1913.] 



REPORTS. 27 



and to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, to make 

 similar experiments on the English coasts. As just stated 

 perches have been fixed at St. Catherine's and at the Casqnets. 

 As regards the results sufficient time has not yet elapsed for 

 any official pronouncement on the subject as regards these two 

 lighthouses, but I may say in passing that a newspaper para- 

 graph a few weeks ago spoke of the experiments at the 

 Casquets as being eminently successful. 



With these preliminary remarks I shall pass on now and 

 give you a few notes about some of the birds which have 

 visited us this summer. As you will notice I have again been 

 ably assisted in the observations by several members of our 

 Society and others, to all of whom 1 tender sincere thanks for 

 the valued help given. 



Chiff-Chaff. — This ever- welcome little bird was first heard by myself on 

 March 19th in the Bon Air grounds at St. Martin's, and again on 

 the following day at the same place. On the 22nd several birds 

 were in evidence in the same neighbourhood, and onwards through- 

 out the summer this lively songster made merry in the tree-tops. 

 All through September I continued hearing the note in different 

 parts of St. Martin's, and heard it for the last time (at Les Blanches) 

 on October 5th. This is not an unusually late date, but as regards 

 the arrival of the bird, the date I have given is the earliest on record 

 by three days for the nine years 1905-13. 



Wheatear. — At both the Yale and St. Martin's the Wheatear seems to 

 have made its appearance on the same date, April 3rd, for Mr. 

 Hocart, of Les Mielles, has given me this as the first date on which 

 he saw the bird at L'Ancresse, and I also saw one on this day along 

 the Petit Port cliffs. Like the Chiff-Chaff the Wheatear remains 

 with us until well into the autumn. In 1908 Mr. E. D. Marquand 

 saw one at Icart Point as late as November 3rd. This year I con- 

 tinued to see the bird at different places, not exactly daily, but 

 frequently, up to October 25th. Strolling along the Petit Port 

 cliffs in the early morning of this day, I chanced upon one (an old 

 friend 1 believe) not feeding as usual, but quietly perched on a rock 

 looking out over the sea just as if contemplating the journey before 

 him. I did not see it again. Mr. Hocart's last date for the Yale is 

 October 23rd. 



Wryneck. — The Wryneck was reported in the Sta>* of April 2nd as 

 having made an unusually early appearance in Kent, and the para- 

 graph also stated that the bird had been heard in other parts of the 

 country. In this island the earliest date for its arrival comes from 

 Torteval, where the Rev. R. H. Tourtel heard the familiar cry on 

 March 29th. This is also an early date for Guernsey. Two days 

 later I heard a Wryneck in full song at the top of George-road, and 

 at the Yale Mr. Hocart first heard it on April 10th. If, however, 

 early to arrive, this migrant also ceased to be heard earlier than 

 usual. At Torteval Mr. Tourtel did not hear the note after July 1st, 

 and my last date for St. Martin's is the 12th. Frequently the bird 

 can still be heard until well past the middle of July. Mr. Hocart 

 reports that the Wryneck was heard very little in his neighbourhood, 

 and by himself not at all after the latter part of May. His own 

 impression is that this and other summer migrants are forsaking 

 the Yale, 



