Vol. XXI 

 1904 



I DuTCHER, Report of Committee, on Bird Protectio/i. I 6^ 



tance.' However true this latter statement is generally, locally 

 the ants are regarded as injurious to the white spruce and fir 

 which compose the largest part of the arboreal flora of the coast 

 of Maine. While there is no proof that they kill the trees, they 

 quickly fill the dead trunks with their burrows and impair the 

 value of the wood for fuel. The fact that Gulls feed upon grass- 

 hoppers is variously attested at Matinicus. 



" From the very complex conditions governing the habits of 

 marine animals, little of a positive nature can be derived from the 

 fishing habits of these voracious, almost omnivorous, birds. 



" It is, however, stated by the United States Fish Commission 

 that the ' Gulls probably feed more upon herring food than herring 

 themselves.' {Cf. Moore, Rept. U. S. Fish Com., 1896, Appendix 

 9, p. 404.) It might with much truth be said enemies of the her- 

 ring. The squids, Loligo peali and Ommastrephes illecebrosus, are 

 acknowledged as the natural enemies of this fish. Both gulls and 

 terns feed upon squid, the extent undoubtedly being governed by 

 their abundance and the ease with which they are to be captured. 

 Both at Little Spoon Island and No-Mans-Land pieces of large 

 squid, Loligo peali ^ were seen in the nests of gulls, with the young 

 birds. Both at Matinicus Rock and Machias Seal Island, squids, 

 Ojnmastrephes illecebrosus, were found to enter into that of the Arc- 

 tic Tern. While these creatures are enemies of the herring, they 

 are an important article of bait for the fishermen, and enter to an 

 important extent into the diet of the codfish and pollock. 



"While it is probable that the gulls do not seriously trouble lob- 

 ster fry, it is, on the other hand, clear that they render the lob- 

 ster fishery a service in destroying large quantities of sea urchins 

 at certain seasons. It is an acknowledged fact among lobstermen 

 that the lobster is partial to rocky bottoms well clothed with kelp 

 {Laminaria), where hiding places are abundant amid protectively 

 colored surroundings. 



"The herbivorous sea urchin {^Strongylocentratiis drobachiejisis) 

 cleans the bottom of marine vegetation, to the detriment of the 

 lobster's interest. The Eider Duck and American Crow also feed 

 extensively in winter upon the echinoderms. 



" It is by some claimed that the gulls are injurious to pasture, and 

 even that they kill the trees where they breed. Concerning the last 



