14 NATURE STUDY. 



very crude, the eggs being often deposited on a shelf of 

 rock, or in a depression in the moss or grass, or even on 

 the bare sand. Often, however, a rude nest of small sticks, 

 grass, sedges, or sea weed, is built. With few exceptions 

 the nests are placed on the ground, but it is an interesting 

 fact that on the Maine coast, where the colonies of herring 

 gulls have been subject to a great deal of persecution, some 

 of the birds have taken to building their nests in trees, of- 

 ten at a considerable height. In such cases, of course, the 

 nest is much more carefully and compactly made. Bona- 

 parte's gull also builds commonly above the ground, on 

 stumps or on low bushes or trees. 



The laughing gull likes the fresh and salt water marshes 

 that line our coast in so many of our southern states, being 

 content with a slight depression in the grass. Terns are 

 very capricious in their choice of homes. A certain island 

 or bit of "shore may be selected and used for many years, 

 man permitting, though apparently possessing no superior- 

 ity of any kind over neighboring regions. And they will 

 stick to their homes until the colony is almost exterminat- 

 ed. They are not at all particular, however, as to the ex- 

 act situation where the eggs are to be laid ; on the bare 

 sand, among the pebbles on the beach, or on a small collec- 

 tion of grass on the uplands ; it is all one to the terns. 



Two or three eggs is usually the full complement to a 

 nest, four being unusual, with either gulls or terns. They 

 are green or brown commonly; and have spots and blotches 

 of black, brown or lilac. One of my pet plans for the fut- 

 ure has been to go to Muskegat Island, near Nantucket. 

 This is the site of a large nesting colony, containing Com- 

 mon, Roseate, Arctic and Least terns, as well as lyaughing 

 gulls and Piping plovers. These birds are strictly protect- 

 ed and are flourishing. To this we may attribute the fact 

 that the region of Cape Cod, and the islands south of it, is 

 especially rich in these sea birds, and their extreme beauty 



