THE MISSISSIPPI RESERVES 307 



scrub, but no trees. Most of it was bare sand. 

 We saw three coon tracks, two being those of 

 the three-footed animals ; evidently the damaged 

 leg was now completely healed and was used 

 like the others, punching a round hole in the 

 sand. We saw one coon, at dusk, hunting for 

 oysters at the water's edge. 



The gulls and skimmers were nesting on this 

 island in great numbers, but the terns were many 

 times more plentiful. There were thousands 

 upon thousands of them. Their breeding-places 

 were strung in a nearly straight line for a couple 

 of miles along the sand flats. A mile off, from our 

 boat, we were attracted by their myriad forms, 

 glittering in the brilliant sunlight as they rose 

 and fell and crossed and circled over the nest- 

 ing-places. The day was bright and hot, and 

 the sight was one of real fascination. As we 

 approached a breeding colony the birds would 

 fly up, hover about, and resettle when we drew 

 back a sufficient distance. The eggs, singly, or 

 rarely in pairs, were placed on the bare sand, 

 with no attempt at a nest, the brooding bird 

 being sometimes but a few inches, sometimes 

 two or three feet, from the nearest of its sur- 

 rounding neighbors. The colonies of breeders 

 were scattered along the shore for a couple of 

 miles, each one being one or two hundred yards. 



