FLOCK OF LAUGHING GfLLS KV THE QUARANTINE STATION 



CHAPTER VII 



VIRGINIA BIRD HOMES OF BEACH AND MARSH 



. . . wtth a step I stand 

 On the firm-packed sand, 



Free 

 By a world of marsh that borders a world of sea. 



Lanier. 



THE fame of the reg-ion had travelled afar. Its dis- 

 tances were impressive, its sea-beaches mapfnificent, 

 its marshes the very symbol of the infinite. But these 

 were not the reasons for its renown. It was a land of birds, — 

 birds of sea and shore, of kinds not easy to find, — rich both 

 as to numbers and variety. Winnowingf gulls and darting 

 terns of several kinds laid their eggs on sand and marsh, and 

 their excitable colonies added a spectacular interest to the 

 landscape. The singular and remarkable Black Skimmer 

 was there in all its glory. Shore-birds, some of them nesting, 



