366 



REPORTS. 



Huet ; Mr. Tourtel did so at Torteval, and Mr. R. P. Spencer heard one 

 at Alderney also, and gives that day as the date of its arrival in that 

 island. On the 20th myself and several others at St. Martin's came 

 within range of the welcome, if monotonous, song. At Lancresse the 

 bird, according to Mr. Hocart, was first heard on the 23rd. A pleasing 

 experience of mine in recent years has been to saunter along the cliff 

 path below the Courtes Fallaizes at Moulin Huet, in the twilight of the 

 early days of July, and listen to a Cuckoo calling from one of the Vallon 

 trees. I looked forward to a similar treat this season, but was dis- 

 appointed. Whether my friend of past summers is dead or has betaken 

 himself to pastures new T know not, but certain it is, the old familiar 

 sound did not once come to me, as I loitered about the neighbourhood in 

 the growing dusk of the first week of July. My own date indeed for last 

 hearing the Cuckoo this year is so singularly early (June 18th at Les 

 Tielles, Torteval), I am more than usually glad to be able to supplement 

 my own observations with notes made by others, and thus give proof 

 that the Cuckoo continued to sing as late, practically, as in other years. 

 On June 23rd Mr. Tourtel still heard the bird at Torteval ; on the 28th 

 Mr. Hocart heard it for the last time at the Vale ; on June 30th Miss E. 

 Henry heard the call in the grounds at Havilland Hall, and on July 2nd 

 Miss E. Lenfestey heard it at St. Peter's-in-the-Wood. At Sark it was 

 heard by Mrs. Henry, Vallee du Creux, on July 1st, and on August 2nd 

 Capt. Henry saw two birds in that island. An interesting fact in con- 

 nection with the sojourn of the Cuckoo with us this year is, I think, 

 worthy of putting on record. On May 14th, in the morning, I heard a 

 Cuckoo in one of the gardens below Clifton Hall. Many years ago— 

 twenty or more — one was heard there regularly for several summers in 

 succession. From that time to this I had never heard the bird so close to 

 the heart of the town. 



Swallow. — Swallows were not late in putting in an appearance this Spring. 

 Mr. George J. Tourtel, of St. Martin's, saw two flying about over the 

 Moulin Huet cliffs on the morning of April 9th, and Mr. Hocart, for the 

 Vale, has written : "I saw three Swallows together, as if arriving, on 

 April 11th." (Our earliest recorded date in the Transactions for first 

 seeing Swallows is April 6th.) On April 16th Mr. E. Rammell saw three 

 at St. Andrew's, and on the same day Mr. Spencer saw one while crossing 

 to Alderney. Several members of our Society, including the writer, saw 

 their first Swallow at Les Tielles on April 20th. We were out there cave 

 exploring, and the plump little fellow flew past us as we tramped along 

 the top of the cliff. It was many days after this before the birds became 

 numerous, but their number gradually increased with the advent of May, 

 until, to all appearance, the invaders were as plentiful as in recent years. 

 About their departure Mr. Hocart' s observations confirm my own : that 

 the birds left us earlier than usual. Mr. Hocart saw none at the Vale 

 after October 2nd. I think the bulk of them must have left on the last 

 days of September — on the 29th they were still numerous at Les Blanches, 

 and on the 30th I observed some congregating on the telegraph wires at 

 the top of George -road. After this date, with one exception (October 13th) 

 I only saw an occasional straggler or two — on some days none at all — 

 and the last, four, circling round the Old Mill at St. Martin's, in bright 

 sunshine, on October 27th. 



House Martin.— On April 24th Mr. G. J. Tourtel saw a couple of House 

 Martins at Moulin Huet Bay, but I did not chance to see any until 

 May 6th, on the evening of which day several were flying about over 

 George-road. Although at the very end of the season House Martins 

 were exceedingly plentiful it seems to me we have had fewer than usual 

 with us this summer. During the early part of October I saw them in 

 abundance both at the Forest and St. Martin's, but very few were 

 observed after the 12th. On the morning of the 30th some six or eight 

 were sporting about at the top of George -road, and I saw the last at the 



