JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



37 



allow the eggs to fit tightly into the 

 thick water proof down, and be warmed 

 against the bare skin. 



iVlan}', if not all of the down covered 

 young remain in the uest or among the 

 rocks until more than half grown before 

 taking to the water for good. In the fall 

 when they are in the mixed white and grey 

 immature plumage, they may be found 

 well inshore, while at the same time the 

 adults are seen only around the outer 

 islands. 



In spite of the nests being so well 

 concealed, the Crows manage to find and 

 destroy a number of eggs, and on one 

 occasion I caught one of these robbers 

 in the very act, both seeing it pecking 

 at something, and after landing finding 

 that the object of its attention was a 

 partly devoured Pigeon's egg. 



Herring Gull. Larus argentatus Briinn. 



This is the American Herring Gull, 

 Larus argentatus smithsonianus^ of the 

 A. O. U. List, but, in spite of this ex- 

 cellent authority, many ornithologists 

 (among which are prominent Americans 

 and Europeans) now refuse to recognize 

 the validity of this eagerly created and 

 carefully cherished subspecies. 



One who has made a careful study of 

 these birds and noted the great varia- 

 tions in their size and in the markings 

 of their primaries, in specimens taken 

 in the same locality, cannot help seeing 

 the folly of recognizing the alleged dis- 

 tinctions from the trans Atlantic speci- 

 mens. Good examples of L. argentatus 

 have been taken near here, but unfortu- 

 nately not in the breeding season. The 

 eagerness of certain American ornithol- 

 ogists to create subspecies is fast 

 becoming a crying evil, though a good 

 subspecies is always worthy of recog- 

 nition. 



The Herring Gull is resident here, but 

 breeding birds probably pass to the 

 southward in the fall, and are replaced 

 during the winter by northern born 

 individuals. 



The following islands, all of which 

 are along the outermost chain, are fre- 

 quented dui'ingthe breeding season, and 

 the number of breeding birds is about as 

 follows :— Little Duck, about 200 to 300 

 pair of birds ; Larger Sister, about 40 

 pair; John's, 100 pair; Heron, 100 pair; 

 Big Spoon 200 to 300 pair ; Way Ledge, 

 10 pair; Black Ledge, 6 pair; Spirit 

 Ledge, 20 pair, none nested here in 1899 ; 

 Black Horse, 50 pair; White Horse, 60 

 pair ; these estimates being of course 

 only approximate averages for the period, 

 of years during which they have been 

 observed. 



On such of these islands as are wooded, 

 the first four of the foregoing list, a 

 majority of the nests are placed on the 

 thick limbs of the evergreen trees, only 

 a smaller number being on the ground. 



Many of the nests on the ground are 

 well hidden amidst the shrubbery of the 

 interior of the islands, while others are 

 in exposed situations along the shore. 



Way, Black, and Spirit Ledges are 

 flat and rocky and the nests are perforce 

 placed between and on top of the rocks 

 in exposed localities. On Black and 

 White Morse Ledges the only available 

 sites are shelves of rock and here the 

 nests are placed, and a large proportion 

 of them are slightly built structures 

 composed almost entirely of partly dried 

 seaweed, a little dry grass and a few 

 feathers. On the other islands and 

 ledges most of the nests are well con- 

 structed, composed largely of dry grass 

 well pressed into shape and mixed with a 

 little seaweed and feathers. Those nests 



