French gentleman of the name of De l'Huiller from the South of France,
an emigrant, noticed the birds and made the remark--'Ah! vous avez des
loriots ici; nous en avons beaucoup chez nous, ils sont grands gobeurs
de cerises.' It would appear from this that cherries are a favourite
food with this bird, and the presence of cherry orchards would account
for their settling down at St. George. I believe they are said to be
very shy, and the absence of wood would account for their not being seen
in the present day."

I have no doubt that Mr. MacCulloch is right that the cherry orchards,
to say nothing of other fruit trees, tempted the Golden Orioles to
remain to breed in the Island, for they are "grand gobeurs" not only of
"cerises," but of many other sorts of fruit, particularly of grapes and
figs--in grape countries, indeed, doing a deal of damage amongst the
vineyards. This damage to grapes would not, however, be much felt in
Guernsey, as all the grapes are protected by orchard-houses. But though
the grapes are protected, and most, if not all, the cherry orchards cut
down, still there is plenty of unprotected fruit in Guernsey to tempt
the Golden Oriole to remain in the Islands, and to bring the wrath and
the gun of the gardener both to bear upon him when he is there. This,
however, only shows that from the time spoken of by Mr. Metivier down to
the present time very few Golden Orioles could have visited Guernsey,
and still fewer remained to breed; for what with their fruit-eating
propensities and their bright plumage, hardly a bird could have escaped
being shot and subsequently making its appearance in the bird-stuffers'
windows, and affording a subject for a notice in the 'Star,' or some
other paper. I think therefore, on the whole, that though Guernsey still
affords many temptations to the Golden Oriole, and is sufficiently
well-wooded to afford shelter to suit its shy and suspicious habits, yet
for some reason or other the bird has not visited the Island of late
years even as an accidental visitant, or, if so, very rarely.

The Golden Oriole is mentioned in Professor Ansted's list, and marked as
having occurred in Guernsey and Sark, but nothing more is said about the
bird. Probably Guernsey was mentioned as a locality on account of the
female specimen in the Museum, but with this exception I have never
heard of its making its appearance in Sark even as a straggler.

21. DIPPER. _Cinclus aquaticus_, Bechstein. Frenc