Vol. XVIII 



igoi 



I DuTCHER, Protection of Gulls and Terns. O^ 



flight. The young birds that could not fly well were extremely rest- 

 less and would not permit a very near approach, so it was almost 

 impossible to get a good photograph of them. They could run 

 rapidly and therefore it was necessary to take instantaneous 

 camera shots at them. Hundreds of old birds were in the air 

 over the head of the writer, screaming their displeasure at his 

 intrusion and giving warning to the young birds that were hidden 

 in the scant herbage or among the boulders. While the parent 

 birds were uttering the warning cry the young would not move. 

 Large numbers of the old birds were carrying in their bills small 

 fish, not over one or two inches long, of a bright silvery color. 



Penobscot Bay is an immense sheet of water dotted with thou- 

 sands of rocky islands varying in size from a ledge only exposed 

 at low tide to islands containing some thousands of well timbered 

 acres. There are numerous small colonies of terns scattered 

 about on the smaller islands and ledges. The largest of these 

 colonies of terns were found on Trumpet, Ship, Barge, Lower 

 Mark and Green Islands and Saddle Back Ledge. These colo- 

 nies vary in size from two hundred pairs each on Trumpet and 

 Ship Islands down to a few pairs on the others. None of these 

 islands were located so that it was possible to afford them any 

 special protection, as they are too far apart for one warden to 

 oversee and too far from the nearest inhabited islands. On 

 Trumpet Island evidences were seen showing that a party had 

 visited the place and had enjoyed fried terns' eggs or a tern's egg 

 omelet. This island was a low, flat, grass-covered mound with a 

 wide margin of sand and large cobble. Nests were found on the 

 sandy beach above the normal high tide mark and also on the 

 grassy upland. At the date of the visit, July 4, no young birds 

 were found in any stage, probably because all the first clutches 

 of eggs had been taken. It was noticed also that all these unpro- 

 tected birds were much wilder than the terns on Matinicus Rock 

 where they are practically undisturbed. On Green Island a 

 young tern was found July 9, on the cobble, which beautifully 

 illustrated protective coloration. It was almost stepped upon 

 before it was seen, and during the whole time that a tripod 

 camera was being set up, moved about, focused and plates 

 exposed from two different positions, it did not move even so 



