66 



STORIES OF BIRD LIFE 



satisfied to leave the spot where had lain the strange 

 creature which had excited them so much. 



Many observers agree that twenty years ago countless 

 thousands of terns annually gathered at Cobb's Island to 

 lay and hatch their eggs. Fishermen told me that bushels 

 of eggs could then be gathered in a few hours' search, and 

 that it was almost impossible to walk along the beach with- 

 out crushing them. People frequently visited the island 

 to gather eggs to eat. While thus engaged the birds would 

 flock about the heads of the intruders with deafening cries, 

 trying to drive them from the beach. 



If one of the birds was shot and disabled, dozens of 

 others would gather about the unfortunate comrade with 

 loud notes of distress. Nor would they be frightened away 

 by the repeated discharges of the guns, but would continue 

 to fly excitedly about while one by one they fell bleeding to 

 the ground. 



So easily may terns be killed during the nesting season, 

 and so pretty are the silver-gray feathers of their wings, 

 that milliners learned that here was a profitable field for 

 investment. Accordingly hunters were employed to go to 

 the nesting places and shoot the birds. The skins were 

 shipped to the great cities and there made into trimmings 

 for ladies' hats. Ten thousand skins were gathered at 

 Cobb's Island in a single season. All along the coast from 



