62 BIRDS 



sandy nesting beach. I looked for an hour before I lo- 

 cated the nest, with its two brownish chocolate-spotted 

 eggs. All the while the birds were screaming and dart- 

 ing at my head and kept it up until I had made the pic- 

 ture and taken my departure. 



They are beautiful little birds and are on the verge 

 of shameful extermination, through the demands of our 

 fair sex for hat and other decorations. Mr. T. Gilbert 

 Pearson, President of the National Audubon Societies, 

 says : 



"The beauty of plumage, the ease with which they 

 might be killed and their vast numbers all contributed 

 to their popularity with the feather trade, and during 

 the eighties, before the Audubon work became effective, 

 their slaughter constituted one of the blotches on our 

 American life, ten thousand being taken on Cobb Island 

 in one season. ' ' 



These birds are now under United States protection, 

 and are said to be on the increase. 



