124 DuTCHER, Report of Comviitiee on Bird Protection. R^J 



an. 



k 



" I visited the Island in February of the present year and found 

 the warden alert, warning notices posted, and the birds fearless 

 and greatly increased in numbers, both on the island and espe- 

 cially in the neighboring overflow colonies." 



Capt. C. G. Johnson, Keeper of the Sand Key Lighthouse, 

 was re-employed for the past season. He reports that the three 

 species of terns breeding at his station had a most favorable sea- 

 son and that no eggs were taken nor old birds shot. From a 

 description of the three sizes of terns breeding on this Key, sent 

 to me by Mr. Johnson, I suspect that the one he calls " Kill-em- 

 Peters " must be the Least Tern (^Sterna antillartim). They 

 numbered this year at the close of the season some 3,000 birds, 

 and it is therefore one of the largest colonies of this species 

 remaining in the United States, and is deserving of special pro- 

 tection, from the fact that on the Atlantic coast the Least Terns 

 more nearly approached extermination than any of tlie other 

 species. 



That the large and important colonies of Noddy and Sooty 

 Terns breeding upon Bird and other Keys, in the Dry Tortugas, 

 should again have protection, application was made to the Honor- 

 able Secretary of the Navy for permission to establish a warden 

 on Bird Key. In compliance with this request the following 

 order was issued : 



IT. S. Naval Station, 



Key West, Fla., April 24, 1903. 



ORDER. 



Bv direction of the Secretary of the Navv, and in deference to a request 

 by the Chairman of the Protection Committee, North American Birds^ 

 American Ornithologists' Union, New York City, in the State of New- 

 York, all persons connected with the Navy of the United States or the 

 Marine Corps, or citizens of the United States, temporarily in the vicinity 

 of each, any, or all of the islands, keys, or above-water shoals in the group 

 geographically called Dry Tortugas, are hereby prohibited from dis- 

 turbing, during the nesting period, any sea birds, such as sooty and noddy 

 terns, on the small island known as Bird Key; and all persons, whether 

 foreign or domestic, are hereby prohibited from taking eggs from any 

 non-domesticated birds from any of the islands, keys or shoals of the 

 Tortugas group. It must be understood that the molestation of birds by 



