ar' about another
Guernsey bird--a Hoopoe--which had been recorded in that paper, I asked
for information as to the occurrence of the Golden Oriole in the
Islands, and shortly after the following letter signed "Tereus"[8]
appeared in the 'Star':--"Concerning the occurrence of the Golden Oriole
I cannot speak from my own personal knowledge, but I believe there can
be no doubt that the bird has been occasionally seen here. Its presence,
however, must be much more rare than that of the Hoopoe, for a bird of
such plumage as the Oriole would be more likely to attract even more
attention than the comparatively sober-coloured Hoopoe, and if half so
common as the latter would be sure to fall before the gun of the fowler.
There was a specimen of the female bird in the Museum of the Mechanics'
Institution, but I am not sure about its history, and I have some reason
to suppose it was shot in Jersey. Our venerable national poet, Mr.
George Metivier, has many allusions to the Oriole in his early
effusions, whether written in English, French, or our vernacular
dialect. It seems to have been an occasional visitor at St. George's;
but in Mr. Metivier's early days the island was far more wooded than it
is at present, and it is possible that the wholesale destruction of
hedgerow elms and the grubbing-up of so many orchards in order to employ
the ground more profitably in the culture of early potatoes and brocoli,
by which the island has lost much of its picturesque beauty, may have
had the effect of deterring some of the occasional visitors from
alighting here in their periodical migrations." Signed "Tereus."

A short time after the appearance of this letter in the 'Star' on the
16th of May, 1878, Mr. MacCulloch himself wrote to me on the subject and
said:--"I had yesterday a very satisfactory interview with Mr. George
Metivier. He is now in his 88th or 89th year. He told me he was about
thirteen when he went to reside with his relations, the Guilles, at St.
George. There was then a great deal of old timber about the place and a
long avenue of oaks, besides three large cherry orchards. One day he was
startled by the sight of a male Oriole. He had never seen the bird
before. Whether it was that one that was killed or another in a
subsequent year I don't know, but he declares that for several years
afterwards they were seen in the oak trees and among the cherries, and
that he has not the least doubt but that they bred there. One day an old