BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 55 



"In regard to birds that strike the tower and kill themselves, as soon as they are 

 on the ground they are captured by cats. The birds that are most likely to strike the 

 tower nre what I call Spider-catchers. They are about here in the spring and fall 



and strike mostly in foggy nights " 



{Signed) E. C. Hadley. 



Mr. Hadley's remarks about cats are probably verj' true, and account for 

 the small number of birds found at many lights. 



(2) Ipswich Light : a fixed and flash light of the fifth order, 50 feet above 

 sea level on a tower of 30 feet. It is nearly concealed by the sea of dunes in 

 which it stands some 350 yards from high-water mark. Although the former 

 keeper, the late Capt. Ellsworth, and the present one, Mr. Mills Gunderson, have 

 kept watch for birds for me, none have struck the light for many years, with 

 the exception of a Short-eared Owl, in 1894. 



September 14th, 1904, was a muggy, rainy, and foggy day, but the fog 

 cleared in the evening, and birds were evidently encouraged to migrate, for from 

 my station outside the lantern at the top of the tower, they could be heard call- 

 ing to each other at frequent intervals. They continued to fly by during the 

 gentle southwest rain, but none of them came near enough to the lantern to be 

 seen. During sudden, hard downpours, the birds ceased passing, or at least 

 none were heard. From ten o'clock that night till four the next morning no 

 watch was kept. There were occasional hard downpours, but not a feather was 

 found on the platform outside the lantern. Between four and half past, in the 

 morning, birds were constantly flying by, but were not seen. Apparently they 

 paid no attention to the light. During part of this time it rained hard. The 

 notes of a Ring-neck Plover and of a Semipalmated Sandpiper were recognized. 

 This certainly seemed an ideal night for migrants to become confused and strike 

 the lantern, and there was no lack of passing birds, but they avoided the snares 

 of Ipswich Light. 



(3) Annisquam Light: a fixed light of the fifth order, 50 feet above sea 

 level, on a tower 34 feet high. The following was written to me on May 30th, 

 1903: 



" It is very seldom that birds hit my light, but if they do I will send them to you." 



{Signed) John W. Davis, Keeper. 



I have received none from this station as yet. 



(4) Cape Ann Lights : these are twin lights on Thatcher's Island, off 

 the end of Cape Ann. They are fixed lights of the first order, on towers 165 

 feet above sea level, and 1 1 2 feet above the rocks. 



Mr. A. F. Tarr, the head keeper, has kept a record since 1884, not only of 

 the birds killed by striking the lights, but also of the arrival of birds about the 



