154. BLACK-THROATED DIVER. Colymbus arcticus, Linnaeus. French, "Plongeon à gorge noir."—The Black-throated Diver is a much less common visitor to the Islands than either the Great Northern or Red-throated Diver; it does, however, occasionally occur in the autumn and winter; all the specimens that have been obtained are either immature or in winter plumage, and I do not know of a single instance in which it has been procured in full plumage as the Great Northern has. In the 'Zoologist' for 1875 Mr. Couch records the occurrence of a Black-throated Diver on the 19th of January of that year, and of another on the 30th of the same month; these are the most recent occurrences of which I am aware. No doubt the young Black-throated Diver may be occasionally mistaken for and passed over as the young Northern Diver; but it may always be known by its much smaller size, being intermediate between that bird and the Red-throated Diver, from which, however, it may always be distinguished by wanting the white spots on the back and wing-coverts which are always present in the winter plumage of the adult Red-throated Diver, and the oval marks on the margins of the feathers of the same parts in the young birds of the year.
The Black-throated Diver is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as only occurring in Guernsey. There is one specimen, an immature bird, in the Museum.
155. RED-THROATED DIVER. Colymbus septentrionalis, Linnaeus. French, "Plongeon à gorge rouge," "Plongeon cat-marin."—The Red-throated Diver is a regular autumn and winter visitant to the Islands, and rather the most common of the three Divers. As with the Northern Diver, it occasionally remains until it has nearly assumed its full breeding-plumage, but it does not occur so frequently in that plumage as it does on the south coast of Devon and Dorset; indeed I have never found either this bird or the Great Northern Diver so common in the Channel Islands as they are about Exmouth and Teignmouth, even in the ordinary winter plumage; probably the mouths of rivers were more attractive to them as producing more food than the wild open seas of the Channel Islands. Owing to its various changes of plumage, from age or time of year, the Red-throated Diver has been made to do duty as more than one species, and is the Speckled Diver of Pennant, Montagu and Bewick.
It is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, but marked as only occurring in Guernsey. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.
156. GUILLEMOT. Alca troile, Linnaeus. French, "Guillemot à capuchon," "Guillemot troile."—The Guillemot is very common about the Channel Islands in Autumn and winter, but is seldom seen during the summer season except near its breeding stations, which, as far as my district is concerned, are very few. It does not breed in Guernsey, Sark, or Herm, or even on the rocky islands to the north of Herm. In Alderney, I am told, it has one small station on the mainland on the side nearest the French coast. I was told of this by the person who shot the Greenland Falcon, and by one or two of the fishermen on my last visit to that Island. I had not time then to visit the place, and on former visits I must quite have overlooked it. Captain Hubbach, however, kindly promised that he would visit the spot, and soon after I left, about the middle of June, 1878, he did so, and his account to me was as follows:—"I have been twice along the cliffs with my glass, but have not seen either a Guillemot or Razorbill. An old boatman here tells me that he took their eggs off the rocks at the French side of Alderney last year (1877), and that they bred there every year. He describes the eggs as 'the same blue and green and white ones with black spots that are on the Ortack Rock.'" This very much confirms what Mr. Gallienne says, in his notes to Professor Ansted's list—"The Razorbill and Guillemot breed on the Ortack Rock and on the cliffs at Alderney." This Ortack Rock is to the west of Alderney, between Burhou and the Caskets, and a considerable number of Guillemots and Razorbills breed there, but it is not to be compared as a breeding station for these birds with those at Lundy Island and South Wales. During the summer a few Guillemots, probably non-breeding birds, may be seen at sea round Guernsey, and one or two stragglers may generally be seen when crossing from Guernsey to Sark or Herm. I have never seen the variety called the Ringed Guillemot, Alca lacrymans, in the Channel Islands, but, as it may occasionally occur, it is as well to mention it, although it is now rightly considered only a variety of the Common Guillemot, from which it differs only in summer plumage, when it has a white ring round the eye, and a white streak passing backwards from the eye down the side of the neck: this distinction is not apparent in the winter plumage, nor is there any distinction between the eggs.
The Guillemot is included in Professor Ansted's list, but is only marked as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in summer plumage in the Museum, and one in winter plumage.
157. LITTLE AUK. Mergulus alle, Linnaeus. French, "Guillemot nain."—The Little Auk can only be considered a rare occasional wanderer to the Channel Islands, generally driven before the heavy autumnal and winter gales. I only know of the occurrence of two specimens: one of these was recorded by Mr. Couch in the 'Zoologist' for 1875, as having been killed on the 30th January in that year; and I had a letter from Mr. Couch, dated the 20th December, 1872, in which he informed me that a Little Auk had been taken alive in Guernsey on the 17th of that month: this one had probably, as is often the case, been driven ashore during a gale, and, being too exhausted to rise, had been taken by hand.
