Terns of the Weepecket Islands, Massachusetts. 95 



Fish Commission and of the Marine Biological Laboratory 

 were placed at my disposal, and it was due to the courtesy 

 of these organizations that I was able to visit these islands on 

 t;everal different occasions for more or less extended study. 



July 10. Mr. Irving A. Field, of the Fish Commission, ac- 

 companied me, when we made a pretty careful count of the nests 

 on the three islands. On the outer small island we found 53 

 nests, the most of them among the weeds on the higher parts of 

 the beach, concealed more or less. The top of this island was 

 so densely covered with grass that but half a dozen nests could 

 be accommodated along its edge. The lower beach nests were 

 wholly exposed, and seemed to belong to the Common Tern, 

 while the protected nests of the higher places appeared to be- 

 long to the Roseate Terns. It was possible to be absolutely 

 accurate in identification only when there was a chick in the 

 nest. Most of the birds hovering above the island and making 

 hostile demonstrations were Roseates. 



Middle Weepecket contained but 19 nests, one of them con- 

 taining five eggs. The position of the nests, as well as 

 the actions of the birds flying about indicated that the Roseates 

 were in the majority here, but not so much so as on the outer 

 island. There were more nests on the top among the scrub 

 poison ivy and grass, and fewer on the beach exposed. 



Great Weepecket was the home of the Common Tern to the 

 almost exclusion of the Roseate. Not more than three nests 

 of the Roseate were positively identified here. The upper level 

 is so much more extensive than the beach levels, and so well 

 grown with poinson ivy and bay berry bushes, and so broken 

 up with hollows and elevations, that it was next to impossible 

 to make an accurate count of the nests, or rather, to find all 

 of them. 337 nests were found on the beach levels and 189 

 on the upper levels. Few or none were concealed by bushes 

 or grass. One was found in an old wrecked dory, and two 

 were placed partly under large boulders, but their situation 

 could hardly have been for concealment. Very few of the 

 eggs lay upon the bare ground. The nests were made of dry 

 grasses, or dry sea weed,. some being even elaborately made — 

 for a tern. 



One nest containing six eggs pretty clearly belonged to two 

 birds ; 13 contained five eggs ; 22 contained four eggs. The 



