a most excellent place for watching the breeding operations of this Gull as well as of the s.h.a.gs, as with a moderate climb on the rocks one can easily look into several nests and see what both old and young are about. On the island close to Sark, called Isle de Merchant, or Brechou, especially on the steep rocky side nearest to Sark; a great many also breed on and about the Autelets: in fact, almost all the grandest and wildest scenery in Sark has been appropriated by the Herring Gulls for their breeding-places, who, except for the s.h.a.gs, hold almost undisputed possession of the grandest part of the Island. On the east side, or that towards France, few or no Herring Gulls breed; the cliffs being more sloping, and covered with gra.s.s and gorse, and heather, are not at all suited for breeding purposes for the Herring Gull. A few pairs have lately set up a small breeding-station on the rock before mentioned near Jethou, as La Fauconniere; a very few also breed on Herm on the south part nearest to Jethou, but none that we could see on the rocks to the north of Herm. A great many breed also in Alderney on the south and east sides, but none on the little island of Burhou, which has been entirely appropriated by the Lesser Black-backs; in all these places the Herring Gulls and s.h.a.gs take almost entire possession of the rocks, the Lesser Black-backs apparently never mixing with them; indeed, except a chance straggler or two pa.s.sing by, a Lesser Black-back is scarcely to be seen at any of these stations. The Herring Gull and the Lesser Black-back, though very distinct in their adult plumage, and even before they fully arrive at maturity, as soon as they begin to show the different colour of the mantle, which they do in their second autumn, when a few of either the dark or the pale grey feathers appear amongst the brownish ones of the young bird, are before this change begins very much alike.

