440 
[Ibis, 
Major W. R. Thompson on the 
Mergus serrator. The Red-breasted 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-east for some days. 
Ardea cinerea. The Heron. 
This bird 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. says 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. Cecil Smith records one as being shot in Alderney 
about the middle of May 1878, 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 dateA 
Mr. Tourgis informs me that he once shot a Bittern here. 
It was during 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 
