54 



THE OOLOGIST. 



The above was written by Mr. Wor- 

 thingtoa in 1881. 



What has caused this vast decrease in 

 numbers? Is it science'? Nay, it is not 

 science, it is fashion. Fashion, whose 

 bloodthirsty cries for our feathered 

 beauties is fast decreasing their num- 

 bers, where thousands bred now hun- 

 dreds breed, and where hundreds bred 

 now only a few pairs remain, and the 

 time is fast approaching when the 

 feathered race will entirely disappear 

 from the face of the earth, leaving only 

 pleasant memories behind to mark 

 their former existence. Memories, 

 which will descend from generation to 

 generation, cherished by our descend- 

 ants, and which will not fade until the 

 last night has closed in upon this earth- 

 ly sphere. 



My first find after landing was a 

 handsome set of four eggs incubation 

 fresh. 



When we reached the high ground 

 we separated, Mr. Worthington and 

 Mr. Sargent taking the north side of 

 the island, while I took the south side. 

 I walked up the beach keeping a sharp 

 lookout for the eggs as thev are very 

 hard to see, being laid on the pebbly 

 beach which they strongly resemble. 

 I found several sets of three eggs, 

 some of two and a few of one egg each. 

 I was gradually drawing near the rocks 

 which I mentioned in the fore part of 

 this article, when glancing down I be- 

 held another set of four eggs. Just 

 think, inside of Jifleen minutes I found 

 two sets otjour eggs each, while it took 

 Mr. Worthington twelve years to find 

 two sets of the same number of eggs. 

 "Truly I was in luck." 



After reaching the rocks 1 crossed the 

 island and joined the rest of the pai'ty; 

 they had also found two sets of /o?<r 

 eggs each, Mr. Worthington one set 

 and Mr. Sargent the other. 



We continued on around the island, 

 Mr. Sargent and myself going around 

 twice, Mr. Worthington only once. 



The liests were slight depressions in 

 the sand and were surrounded by a few 

 pieces of stems, of beach-grass. The 

 nests were mostly placed on the beach 

 above high water mark, some were on 

 the sand, and others on flat rocks on 

 the tnp of the island; when on the rocks 

 they were usually made of dried grass. 

 Some of the nests were placed behind 

 piles of drift-wood. I found one nest 

 made completely of seaweed, which 

 contained three unusually dark eggs. 



The usual number of eggs was two or 

 three. They varied greatly in colora- 

 tion, some being dark brown or deep 

 olive, while others were pale olive or 

 gray. They were spotted and blotched 

 with spots of dark brown, black and 

 lavender. 



The eggs, I think, can be easily dis- 

 tinguished from those of the Roseate 

 Tern. The eggs of Wilson's Tern be- 

 ing marked with large spots and 

 blotches, while those of the Roseate 

 Tern are marked with tine dots and 

 lines. 



Incubation was fresh in nearly all 

 cases. 



In Mr. Worthington's set of four eggs, 

 two females undoubtedly laid in|the 

 same nest, &s two of the eggs were oif 

 one color, and the other two of an en- 

 tirely different color. Mr. W^orthing- 

 ton is of my opinion that his set was 

 deposited by two females. But in my 

 set the four eggs were alike and seem 

 to show that only one female laid in 

 the nest. 



Bank Swallows also breed on Gull 

 Island and a few Savannah Sparrows 

 nest there each season. 



I would like to give my readers an 

 account of our journey home as we had 

 a number of adventures and did not 

 I'each there until the next morning, but 

 space is limited and I fear I have far 

 out-stepped the limits already. 



Robert C. Woodhouse, 

 New York City. 



