Vol ; 8 gJ I ] Report of Committee on Bird Protection. 6$ 



With this brief outline of the present status of Bird Protection 

 I turn to the reports furnished to the chairman by members of 

 the Committee and others in the various States of the Union. 



Only an abstract of these can be given in the present paper 

 but even from this it will be readily seen how extensive and how 

 sincere is the interest in Bird Protection and Bird Study. 



The more important reports received by the Chairman from 

 members of the Committee are considered in the following pages, 

 that of Mr. Mackay being given in full, as it is of particular inter- 

 est in connection with his work of previous years in the protection 

 of the Gulls and Terns of the New England coast. 



It is with sincere regret that we are compelled to announce 

 Mr. Mackay's retirement from the Committee, as he feels him- 

 self unable to longer continue his valuable work in its behalf. 



Massachusetts. 



Mr. Mackay reports as follows : " I herewith submit my report 

 for the year ending Nov. 14, 1898. I was instrumental in hav- 

 ing inserted a protective clause in the ' Muskeget Act,' approved 

 June 1, 1895. Acting under this clause the town of Nantucket 

 this year appropriated one hundred dollars for a special police 

 officer, whose duty should .be to remain on Muskeget Island from 

 May 1 to August 15, to protect certain birds living in and about 

 that island. Mr. John R. Sandsbury of Nantucket, my candidate, 

 was considerately appointed to the position, and on my applica- 

 tion to the Commissioners of Inland Fisheries and Game, was 

 made a Deputy Fish and Game Commissioner, with the authority 

 to arrest without warrant. On entering upon his duties Mr. 

 Sandsbury repaired the old signs, and repapered them with new 

 warning notices, all of which was done by the time the Terns and 

 Laughing Gulls commenced to breed. 



"By referring to my report for 1897 (Auk, Vol. XV, pp. 84-89), 

 it will be noticed that large numbers of Terns were not in evi- 

 dence in 1897, and had apparently abandoned the locality. This 

 caused me considerable uneasiness when I viewed with dismay 

 the large falling off in the number of the birds. While on Muskeget, 

 July 2, 3, 4, 5, 1898, I resolved to make such accurate observa- 



