NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



325 



S. Elizabeth Islands. South of Buz- 

 zards Bay. 



(a) Naushon. Primeval forest. Over- 

 grazed by deer and sheep, so not a fit 

 home for ground-nesting birds. Owned 

 by the Forbes family. 



(6) Wepecket Islands and Little Pine 

 Island, recommended as a bird sanctu- 

 ary, as they are the mating ground of at 

 least two species of terns. Owned by the 

 Forbes family. 



(c) Penikese Island, o^vned by the 

 state, and formerly used for a leper 

 colony: now likely to be sold; a breeding 

 ground of common and roseate terns. 



(d) Gull Islands; a breeding ground 

 of common and roseate terns.— JS". H. 

 Forbush. 



4. Martha's Vineyard. (a) The 

 south side of Martha's Vineyard should 

 be protected as a breeding place for least 

 terns. It is one of the few localities in 

 which these birds remain in the east; 

 and with its ponds, beaches, etc., offers 

 exactly the conditions these birds need. 

 The least tern in the northeast is very 

 near extinction. The land around the 

 ponds is now owned largely by gunners 

 who have gunning stands at the ponds. 



(6) The Squibnocket region at the 

 west end of the Vineyard should be 

 protected as a bird reservation, because 

 of the number and variety of birds that 

 breed there. 



(c) One of the ponds at east end of the 

 Vineyard should be made a reservation. 

 —E. H. Forbush. 



5. Muskeget Island. A small island 

 lying northwest of Nantucket and a 

 part of Nantucket Oountj^, controlled 

 by the town of Nantucket, which em- 

 ploys a warden. It would make a 

 splendid reservation for sea-birds. It 

 was formerly a great breeding place for 

 gulls and terns. The laughing-gulls are 

 apparently encroaching on the breeding 

 grounds of the terns, and are increasing 

 while the terns are decreasing. — E. II. 

 Forbush. 



6. Cape Cod. (a) Monomoy Island, 

 the southeast extension of Cape Cod, 

 south of Chatham, would make an excel- 

 lent reservation for sea-birds. There 



are three species of terns tliat breed in 

 this region. The best place for the 

 reservation would be the south end, if 

 something could be done to protect the 

 birds from cats, skunks, and foxes which 

 readily travel the whole length of the 

 point of land, no longer an island. 



Q)) North Beach near Chatham, 

 formerly the habitat of terns, now almost 

 eliminated by cats and skunks. 



(c) South Beach near Chatham, where 

 three species of terns form a colony of 

 SOOO-10,000. 



{d) An island in the harbor of Nausett 

 Beach, where terns breed. 



(e) Long Point on the bay side of Cape 

 Cod, together with some of the woods 

 farther back from the shore, where the 

 night herons breed in numbers. 



(/) A peninsula at Truro. 



ig) An island at Hyannis. 



(h) A large section of land at Sandy 

 Neck, Barnstable, recommended for 

 reservations for the study of bird-life. 

 —R. T. Fisher and E. H. Forbush. 



7. A rock ravine, called Orient 

 Springs (Do) in Pelham, about 3 mi. 

 east of Amherst. Two branches of a 

 clear brook have cut a gorge in the hills, 

 forming picturesque cliffs, where many 

 liverworts, mosses and ferns grow. 

 Some steep slopes and uplands have a 

 good stand of white pine and hemlock. 

 It is owned by the street railway com- 

 pany and is used as a picnic ground. 

 It is within reach of Mt. Holyoke, .\m- 

 herst, and Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Colleges. Succession in a rock ravine. — 

 Anna M. Starr. 



8. A white pine grove at Boxford, 

 owned by Prof. George II. Palmer of 

 Harvard. The pink lady-slipper grows 

 here in unusual abundance. It is about 

 25 mi. north of Boston, within reach of 

 Bradford Academy, Welleslcy College 

 and Harvard University. — Helen W. 

 Farrell, Bradford Academij. 



9. Congamond Bog. (B4.) On tlie 

 borderland between Massachusetts and 

 Connecticut. It is a splendid example 

 of natural bog vegetation, interesting 

 to both ecologists and systematists, and 

 should be preserved for study. It is 