The Little Auk is included in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as occurring in Guernsey and Sark. There is no specimen at present in the Museum.
158. PUFFIN. Fratercula arctica, Linnaeus. French, "Macareux."—The Puffin, or Barbelote[[27]] as it is called by the Guernsey sailors and in the Guernsey Bird Act, is a regular and numerous summer visitant to the Islands, breeding in considerable numbers in many places. None breed, however, in Guernsey itself, or in any of the little rocky islands immediately surrounding it. Some breed on Sark and the islands about it, and a few also on Herm; but their great breeding quarters about these parts are from the Amfrocques to the north end of Herm. On every one of the little rocky islands between these places, and including the Amfrocques, considerable numbers of Puffins breed, either in holes in the soft soil which has accumulated on some of these islands, or amongst the loose rocks and stones; these latter, however, are the safest places for the Puffin, as, in spite of the Guernsey Bird Act, which protects the eggs as well as the birds, the Guernsey fishermen are fond of visiting these islands whenever they can for the purpose of what they call "Barbeloting;" and they soon lift up the loose earth with their hands and get at the eggs; but the Puffins, who have laid in holes in the rocks and amongst loose stones, are much better off, as a good big stone of two or three tons is not so easily moved. I visited all these little islands in the summer of 1878 with Mr. Howard Saunders, and we found all the Puffins who had had eggs in holes in the earth had been robbed almost without an exception; the others, however, were pretty safe. 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. 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. The reason for the irregularity in hatching was probably owing to the first brood having been lost, the eggs probably having been robbed. During the breeding season the Puffins keep very close to their breeding-stations, and do not apparently wander more than a few hundred yards from them even in search of food; so that, unless you actually visit the islands on which they breed, you can form no idea of the number of Puffins actually breeding in the Channel Islands. 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."[[28]] This certainly was not the case in either 1876 or 1878, though there were still a great many Puffins there; probably the continued egg-stealing has had some effect in reducing their numbers. After the breeding-season the Puffins seem to leave the Channel Islands for the winter, as they do at Lundy Island and in the British Channel; they may return occasionally, as they do in the Bristol Channel, for a short time in foggy weather; but I have never seen a Puffin in any of my passages in October and November, or in any boating expedition at that time of year, and I have never heard any of the boatmen talk about Barbelotes being seen about in the winter. An unsigned paper, however, in the 'Star' for April 27th, 1878, mentions Puffins amongst other winter birds; but I very much doubt their making their appearance in the winter except as accidental visitants; there is one specimen, however, in the Museum, which, judging by the bill, must have been killed in the winter, or, at all events, to quote Dr. Bureau, "après la saison des amours." Dr. Bureau, in a very interesting paper[[29]] on this curious change, or rather moult, which takes place in the bill of the Puffin, and which has been translated into the 'Zoologist' for 1878, where a plate showing the changes is given, says that Puffins are cast ashore on the coast of Brittany during the winter, for he says they leave the coast, as I believe they do that of the Channel Islands, and the only indication of their continuing there is that dead birds are rolled on the shore after severe gales in the autumn and winter; and "these birds are clad in a plumage different to that worn by those we get in the breeding-season. In the orbital region, for instance, they have a spot, more or less large, of a dusky brown; they have not the red eyelids, nor the horny plates above and below the eye, nor have they the puckered yellow skin at the base of the bill, and, what is still more remarkable, the bill is differently formed; it is neither of the same size, shape, nor colour, and the pieces of which it is composed are not even the same. It is small sliced off (trongué) in front, especially at the lower mandible, wanting the pleat (ourlet) at the base, and flattened laterally on a level with the nostrils, where a solid horny skin of a bright lead-colour is replaced by a short membrane." The whole paper by Dr. Bureau on this subject is most interesting, but is much too long for me to insert here; the nature, however, of the change which takes place must be so interesting to many of my readers who are familiar with the Puffin in its breeding plumage, and who, in spite of the Bird Act, perhaps occasionally enjoy a day's "Barbeloting," that I could not help quoting as much of the paper as would be sufficient to point out the general nature of the change.
The Puffin is included in Professor Ansted's list, but marked as occurring only in Guernsey and Sark. There are two specimens in the Museum; one in the ordinary summer plumage, and one apparently in the winter plumage above described; but it is difficult to be quite certain on the subject, as it has been smeared over with bird-stuffer's paint, probably with the view of making it as like the ordinary summer plumage as possible.