FLOCK OF LAUGHING GULLS BY THE QUARANTINE STATION 
CHAPTER VII 
VIRGINIA BIRD HOMES OF BEACH AND MARSH 
. . . 7V!//i a step I stand 
On the fiyyn-packed sand. 
Free 
By a tvor/d of marsh that borders a world of sea. 
Lanier. 
T he fame of the region had travelled afar. Its dis¬ 
tances were impressive, its sea-lieaches magnificent, 
its marshes the very symbol of the infinite. But these 
were not the reasons for its renown. It was a land of birds, — 
birds of sea and shore, of kinds not easy to find, — rich both 
as to numbers and variety. Winnowing gulls and darting 
terns of several kinds laid their eggs on sand and marsh, and 
their excitable colonies added a spectacular interest to the 
landscape. The singular and remarkable Black Skimmer 
was there in all its glory. Shore-birds, some of them nesting, 
