192 



THE OOLOGIST. 



secuted ils tribe. Upon the inoruing 

 of my second clay's stay on Cobb's 

 Island I took ray collecting basket and 

 after going about five miles np tlie 

 beach came to where Black Skimmers 

 and Terns were nesting in large num- 

 bers. Of coui'se these birds do not sit 

 on their eggs in the day time unless it 

 be cloudy weather but trust to the heat 

 of the sun to incubate them. Thus the 

 only wfty to find the eggs was by look- 

 ing close in the sand. Upon my near 

 approach a large number of Skimmers 

 which were sitting together on the 

 sand rose Avith a loud clamor and paus- 

 ing until Avithin a few yards of my 

 head they divided and passed to right 

 and left. Turning they circled around 

 flying wildly in all directions. The up- 

 roar soon brought others and in five 

 minutes there were hundreds of Skim- 

 mers flying about in a confused throng, 

 while high over all Terns by the huu- 

 di'ed circled and whirled, at the same 

 time giving utterance to their nervous 

 and uneasj' cry of wrath. 



Of perhaps one hundred nests exam- 

 ined on this day three eggs were the 

 most found in any one nest and not 

 many were there which contained that 

 number. In fact during all my stay I 

 found it extremely difficult to obtain 

 .complete sets, so closely do the fisher- 

 men keep them picked ott". The same day 

 while returning I flushedsevei'al Willets 

 from the tall grass on one side of the 

 island and found the nests to contain 

 nice sets of eggs. Three sets of three 

 and two of four, were found, all of 

 which were fresh laid eggs with the ex- 

 ception fo one nest which contained 

 pipped eggs. 



Wishing to visit some of the Laugh- 

 ing Gull's nests in the marsh I procur- 

 ed a i)air of hip-boots and after a few 

 hours tramping and wading secured 

 ■Vvhat few sets 1 wanted The nests 

 were large and bulky afl'airs of rushes 

 and reeds built up on a large bunch of 

 rushes or drift-grass. Three were the 



greatest number of eggs found in any 

 one nes<: and nearly all contained this 

 number. The nests were not all bunch- 

 ed together in one place but were scat- 

 tered here and there over the entire 

 marsh. Clapper Rails constantly called 

 to one another from their hidden re- 

 treats among the tall grass and several 

 of their nests were observed. Many of 

 the eggs had hatched. Of the few nests 

 which were found to contain eggs only 

 one set was found which was not too 

 far adAanced in incubation to allow 

 blowing. The number in a nest varied 

 from seven to twelve. Several nests 

 were found on the higher ground of the 

 island above high-water mark. 



The Wilson's Plover is the most com- 

 mon shore bird on the island at this 

 season of the year although flocks of 

 last year's young of Semipalmafed and 

 Spotted Sandpipers were seen. A few 

 Black-bellied Plovers were secured, 

 none of these had as yet assumed their 

 black under plumage. These birds re- 

 main alor-g the coast all summer, as 

 they do not go norih until ready to 

 breed which is not until their second 

 year. Several pairs of dignified Oyster- 

 catchers paroled the beach, but they 

 were so^extremely shy that it was only 

 by exercising considerable caution that 

 I secured a single pair. Their nests 

 were very difficult to find, four eggs be- 

 ing the total number secured while on 

 the island. Other birds that I obseiw- 

 ed during mj- stay were as follows: sev- 

 ei'al O'^preys, Gt. Blue Herons and 

 Gull-billed Terns, quite a number of 

 Boat-tailed Grackles (which nest on a 

 neighboring islaml), (ireen Herons and 

 numbev.s of Barn Swallows, the latter 

 nesting on the underside of tlie wharf 

 near the hotel. Also !Nightha\vks and 

 Sea-side Finches and one Long-billed 

 Curlew was seen but was unable to pro- 

 cure it. While going down the beach 

 one morning I spied sitting on the sandj 

 close to the surf an American Scoter^ 

 Cautiously creeping uj) behind a pile of 



