THE OOLOGIST. 



119 



evidence, we only getting an occas- 

 sional glimpse of them as they skulked 

 amor'gst the high marsh grass. The 

 nests are built of marsh grass and 

 placed a foot or so above the gi'ound 

 in the big i grass. The grass surround- 

 ing the nest is pulled down by the 

 birds, so that the ends hang over nnd 

 form a canopy above the nest. This 

 habit facilitates locating the nests, for 

 by scanning over the uiarsh and not- 

 ing where the even aspect of the 

 grass is interrupted by the ends being 

 thus pulled, over, the collector may 

 find many a nest that would otherwise 

 be overlooked. In this same marsh 

 we found sfveral nests of the Seaside 

 Finch, and saw many birds of that 

 species. The nests are difficult to find. 

 They are usually placed among the 

 gra«s tops, and the species has a pen- 

 chant for selecting the grass bordering 

 on the small sloughs. After seeing the 

 wonders of this marsh, I returned to 

 the hotel and worked all of the after- 

 noon and most of the next day blowing 

 the specimens. 



On the following day I started early 

 to investigate the bird-life of the btach, 

 and especially to visit the large colonies 

 of Black Skimmers at the northeastern 

 end. This time there was no need of 

 a boat, but the Captain's services were 

 again secured, and he appeared on 

 time, driving the only horse on the 

 island hitched to a delapidated two- 

 wheeled cart. As we proceeded along 

 the beach, about the first birds to at- 

 tract my attention were a pair of Wil- 

 son Plovers. They were acting as if their 

 nest was near, and a careful search re- 

 vealed a cute little juvenile, covered 

 with down and faintly speckled, 

 crouching among the pebbles of the 

 beach. The mimicry was perfect, and 

 it was by mere accident 1 noticed him. 

 Several American Oystercatchers were 

 noticed on the beach and I found a 

 nest, or rather a depression in the 

 beach, with three eggs. One egg was 



'tpipped," and so I did not disturb the 

 set. Another pair evidently had a nest 

 near by, but a careful search failed to 

 reveal it. 



Toward the northeastern end Com- 

 mon Terns [Sterna hiruiido) were very 

 numerous, being in hundreds and their 

 nests were scattered all over the beach, 

 the eggs being laid in mere depressions 

 among the pebbles, and the eggs con- 

 stituted the average set. 



At the extreme northern end, on the 

 eastern side, we found the Black Skim- 

 mer colonies. Hundreds upon hun- 

 dreds of Skimmers were congregated 

 and nesting. As we neared the nests, 

 the birds set up an awful uproar, their 

 "harking" notes together with the 

 screeching of the Terns making an odd 

 combination of discord. When we 

 reached the nesting ground, a great 

 line of Skimmers began to fly around 

 and around in single file, turning 

 toward the ocean, then curving toward 

 the land a/ain, and approaching us 

 directly, but only to curve aside at the 

 distance of some fifty or sixtty yards, 

 all the time uttering their peculiar 

 "Ohe hark" ' Ohe bark" 'Ohe bark." 

 Their oddly shaped red-orange colored 

 mandibles v'c^inted downwa'dly, and 

 the pure white of their underpart plum- 

 age contrasted strikingly with the 

 black of their upper parts. Now and 

 then a skimmer would fly at us, coming 

 so close sometimes as to make us dodge 

 but they always curved aside when 

 within three or four feet. 



On the sand dunes and on the sandy 

 beach were hundreds of their eggs, re 

 markable for their beauty, their ground 

 color being averagely of a bluish white, 

 though sometiues a very clear white. 

 The markings are profuse and of um- 

 ber, lavender and black. Four eggs 

 constituted the full set, though sets of 

 three e^gs were common. The eggs 

 were laid in rather deep depressions of 

 the sand, and on a single sand dune I 

 found as many as seven sets. Owing 



