440 jMajor "\V. R. Thompson on the [Ibis, 



Mergus serrator. The Red-broasted Merganser. 



This bird is occasionally seen in the autumn as a bird of 

 passage, and a few visit the island in winter, usually during 

 hard weather, or strong winds. 



Mergellus albellus. The Smew. 



I saw one of these birds, either a female or immature 

 male, in Longy Bay in December 1918. It had been blowing 

 hard from the north-oast for some days. 



Ardea cinerea. The Heron. 



This bii-d pays the island an occasional visit both in the 

 late summer and in winter. They presumably come from 

 the French shore, and, so far as my observations go, usually 

 make their appearance during spring-tides, when, doubtless, 

 the fishing amongst the rocks at low water is better and 

 more secure. I have never seen more than one at a time 

 and they do not stay long. 



L. saj^s they are occasionally seen in winter, and on one 

 occasion a pair remained throughout the summer. In 1917 

 he, on one occasion, saw three together on the rocks in 

 Longy Bay. 



Ardea purpurea. The Purple Heron. 



Mr. (Jecil Smith records one as being shot in Alderney 

 about the middle of May^l878, and quotes Mr. MacCulloch 

 as the authority for another one shot here on the 8th of 

 May. 1867. 



Botaurus stellaris. The Bittern. 



Mr. Cecil Smith says of this bird : — " The birdstufFer in 

 Alderney (Mr. Grieve) and his friend told me they had shot 

 Bitterns in that island, but did not remember the date.'^ 



Mr. Tourgis informs me that he once shot a Bittern here. 

 It was durino- the winter of either 1892 or 1893. L. tells 

 me that his father, Mr. J. A. Langlois, and a Mr. Sandford 

 each shot a Bittern here sometime between 1880 and 1882. 



Platalea leucorodia. The Spoonbill. 



Mr. Godfrey, of Mannez Farm, Alderney, informs me 



