Dies WHire= WINGED <A LEET 
but within a hundred feet or so of these we began 
tomseemenose “he birds kept “up their clamor all 
fie time wandehumdreds werenever am the ain: ) but 
when we came from the buildings and began to 
invade the territory which they regarded as their 
own, practically the whole colony rose and hovered 
about, redoubling their vociferations. Now and 
then one would swoop close to our heads, evidently 
the owner of the eggs over which we were stepping. 
And so it is at all Tern colonies. It is bewildering, 
and always fascinating. No matter how many colo- 
nies I have visited, I am always ready to see another. 
The whole surroundings, of birds, and rock or sand 
and ocean impresses one with the vitality of unal- 
loyed Nature, a scene of abounding, exuberant life. 
How eagerly the faithful custodians of the 
lights on these lonely isolated spots look forward to 
the return of the birds, we may readily imagine. 
Were-there no other calendar, the Terns could 
quite accurately supply one. They are very regular 
in their coming. At the time of my last visit the 
keeper told me they arrived in a large body that 
year on May 14, and laid the first eggs on the 28th. 
The season preceding, their date of arrival was May 
isan trom these dates, I ami told’ there 1s little 
vatiation. | Ele did not have the exact dates of de- 
parture, but from my observation with other colo- 
nies I should say it was not later than early Septem- 
ber. As soon as the young are on the wing, they 
begin to scatter, and when the tardier ones can fly, 
they are soon gone. In one colony I found a few 
young on the rocks the first of September. But 
before that month has sped most of the Terns have 
141 