In the down I think they are almost, if not quite, indistinguishable after that in their first feathers, and up to their first winter they appear to me distinguishable. As far as the primary quills go I do not see much difference; the shafts, perhaps, of the quills of the Lesser Black-back are darker than those of the Herring, but the difference if anything is very slight; but the head and neck and the centres of the feathers of the back of the Lesser Black-back are darker,--more of a dark smoky brown than those of the Herring Gull: this difference of colour is even more apparent on the under surface, including the breast, belly, and flanks. The shoulder of the wing and the under wing-coverts of the Lesser Black-back are much darker, nearly dull sooty black, and much less margined and marked with pale whitey brown than those of the Herring Gull. The dark bands on the end of the tail-feathers of the Lesser Black-back are broader and darker than in the Herring Gull: this seems especially apparent on the two outer tail-feathers on each side; besides this, there is a slight difference in the colour of the legs, those of the Lesser Black-back showing a slight indication of the yellow of maturity. I have noted these distinctions both from living specimens of both species which I have kept, and noted their various changes from time to time, and from skins of both: unfortunately the two skins of the youngest birds I have are not quite of the same age, one being that of a young Herring Gull, killed at the Needles in August,--the other a young Lesser Black-back, killed in Guernsey in December; but I do not think that this difference of time from August to December, the birds being of the same year, makes much difference in the colour of the feathers; at least this is my experience of live birds: it is not till the next moult that more material distinctions begin to appear; after that there can be no doubt as to the species. Two young Herring Gulls which I have, and which I saw in the flesh at Couch's shop just after they had been shot, seem to me worthy of some notice as showing the gradual change of plumage in the Herring Gull; they were shot on the same day, and appear to me to be one exactly a year older than the other; they were killed in November, when both had clean moulted, and show examples of the second and third moult. No. 1, the oldest, has the back nearly uniform grey, and the rump and upper tail-coverts white, as in the adult. In No. 2, the younger one, the grey feathers on the back were much mixed with the brownish feathers of the young bird, and there are no absolutely white feathers on the rump and tail-coverts, all of them being more or less marked with brown. The tail in No. 2 has the brown on it collected in large and nearly confluent blotches, whilst that of No. 1 is merely freckled with brown. But perhaps the greatest difference is in the primary quills; the first four primaries, however, are much alike, those of No. 1, being a little darker and more distinctly coloured; in both they are nearly of a uniform colour, only being slightly mottled on the inner web towards the base; there is no white tip to either. In No. 1 the fifth primary has a distinct white tip; the sixth also has a decided white tip, and is much whiter towards the base, the difference being quite as perceptible on the outer as on the inner web. The seventh has a small spot of brown towards the tip on the outer web, the rest of the feather being almost uniform pale grey, with a slightly darker shade on the outer web, and white at the tip; the eighth grey, with a broad white tip. In No. 2 the fifth primary has no white tip; the sixth also has no white tip, and not so much white towards the base; the seventh is all brown, slightly mottled towards the base, and only a very slight indication of a white tip; and the eighth is mottled throughout. I think it worth while to mention these two birds, as I have their exact dates, and the difference of a year between them agrees exactly with young birds which I have taken in their first feathers and brought up tame. I may also add, with regard to change of plumage owing to age, that very old birds do not appear to get their heads so much streaked with brown in the winter as younger though still adult birds, as a pair which I caught in Sark when only flappers, and brought home in July, 1866, had few or no brown streaks about their heads in the winter of 1877-8, and in the winter of 1878-9 their heads are almost as white as in the breeding-season. These birds had their first brood in 1873, and have bred regularly every year since that time, and certainly have considerably more white on their primary quills than when they first a.s.sumed adult plumage and began to breed. Probably this increase of white on the primaries as age increases, even after the full-breeding-plumage is a.s.sumed, is always the case in the Herring Gull, and also in both the Lesser and Greater Black-backs, thus distinguishing very old birds from those which, though adult, have only recently a.s.sumed the breeding-plumage. I know Mr. Howard Saunders is of this opinion, certainly as far as Herring Gulls are concerned. Besides the live ones, two skins I have, both of adult birds, as far as breeding-plumage only is concerned, are evidently considerably older than the other. No. 1, the youngest of these,--shot in Guernsey in August, when just a.s.suming winter plumage, the head being much streaked, even then, with brown, showing that though adult it was not a very old bird,--has the usual white tip on the first primary, below which the whole feather is black on both webs, and below that a white spot on both webs, for an inch; the white, however, much encroached upon on the outer part of the outer web by a margin of black. In No. 2, probably the older bird, the first primary has the white tip and the white spot running into each other, thus making the tip of the feather for nearly two inches white, with only a slight patch of black on the outer web. On the second primary of No. 1 the white tip is present, but no white spot; but on the same feather of No. 2 there is a white spot on the inner web, about an inch from the white tip; this would, probably, in a still older bird, become confluent with the white tip, as in the first primary. I have not, however, a sufficiently old bird to follow out this for certain. In No. 1, the older bird, the pale grey on the lower part of the feathers also extends farther towards the tip, thus encroaching on the black of the primaries from below as well as from above. I think these examples are sufficient to show that the white does encroach on the black of the primaries as the bird grows older, till at last, in very old birds, there would not be much more than a bar of black between the white tip and the rest of the feather; and this is very much the case with the tame ones I caught in Sark in 1866, and which are therefore, now in the winter of 1879, twelve and a half years old; but I do not believe that at any age the black wholly disappears from the primaries, leaving them white as in the Iceland and Glaucous Gulls. The Herring Gull is an extremely voracious bird, eating nearly everything that comes in its way, and rejecting the indigestible parts as Hawks do.

Mr. Couch, in the 'Zoologist' for 1874, mentions having taken a Misseltoe Thrush from the throat of one; and I can quite believe it, supposing it found the Thrush dead or floating half drowned on the water. I have seen my tame ones catch and kill a nearly full-grown rat, and bolt it whole; and young ducks, I am sorry to say, disappear down their throats in no time, down and all. They are also great robbers of eggs, no sort of egg coming amiss to them; Guillemots' eggs, especially, they are very fond of; this may probably account for there being no Guillemots breeding in Guernsey or Sark, and only a very few at Alderney; in fact, Ortack being the only place in the Channel Islands in which they do breed in anything like numbers.

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

168. LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. _Larus fuscus_, Linnaeus. French, "Goeland a pieds jaunes."--The Lesser Black-backed Gull is common in the Islands, remaining throughout the year and breeding in certain places.

