382 



Bird -Lore 



handkerchief to a stick and throw it in the air. This decoy, falhng to the water, 

 was sufficient to bring the nearest Terns quickly within range of the guns. 

 Because of its small size, the entire skin of the Least Tern was usually worn for 

 hat-decoration. In the case of the larger Terns it was often customary to use 

 only the wings. 



For many years the killing of these birds has now been illegal, and the 

 wardens of the National Association of Audubon Societies and, in two cases, 

 the wardens of state game commissions have been guarding the summer colonies 



of Terns along our 

 coast. In some sec- 

 tions the Least Tern 

 is recovering its 

 numbers to a limited 

 extent. For ex- 

 ample, when the first 

 Audubon warden 

 began guarding the 

 colonies on the 

 North Carolina 

 coast, which was in 

 the year of 1903, so 

 scarce had the Least 

 Tern become that 

 only fourteen eggs 

 were laid that year. 

 By careful guarding, the birds increased until three years later, by fairly 

 accurate count made by the warden in charge, 577 Least Terns are believed 

 to have been raised. The numbers steadily increased another year or two, 

 when heavy storm-tides, sweeping the low-lying islands, destroyed the eggs and 

 young alike and for a time prevented further increase. 



The Audubon Law in North Carolina put an end to this slaughter, but only 

 when the Least Tern had decreased almost to the point of extermination and 

 the other Terns of the region had become vastly reduced in numbers. 



This killing also went on along the coast of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 

 and Louisiana. In fact, wherever the Least Tern was found there came men 

 with guns, ammunition, arsenic, and plaster of paris, ready to transform the 

 living bird into a hat-decoration. 



On the coast of Massachusetts, chiefly as a result of numerous cats brought 

 by summer residents, the Least Tern appears to be passing away. According 

 to E. H. Forbush, who in 191 7 carefully examined the few remaining Massach- 

 usetts Tern islands, the principal colonies are now located at Cape Cod and on 

 and in the neighborhood of Martha's Vineyard. 



There is a small colony on the sandy point of Raccoon Island, S. C, and a 



NEST AND EGGS OF LEAST TERN 

 Photographed by H. M. Kerth 



