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Bird - Lore 



long to the sun's heat, they die. Along the New England coast, in summer, 

 there are many southerly or southwesterly gales, when the dry sand of the 

 beaches blows over the breeding-grounds. If the Terns are driven from their 

 nests at such a time, especially when the young are hatching, the sand is blown 

 on the little chicks while their feathers are still wet, it adheres to them, and 

 they are soon buried. Eggs also are thus buried. Someone should be at hand 

 to see that the birds are never disturbed on such days. 



Foreigners, fishermen, and eggers take every opportunity to raid colonies 

 of nesting birds, taking the eggs or the young, which they use for food or for 



HALF GROWN YOUNG OF ROSEATE TERN" 

 Photographed by Edward Howe F'orbush 



bait. Every part of the mainland upon which the birds can breed is continually 

 overrun by cats, dogs, skunks, and other natural enemies of the birds. As 

 soon as a colony is established, these enemies concentrate upon it. Many 

 people who summer in New England leave cats along the shore which run wild, 

 and numberless skunks seem to thrive on the beaches. There are a few small 

 Tern colonies on the coasts of Rhode Island and Connecticut, and all that has 

 been said about better protection in Massachusetts would apply also to these 

 colonies. 



Penikese Island is now the property of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 

 but since the leper colony has been removed from the island, the state authori- 

 ties have had offers from intending purchasers. This island, the property of 

 the Commonwealth, should be preserved for all time as a breeding-place for 

 birds. It is one of the best strongholds of the Roseate Terns, and thousands 