None of these birds breed in Guernsey itself, or on the mainland of Sark, and very few, if any, on Alderney. A few may be seen, from time to time, wandering about all the Islands during the breeding-season; but these are either immature birds or wanderers from their own breeding-stations. About Sark a few pairs breed on Le Tas[33] and one or two other outlying islets; their princ.i.p.al breeding-stations, however, appear to be on the small rocky islands to the north of Herm, on all of which, as far out as the Amfrocques, we found considerable numbers breeding, or rather attempting to do so; for this summer, 1878, having been generally fine, all these rocks were tolerably easily landed on, and the fishermen had robbed the Lesser Black-backs to an extent which threatens some day to exterminate them, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, which professes to protect the eggs as well as the birds; but a far better protection for these poor Black-backs is a roughish summer, when landing on these islands is by no means safe or pleasant, and frequently impossible. On Burhou, near Alderney, there are also a considerable number of Lesser Black-backs breeding, though they fare quite as badly from the Alderney and French fishermen as those on the Amfrocques and other islands north of them do from the Guernsey fishermen. On all these islands the nests of the Lesser Black-backs were placed amongst the bracken, sea stock, thrift, &c, which grew amongst the rocks, and on the shallow soil which had collected in places. When I was at Burhou in 1876 I found Lesser Black-backs breeding all over the Island, some of the nests being placed on the low rocks, some amongst the bracken and thrift; so thickly scattered amongst the bracken were the nests, that one had to be very careful in walking for fear of treading on the nests and breaking the eggs. On this Island there is an old deserted cottage, sometimes used as a shelter by the lessees of the Island, who go over there to shoot a few wretched rabbits which pick up a precarious subsistence by feeding on the scanty herbage; on the roof of this cottage several of the Lesser Black-backs perched themselves in a row whilst I was looking about at the eggs, and kept up a most dismal screaming at the top of their voices. The eggs, as is generally the case with gulls, varied considerably both in ground colour and marking; some were freckled all over with small spots--dark brown, purple, or black; others had larger markings, princ.i.p.ally collected at the larger end; the ground colour was generally blue, green, or dull olive-green. None of the Gulls had hatched when I was there on the 14th of June, though some of the eggs were very hard set; and on the 29th of July I received two young birds which had been taken on Burhou; these still had down on them when I got them, and were then difficult to tell from young Herring Gulls. The distinctions I have mentioned in my note of that bird were, however, apparent, and the slight difference in the colour of the legs is perhaps more easily seen in the live birds than in skins which have been kept and faded into "Museum colour." It is some time, however, before either bird a.s.sumes the proper colour, either of the legs or bill, the change being very gradual. After the autumnal moult of 1878, however, the dark feathers of the mantle almost entirely took the place of the brownish feathers of the young birds; the quills, however, have still (February, 1879) no white tips, and the tail-feathers are still much mottled with brown. One Lesser Black-back, which I shot near the Vale Church on the 17th of July, 1866, is perhaps worthy of note as being in transition, and perhaps a rather abnormal state of change considering the time of year at which it was shot; it was in a full state of moult; the new feathers on the head, neck, tail-coverts, and under parts are white; the tail also is white, except four old feathers, two on each side not yet moulted, which are much mottled with brown. The primary quills had not been moulted, and are quite those of the immature bird, with no white tip whatever. All the new feathers of the back and wing-coverts are the dark slate-grey of the adult, but the old worn feathers are the brownish feathers of the young bird; these feathers are much worn and faded, being a paler brown than is usual in young birds.

The legs and bill are also quite as much in a state of change as the rest of the bird. Before finishing this notice of the Lesser Black-back I think it is worth while to notice that it selects quite a different sort of breeding-place to the Herring Gull; the nests are never placed on ledges on the steep precipitous face of the cliffs, but amongst the bracken and the flat rocks, as at Burhou, the only rather steep rock I have seen any nests on was at the Amfrocques, but there they were on the flattish top of the rock, and not on ledges on the side.

