Birds of Guernsey (1879) - And the Neighbouring Islands: Alderney, Sark, Jethou, Herm; Being a Small Contribution to the Ornitholony of the Channel Islands by Cecil Smith
page 47 of 187 (25%)
page 47 of 187 (25%)
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pair whose nest I found. There were also a few pairs in some reed-beds
of the same sort near L'Eree. These are all the places in which I have been able to find the Reed Warbler in Guernsey. I have not found it myself in Alderney, but Mr. Gallienne, in his remarks published with Professor Ansted's list, says:--"I have put the Reed Wren as doubtful for Guernsey, but I have seen the nest of this bird found at Alderney." In the list itself it is marked as belonging to Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark. The Reed Warbler, though entirely insectivorous, is a very tame and amusing cage-bird, and may easily be fed on raw meat chopped fine and a little hard-boiled egg; but its favourite food is flies, and of these it will eat any quantity, and woe even to the biggest bluebottle that may buzz through its cage, for the active little bird will have it in a moment, and after a few sharp snaps of the beak there is quite an end of the bluebottle. Daddy long-legs, too, are favourite morsels, and after a little beating about disappear down the bird's throat--legs, wings, and all, without any difficulty. The indigestible parts are afterwards cast up in pellets in the same manner as with Hawks. I have never seen the nearly-allied and very similar Marsh Warbler, _Acrocephalus palustris_, in Guernsey, but, as it may occasionally occur, it may be as well perhaps to point out what little distinction there is between the species. This seems to me to consist chiefly in the difference of colour, the Reed Warbler, _Acrocephalus streperus_, at all ages and in all states of plumage, being a warmer, redder brown than _Acrocephalus palustris_, which is always more or less tinged with green. The legs in _A. streperus_ are always darker than in _A. palustris_; the beak also in _A. palustris_ seems rather broader at the |
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