BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 1 3 



waterfowl. The seals collect on the sand bars sometimes to the number of 

 forty or fifty in a herd. Occasionally a whale is seen spouting, generally the 

 finback species (Baloenoptera pkysalus), and on one occasion, November 13, 

 1904, while watching sea birds from a boat off the end of Cape Ann, I saw 

 a white whale {Delphinapterus lettcas) show his snowy back several times above 

 the dark waters. The visits of this arctic species are, however, very exceptional. 

 Two other mammals are also not infrequently seen in this coast region : the har- 

 bor porpoise or " puffing pig " (Phocmna phocana) and the bottle-nosed dolphin 

 (Tursiops truncatus). 



Fishing is carried on all along the coast with its necessary accompaniment of 

 "gurry " — fish entrails, oil, and so forth, which attract such sea birds as Shear- 

 waters, Petrels, Gulls, and Terns. The cod (Gadus morrkua) and the lobster 

 {Homarus americanus) are the chief spoils from these waters. Squid {Ommastre- 

 phes illeccbrosus) are also caught by the fishermen for bait, and are the favorite 

 food of the Shearwaters. During the autumn months from September to early 

 December, great multitudes of herring (Clupea harengus) crowd the waters of 

 Ipswich Bay and the tidal estuaries, coming in to spawn. These are pursued 

 both by day and by night with seines and hand-nets. At night the fisherman 

 lights a torch of cotton waste, wet with kerosene oil, in the bow of his boat, 

 and the fish, dazzled and attracted by the light, are scooped up by the barrelful. 

 The dancing lights dot the waterways in the marshes and the waters of the bay. 

 In these months the Gannet is attracted by the same game, and one can often 

 follow the course of a school of herring off the shore by the flocks of Gannets 

 soaring above them and plunging unerringly into their midst. 



Although there are no birds belonging to the present group that breed 

 along the coast of Essex County, with the exception of the Black Duck and 

 the Common Tern, yet numerous ocean birds are to be found along the coast at 

 all seasons of the year, even in midsummer. This latter fact may be explained 

 in one or more of the following ways : 1 st, the long duration of the migratory 

 periods for waterfowl ; 2d, the excursions from nearby rookeries of these strong 

 flyers, even in the breeding season ; 3d, the fact that immature and barren birds 

 may spend the entire summer ; 4th, the occurrence of cripples remaining after 

 the shooting season ; 5th, in the case of the Shearwaters and Wilson's Petrel, 

 the summer here corresponds to their winter or non-breeding season. 



The long duration of the migratory period for different species or even for 

 one species of waterfowl is often not appreciated and differs in this respect from 

 that of the land bird migrants, many of which often pass through in a few weeks. 

 This period is longer in the autumn than in the spring, and may extend from 

 early in July to late in December, or even into January. The spring migration, 

 on the other hand, extends from late in February to the middle of June, but 

 many birds that are common in the autumn for several months are generally 



