200 REPORTS. 



until the 4th July, and last heard it on the 6th." At St. Martin's the 

 song was heard all through May and June and, by me, up to July 

 8th. This is an early date for last hearing the bird in my part of 

 the island, but the Rev. Tourtel's notes make an interesting supplement. 

 He says : "the bird seems not to have been heard in June, but there 

 was one in the neighbourhood of Torteval Church on July 11th, 12th and 

 13th, again on July 18th, 19th and 20th when the note was frequently 

 heard, and for the last time (at Les Galliennes) on the 25th." There 

 is only one later date in our twelve years' record for last hearing 

 the Wryneck. This was in 1908 when Mr. Hocart heard one on July 

 30th. Dr. Creswell, as already stated, did not once hear the bird. 

 this year. 



Cuckoo. — Five days after the reported arrival of the Wryneck, the Cuckoo 

 proclaimed itself. It was heard at Becq du Nez, St. Martin's on 

 April 16th by Miss K. Tardif, at Havilland Hall Farm, on the 20th 

 by Mr. and Mrs. S. Henry, and at Sausmarez Manor on the 26th by 

 Miss Boley. At both the Vale and Torteval it was first heard on 

 the 18th. It is interesting to note how the dates given for the smaller 

 islands of the Bailiwick agree with our own. According to the Evening 

 Press the Cuckoo was heard at Aldcrney on the 16th, and for Sark the 

 17th was given me as the date of the bird's arrival there. As often 

 as not the Cuckoo may still be heard singing in the early days of 

 July, but not so this year. My last date was June 21st. At Mount 

 Row, however, on the evening of the 25th, as reported by Miss Henry, 

 one was extremely vociferous, and it was heard for the last time in 

 that neighbourhood on the 27th which is also Mr. Hocart's last date 

 for the Vale. For Torteval Rev. Tourtel said : " heard frequently during 

 latter half of June. Last date the 28th." In Sark the bird was 

 heard frequently during the first fortnight of July and for the last 

 time on the 11th by Capt. Henry, of La Vallee du Creux. In 1902 I 

 myself heard a Cuckoo in Sark as late as July 14th. I may add that 

 the latest date recorded in the Tra>isactio>is for Guernsey is July 

 13th (1907). 



Swallow. — On April 6th near the Imperial Hotel, at Pleinmont, Mr. R 

 P. Spencer had the pleasure of seeing a Swallow. We have no earlier 

 date for the coming of the Swallows, but in 1909 Mr. E. D. Marquand 

 saw some at Houmet Homtolle on the same day of April. The 

 arrival of the forerunners of the main body shortly to follow are 

 very interesting to note. On April 11th some of these were seen at 

 Havilland Hall Farm and also on the north-east coast ; on the 14th 

 and again on the 18th I saw one or two at St. Martin's, and on the 

 19th Mr. Hocart did, at the Vale. By the 28th the birds were decidedly 

 more numerous, and on May 4th were about in plenty and continued 

 so throughout the summer. Towards the end of September a marked 

 thinning in numbers was apparent, but up to the end of the second week 

 of October some were still seen daily, after which they became scarce. 

 Mr. Hocart's last date is the 26th, and mine the 28th, when I saw a 

 couple hying low over a field at Les Vardes. Miss K. Tardif has 

 supplied me with an exceedingly interesting observation. On the 

 evening of September 30th she saw, and watched for some time, a flock 

 of several hundred Swallows flying about over the fields along the 

 Jerbourg road. She says the sight was quite dazing ; and it reminds me 

 of a similar huge flock of Swifts I saw over the cliffs at Les Fontenelles 

 on August 11th, 1910. In each case I fancy it must have been a flock on 

 migration halting here on its journey, for feeding probably. 



House Martin. — I have not seen the Sand Martin again this year, neithe 

 has it been reported, but the House Martin — the "Swallow" that 

 looks as if its tail had been cut off short and with the patch of white 

 feathers in the rump which often when the bird is seen from above looks 



