Birds of Guernsey (1879): And the Neighbouring Islands: Alderney, Sark, Jethou, Herm; Being a Small Contribution to the Ornitholony of the Channel Islands — John Shaqi
Birds of Guernsey (1879): And the Neighbouring Islands: Alderney, Sark, Jethou, Herm; Being a Small Contribution to the Ornitholony of the Channel IslandsSmith, Cecil
History
Birds of Guernsey (1879): And the Neighbouring Islands: Alderney, Sark, Jethou, Herm; Being a Small Contribution to the Ornitholony of the Channel Islands
Smith, Cecil
Birds -- Channel Islands
23. SONG THRUSH. _Turdus musicus_, Linnaeus. French, "Grive," "Merle
Grive."--Very common and resident in all the Islands, and great is the
destruction of snails by Thrushes and Blackbirds--in fact, nowhere have
I seen such destruction as in the Channel Islands, especially in
Guernsey and Herm, where every available stone seems made use of, and to
considerable purpose, to judge from the number of snail-shells to be
found about; and yet the gardeners complain quite as much of damage to
their gardens, especially in the fruit season, by Blackbirds and
Thrushes, as the English gardeners and seem equally unready to give
these birds any credit for the immense destruction of snails, which, if
left alone, would scarcely have left a green thing in the garden.
The local name of the Thrush is "Mauvis." It is, of course, included in
Professor Ansted's list, but with the Fieldfare, Redwing, and Blackbird,
marked as only occurring in Guernsey and Sark. All these birds, however,
are equally common in Alderney, Herm, and Jethou. There is also a
specimen of each in the Museum.
24. REDWING. _Turdus iliacus_, Linnaeus. French, "Grive mauvis," "Merle
mauvis."--A regular and numerous winter visitant to all the Islands,
arriving about the end of October, and those that are not shot and
brought into the market departing again in March and April.
25. FIELDFARE. _Turdus pilaris_, Linnaeus. French, "Grive litorne,"
"Merle litorne."--Like the Redwing, the Fieldfare is a regular and
numerous winter visitant, and arrives and departs about the same time.
When in Guernsey in November, 1871, I did not see either Redwings or
Fieldfares till a few days after my arrival on the 1st; after that both
species were numerous, and a few days later plenty of them might be seen
hanging up in the market with the Thrushes and Blackbirds, but for the
first few days there were none to be seen there. Probably this was
rather a late year, as neither bird could have arrived in any numbers
till the first week in November, and in all probability not till towards
the end of the week.
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