United States or Israel ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
On the east side, that towards the French coast, there are few or none breeding, the cliffs not being so well suited to them; a great number breed also on Alderney, on the high cliffs on the south and east, but none on Burhou.
The Oystercatcher breeds also in both the small Islands, Jethou and Herm, on almost all the rocky islands to the north of Herm, in Sark and Alderney, and on Burhou, near Alderney, where I found one clutch of three of the most richly marked Oystercatcher's eggs I ever saw: these, as well as another clutch, also of three eggs, were placed on rather curious nests; they were on the smooth rock, but in both cases the birds had collected a number of small stones and made a complete pavement of them, on which they placed their eggs; there was no protection, however, to prevent the eggs from rolling off.
The number of Puffins, however, at Burhou seem to me to have considerably diminished of late years, for in the summer of 1866, when going through the Swinge, we passed a great flock of these birds; "in fact, for more than a mile both air and water were swarming with them."
When I visited Burhou in June, 1876, I was unsuccessful in finding more than part of a broken egg and a wing of a dead bird. But Colonel L'Estrange, who had been there about a fortnight before, found two addled eggs, but saw no birds.
French, "Pipit obsur," "Pipit spioncelle." Resident and numerous, breeding amongst the rocks and round the coast of all the Islands. It is also common in all the small outlying Islands, such as Burhou, and all the little rocky Islands that stretch out to the northward of Herm, and are especially the home of the Puffin and the Lesser Black-backed Gull.
It appears, however, to be rather irregular in its breeding habits, nesting from the end of May to July or August. In Burhou the Storm Petrel bred mostly in holes in the soft black mould, which was also partly occupied by Puffins and Babbits, but occasionally under large stones and rocks.
Besides these islands the Puffins breed in Alderney itself, and on Burhou, where, however, their eggs are robbed nearly as much as in the islands north of Herm, especially the eggs of those who choose holes in the soft earth.
169. COMMON GULL. Larus canus, Linnaeus. French, "Goeland cendré," "Mouette a pieds bleus," "La Mouette d'Hiver". The Common Gull, though by no means uncommon in the Channel Islands during the winter, never remains to breed there, nor does it do so, I believe, any where in the West of England, certainly not in Somerset or Devon, as stated by Mr. Dresser in the 'Birds of Europe, fide the Rev. M.A. Mathew and Mr. W.D. Crotch, who must have made some mistake as to its breeding in those two counties; in Cornwall it is said to breed, by Mr. Dresser, on the authority of Mr. Rodd. Mr. Dresser, however, does not seem to have had his authority direct from either of these gentlemen, and only quotes it from Mr. A.G. More. Mr. Rodd, however, in his 'Notes on the Birds of Cornwall, published in the 'Zoologist' for 1870, only says, "Generally distributed in larger or smaller numbers along or near our coasts," which would be equally true of the Channel Islands, although it does not breed there; however, as Mr. Rodd is going to publish his interesting notes on the Birds of Cornwall in a separate form, it is much to be hoped that he will clear that matter up as far as regards that county and the Scilly Islands. Like the Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gull, the Common Gull goes through several changes of plumage before it arrives at maturity; like them it begins with the mottled brownish stage, and gradually assumes the blue-grey mantle of maturity; in the earlier stages the primaries have no white spots at the tips. The legs and bill, which appear to go through more changes than in other Gulls, are in an intermediate state bluish grey (which accounts for Temminck's name mentioned above) before they assume the pale yellow of maturity: although at this time they have the mantle quite as in the adult, there is a material difference in the pattern of the primary quills, and they do not appear to breed till their bills have become quite yellow and their legs a pale greenish yellow. I cannot quite tell at what age the Common Gull begins to breed, for, although I have a pair which have laid regularly for the last two years (they have not, however, hatched any young, which perhaps is the fault of the Herring Gulls, whom I have several times caught sucking their eggs), I do not know what their age was when I first had them as I did the Herring Gulls from Sark and the Lesser Black-backs from Burhou; I can only say when I first had them they had the bills and legs blue; in fact they were in the state in which they are the "Mouette
The Puffins do not seem to be very regular in their time of nesting; at least, when I was at Burhou on the 14th of June, 1876, I found quite fresh eggs, eggs just ready to hatch, young birds in the down, and young birds just beginning to get a few feathers and almost able to take to the water; it was fun to see one of these when he had been unearthed waddle off to the nearest hole as fast as his legs could carry him generally, however, coming down every second or third step.
Gallienne, in his remarks published with Professor Ansted's list, says, "The Storm Petrel breeds in large numbers in Burhou, a few on the other rocks near Alderney, and occasionally on the rocks near Herm; these are the only places where they breed, although seen and occasionally killed in all the Islands." I can add to these places mentioned by Mr.
Word Of The Day