1914.] 



REPORTS. 12' 



Transactions record that in June, 1907, Mr. E. D. Marquand heard one at 

 St. Andrew's, also that in July, 1911, Jurat Kinnersly shot one at Jer- 

 bourg, St. Martin's. 



Nightjar. — Again, as last year, there is no record of the Nightjar having 

 been either seen or heard. Being of nocturnal habits the bird might 

 escape observation or be mistaken for a bat unless it happened to utter 

 its peculiar whirring note. 



Bittern. — A Bittern (female) was caught and killed by Mr. Frederick Le 

 Page, at the King's Mills, on March 19th. It was bought for the Guille- 

 Alles Museum and has been set up by Mr. Sinel. The only mention in 

 our Transactions of the occurrence of this rare bird visitor to Guernsey in 

 recent years is the record of one being shot at the Grande Mare in the 

 winter of 1901-5 by Jurat Kinnersly. In the "Birds of Guernsey," 

 published in 1879, Cecil Smith speaks of the growing scarcity of the 

 Bittern here, adding that "drainage and better cultivation have contri- 

 buted to thin their numbers, as it has done in England." 



Bar-tailed Godwit.— On October 1st Jurat Kinnersly shot two Bar-tailed 

 Godvvits at Vazon. According to Cecil Smith this bird was " a regular 

 and sometimes rather numerous spring and autumn visitant." Now, 

 however, as with so many other birds, it appears to be a decidedly rare 

 visitor. In October, 1909, Mr. Spencer saw four of these birds at Vazon, 

 one of which he shot. 



Kingfisher. — On the same day that Jurat Kinnersly shot the Bar-tailed 

 Godwits at Vazon he also saw a Kingfisher at Vazon. Although a resi- 

 dent this pretty bird being far from common now, instances of its having 

 been seen are worthy of putting on record. 



Nightingale. — I believe I am perfectly justified in recording the occurrence 

 of a Nightingale here this spring. My informant, Mr. J. E. B. Hill, of 

 the Elms, St. Martin's, who has lived in a Nightingale district and 

 knows the bird well, told me that he saw one at close quarters early on 

 the morning of May 1st in the hollow below the Hechet mill, St. Martin's. 

 The bird was not singing, neither did he see it again, and although he 

 listened for the song on that and succeeding nights he did not hear it. 

 The Nightingale is a very rare visitor to the Channel Islands and appa- 

 rently even then only halts here momentarily on its journey northward. 

 The Star of June 6th, 1863, records the hearing of one in the neighbour- 

 hood of Saumarez Street. Coming to more recent times Mr. E. D. 

 Marquand heard one at Saints Bay on the afternoon of April 20th, 1894. 

 And in a paper on the " Birds of Alderney," published in the Transactions 

 for 1903, Mr. Marquand has put on record that Capt. Hasted, of the 

 Wiltshire Regiment, who was stationed in Alderney for two years, had 

 both " heard and seen a Nightingale on one occasion " in that island. 



Ring Ousel.— A few have again been seen by Jurat Kinnersly, at Jtrbourg, 

 this autumn. He saw them at the beginning of November which, he 

 says, is later than usual. 



Blaekstart. — Mr. Spencer reports seeing a Blackstart on Cambridge Park 

 on November 8th. A few of these birds probably visit us every year, but 

 the number, as with the Ring Ousel and other migrants, is so small as to 

 make the actual observation of any decidedly worth recording. 



Little Auk. — Undoubtedly the most interesting record of the year is the 

 occurrence here of the Little Auk (mergulus allcj . In a letter to Mr. 

 Collenette, dated November 24th, Dr. Creswell told how he had come into 

 possession of one which had been caught by a cat that afternoon in Cobo 

 bay. The Doctor wrote : ''As you know the Little Auk is very rarely 

 obtained or even seen in Guernsey, and anywhere in the north is only 

 driven to the coasts by prolonged and severe gales. This specimen, in 

 very fine plumage and condition, was brought into a house (where I was 

 visiting at the time) practically still alive, by their cat, which had 



