Birds of Guernsey (1879). Cecil Smith L.
was brought to Mr. Couch to skin. He found a whole Lark's egg, and also the shell of another, in its throat. He showed me how the whole egg was sticking in the empty shell of the broken one."
All the Harriers seem to have a special liking for eggs. In his notice of the Marsh Harrier Professor Newton says, in his edition of Yarrell,' that birds' eggs are an irresistible delicacy; and, in speaking of the food of the present species, he says it consists chiefly of grasshoppers, reptiles, small mammals, birds and their eggs; these last, if their size permit, being often swallowed whole, as was the case in the instance mentioned by Miss Carey. Mr. Howard Saunders also says he can bear witness to the egg-eating propensities of the Harriers.
Besides the two recorded by Miss C.B. Carey, I saw one—a young bird—in Mr. Maxwell's collection, which had been killed at Herm, and another—a young male—at Mr. Jago's, the bird-stuffer, which had also been killed at Herm. There were also two young birds in the bird-stuffer and carpenter's shop at Alderney, both of which had been killed in that Island shortly before my last visit, June, 1878.
As mistakes may occasionally arise in identifying specimens, especially in immature plumage, it may be as well to notice a distinction between the Hen Harrier and Montagu's Harrier, which has been pointed out by Mr. Howard Saunders, and which holds good in all ages and in both sexes. This distinction is, that in the Hen Harrier the outer web of the fifth primary is notched, whereas in Montagu's Harrier it is plain, or, in other words, the Hen Harrier has the exterior web of the primaries, up to and including the fifth, notched, and in Montagu's Harrier this is only the case as far as the fourth.[7] This distinction is very useful in identifying young birds and females, which are sometimes very much alike. In fully adult males the orange markings on the flanks and thighs, and the greyish upper tail-coverts of Montagu's Harrier, distinguish it immediately at a glance from the Hen Harrier, in which those parts are white.
Montagu's Harrier is not included by Professor Ansted in his list, nor is there a specimen in the Museum.
15. LONGEARED OWL. Asiootus, Linnaeus. French, "Hibou vulgaire," "Hibou moyen due."—The Long-eared Owl seems only a very rare and accidental visitant to the Channel Islands. I have never met with it myself, but Mr. Couch records the occurrence of one in the 'Zoologist' for 1875, p. 4296:—"I have a Long-eared Owl, shot at St. Martin's on the 9th of November in that year." This is the only occurrence I can be sure of, except that Mr. Couch, about two years afterwards, sent me a skin of a Guernsey-killed Long-eared Owl; but this may have been the bird mentioned above, as he sent me no date with it.
As it is partially migratory, and its numbers in the British Islands, especially in the Eastern Counties, are increased during the autumn by migratory arrivals, a few may wander, especially in the autumn, to the Channel Islands, but it can only be rarely.
Professor Ansted includes it in his list, and marks it as having been found both in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen of the Long-eared Owl at present in the Museum. If there has been one it must have got moth-eaten, like many of the other birds there, and been destroyed.
16. SHORTEARED OWL. Asio accipitrinus, Pallas. French, "Hibou brachyôte."—Unlike the Long-eared Owl, the Short-eared Owl is a regular autumnal visitant to the Channel Islands, arriving about October in considerable numbers, but remaining only for a short time, as I do not know of any making their appearance after the end of November, and the majority of those that have arrived seem to pass on about that time, not remaining throughout the winter, and I hear of no instances of their occurring on the spring migration, so the majority must pass north by a different line from that pursued by them on the southern migration.
There is only one specimen at present in the Museum. Professor Ansted mentions it in his list, but only as found in Guernsey and Sark; but it is quite as common in Alderney, from which Island I have seen specimens, and I think also from Herm, but I cannot be quite sure about this, though of course there can be no reason why it should not be found there, as Herm is only three miles as the crow flies from Guernsey.
17. BARN OWL. Aluco flammeus, Linnaeus. French, "Chouette effraie."—I have never seen the Barn or Yellow Owl alive in the Channel Islands myself, but Mr. MacCulloch does not consider it at all rare in Guernsey, and Mr. Jago informs me the Barn Owls have taken possession of a pigeon-hole in a house in the Brock Road opposite his, and that he sees and hears them every night. Some years ago he told me he shot one near the Queen's Tower. He was not scared like the man who shot one in the churchyard, and thought he had shot a cherubim, but he had to give up shooting owls, as the owner of the pigeon-hole where the owls have taken up their abode remonstrated with him, and he has since refrained, though he has had several chances. The vacancy caused by the one being shot was soon filled up.
The Barn Owl is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and restricted to Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum, both of which are said to have been killed in Guernsey.
18. REDBACKED SHRIKE. Lanius Collurio, Linnaeus. French, "Pie-grieche écorcheur."—The Red-backed Shrike may be considered a tolerably regular, but not very common, summer visitant to the Channel Islands. In June, 1876, I several times saw a male bird about the Vallon, in Guernsey. The female no doubt had a nest at the time in the Vallon grounds, but I could not then get in there to search for it.
As the Red-backed Shrike frequently returns to the same place every year, I expected again to find this bird, and perhaps the female and the nest this year, 1878, about the Vallon, but I could see nothing of either birds or nest, though I searched both inside and outside the Vallon grounds.
Young Mr. Le Cheminant, who lives at Le Ree and has a small collection of Guernsey eggs mostly collected by himself in the Island, had one Red-backed Shrike's egg of the variety which has the reddish, or rather perhaps pink, tinge. There were also some eggs in a Guernsey collection in the Museum. These were all of the more ordinary variety. There were also two skins—a male and female—in the Museum. The bird seems rather local in its distribution about the Island, as I never saw one about the Vale in any of my visits, not even this year, 1878, when I was there for two months, and had ample opportunity of observing it had it been there. There are, however, plenty of places nearly as well suited to it in the Vale as about the Vallon or Le Ree. I have never seen it in either of the other Islands, though no doubt it occasionally occurs both in Sark and Herm, if not in Alderney.
Professor Ansted includes the Red-backed Shrike in his list, and marks it only as occurring in Guernsey. I have no evidence of any other Shrike occurring in the Islands, though I should think the Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor, might be an occasional autumn or winter visitant to the Islands; but I have never seen a specimen myself or been able to glean any satisfactory information as to the occurrence of one, either from the local bird-stuffers or from Mr. MacCulloch, or any of my friends who have so kindly supplied me with notes; neither does Professor Ansted mention it in his list.
19. SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Muscicapa grisola, Linnaeus. French, "Gobe-mouche gris."—The Spotted Flycatcher is a regular and numerous summer visitant, generally quite as numerous in certain localities as in England, its arrival and departure being about the same time. It occurs also in Sark and Herm, and probably in Alderney, but I do not remember having seen one there. In Guernsey it is perhaps a little local in its distribution, avoiding to a great extent such places as the Vale and the open ground on the cliffs, but in all the gardens and orchards it is very common.
Spotted Flycatchers appear, however, to vary in numbers to a certain extent in different years. This year, 1878, they came out in great force, especially on the lawn at Candie where they availed themselves to a large extent of the croquet-hoops, from which they kept a good look-out either for insects on the wing or on the ground, and they might be as frequently seen dropping to the ground for some unfortunate creeping thing that attracted their attention as rising in the air to give chase to something on the wing. Certainly, when I was in Guernsey about the same time in 1866, Spotted Flycatchers did not appear to be quite so numerous as in 1878. This was probably only owing to one of those accidents of wind and weather which render migratory birds generally, less numerous in some years than they are in others, however much they may wish and endeavour, which seems to be their usual rule, to return to their former breeding stations.