164 DuTCHER, Report of Committee on Bird Protection. Ljan. 



"At one point I was told that gull shooting was still practised 

 at Eastport ; while waiting at Lubec for the steamer to Portland I 

 made a trip to Eastport, but I saw no shooting. The City Mar- 

 shall there was well acquainted with the law and assured me that 

 no shooting is done now. The conditions certainly are gratifying, 

 and it is the subject of general comment all along the coast that 

 the birds are much more numerous and tame than they have been 

 for years." 



Mr. Norton has also prepared a special report on the ' Food of 

 Protected Birds on the Maine Coast,' which on account of its 

 great interest and importance is here subjoined in full. 



" Notes on the Protected Birds on the Maine Coast with Relation 

 to Certaifi Eco7iomic Questions. 



"The most important determination concerning the food of the 

 protected bird was the demonstration, in support of previous obser- 

 vations, that the Gulls and Terns are insectivorous to a considerably 

 greater extent than has generally been supposed. 



" I have known for several years that the Common Tern feeds, 

 in this State, to a great extent upon the large winged ants which 

 swarm along the coast. Other insects often occurred in the 

 stomachs examined. 



" The Arctic Terns were supposed to be more thoroughly piscivo- 

 rous, but the examination of six or seven stomachs last year 

 showed that they also eat ants to some extent. One of the four 

 stomachs examined this year was filled with adult moths belonging 

 to the Noctuidae. 



"Wishing to preserve a series of young Herring Gulls, half a 

 dozen of different sizes were taken on Little Spoon Island. Upon 

 examining their stomachs it was found that this series, taken on 

 the low water, contained almost no fish, but all contained ants in 

 varying quantities, only one being full. The contents of this full 

 stomach was analyzed by Dr. Sylvester D. Judd of the Biological 

 Survey, with the following result: i bug, 12 carabid beetles, i click 

 beetle, i scaraboeid beetle, i cerambycid beetle, and 384 ants, 

 Camponotus pennsylvanicus. Dr. A. K. Fisher informs me that 

 ' These insects are all neutral and of no great economic impor- 



