64 Report of Committee on Bird Protection. [^ 



tions that they could be used hereafter with confidence, for it is 

 doubtful if similar data will be again collected in the near future. 

 It is no slight undertaking to accomplish this conscientiously. 

 The condition of the Terns and Laughing Gulls this year is the 

 best that has ever been reached, to my knowledge, as far as simi- 

 lar observations show. 



■• Adams Island, which has not had any breeding birds for 

 years, had this season an estimated colony of four hundred Terns. 

 I found here two hundred and ninety-five nests containing five 

 hundred and forty-three eggs. Other localities also show gains 

 over former years. It would appear that many of the Terns not 

 present during 1897 have this season returned to their former 

 haunt, while others, I have reason to believe, have located on 

 Peni'.vese Island. This satisfactory condition does not include 

 the Roseate Terns ; their numbers, I regret to state, are still con- 

 siderably below the splendid aggregate of 1S96. I am still in 

 hopes that another season will see most of them back again. 

 When one contemplates the decrease in bird life elsewhere, it 

 must cause extreme satisfaction to all lovers of bird life to know 

 that we have in our midst two such great colonies of Terns as are 

 domiciled on Muskeget and Penikese Islands, the aggregate num- 

 bers of which are beyond estimate. A home in such a thickly 

 settled State as Massachusetts, where available sites' on the coast 

 are constantly sought for summer residences, is most unusual. 

 The presence of these beautiful birds must naturally enhance the 

 interest in such surroundings. 



" When the Massachusetts Legislature met last winter, I had 

 two bills (Nos. 5 and 6) introduced, ' For the better Protection of 

 Certain Birds.' Both bills were similar in character, having the 

 protection of certain Hawks and Owls, etc., as one of the main 

 features, the economic value of which were explained in a letter 

 by Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the Biological Survey, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. I had this letter read before the 

 Senate in connection with my argument. Bill No. 6 omitted 

 certain clauses affecting the marketmen, hotel men, and cold 

 storage interests, who were, and always have been, inimical to my 

 endeavors. I thought if bill No. 5 with such clauses failed. I 

 might succeed with the other. Unfortunately both bills were 