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

169. COMMON GULL. _Larus ca.n.u.s_, Linnaeus. French, "Goeland cendre,"

"Mouette a pieds bleus,"[34] "La Mouette d'Hiver".[35]--The Common Gull, though by no means uncommon in the Channel Islands during the winter, never remains to breed there, nor does it do so, I believe, any where in the West of England, certainly not in Somerset or Devon, as stated by Mr. Dresser in the 'Birds of Europe,' _fide_ the Rev. M.A. Mathew and Mr. W.D. Crotch, who must have made some mistake as to its breeding in those two counties; in Cornwall it is said to breed, by Mr. Dresser, on the authority of Mr. Rodd. Mr. Dresser, however, does not seem to have had his authority direct from either of these gentlemen, and only quotes it from Mr. A.G. More. Mr. Rodd, however, in his 'Notes on the Birds of Cornwall,' published in the 'Zoologist' for 1870, only says, "Generally distributed in larger or smaller numbers along or near our coasts,"

which would be equally true of the Channel Islands, although it does not breed there; however, as Mr. Rodd is going to publish his interesting notes on the Birds of Cornwall in a separate form, it is much to be hoped that he will clear that matter up as far as regards that county and the Scilly Islands. Like the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull, the Common Gull goes through several changes of plumage before it arrives at maturity; like them it begins with the mottled brownish stage, and gradually a.s.sumes the blue-grey mantle of maturity; in the earlier stages the primaries have no white spots at the tips. The legs and bill, which appear to go through more changes than in other Gulls, are in an intermediate state bluish grey (which accounts for Temminck's name mentioned above) before they a.s.sume the pale yellow of maturity: although at this time they have the mantle quite as in the adult, there is a material difference in the pattern of the primary quills, and they do not appear to breed till their bills have become quite yellow and their legs a pale greenish yellow. I cannot quite tell at what age the Common Gull begins to breed, for, although I have a pair which have laid regularly for the last two years (they have not, however, hatched any young, which perhaps is the fault of the Herring Gulls, whom I have several times caught sucking their eggs), I do not know what their age was when I first had them as I did the Herring Gulls from Sark and the Lesser Black-backs from Burhou; I can only say when I first had them they had the bills and legs blue; in fact they were in the state in which they are the "Mouette a pieds bleus" of Temminck.

Professor Ansted includes the Common Gull in his list, and marks it as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen in the Museum.

170. GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. _Larus marinus_, Linnaeus. French, "Goeland a manteau noir."--The Great Black-backed Gull is by no means so numerous in the Channel Islands as the Herring Gull and the Lesser Black-back, and is here as elsewhere a rather solitary and roaming bird.

A few, however, remain about the Channel Islands, and breed in places which suit them, such as Ortack, which I have before mentioned, as the breeding-place of the Razorbill and Guillemot; and we found one nest on one of the rocks to the north of Herm, but it had been robbed, as had all the other Gulls' nests about there; we saw, however, the old birds about, and Mr. Howard Saunders found one nest on the little Island of Le Tas, close to Sark; it was quite on the top of the Island, and there were young in it. I have one splendid adult bird, shot near the harbour in Guernsey, in March: I should think this is rather an old bird, as, although there are slight indications of winter plumage on the head, the white tips of the primaries are very large, that of the first extending fully two inches and a half, which is considerably more than that of a fully adult bird I have from Lundy Island. The Great Black-backed Gull is sufficiently common and well known to have a local name in Guernsey-French (Hublot or Ublat), for which see 'Metivier's Dictionary.'

Professor Ansted includes the Great Black-backed Gull in his list, and marks it as only occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are three specimens in the Museum--an adult bird, a young one, and a young one in down, with the feathers just beginning to show. In the young bird the head and neck were mottled and much like those of a young Herring Gull in the same state; the back, thighs, and under parts do not appear so much spotted as in the young Herring Gull; the feathers on the scapulars and wing-coverts were just beginning to show two shades of brown, as in the more mature state; the same may be said of the primary quills, which were also just beginning to make their appearance; the tail, which was only just beginning to show, was nearly black, margined with white.