^'".'soTn ^l.\LK.\\. Terns of Muskcffcf h/and. 3 c; 



As far as I am aware Sterna hirundo and ^. dougalli first make 

 their appearance in Muskeget waters any time after the first week 

 in May, and they are remarkably constant in the time of appear- 

 ing. In 1892 they arrived on May 10, in Hocks of fifty or more, 

 drifting sideways before a heavy southeast rain-storm. In 1893 

 they arrived on May 8, with light air from the west-northwest and 

 clear weather. Twenty were first observed hovering over South 

 Point, Muskeget Island, very high in the air ; about five o'clock 

 p. M. two were observed to come quite low down. The next day 

 they were arriving in considerable numbers, flying high during 

 the day time and settling down after sunset. The weather was 

 clear with a light southwest wind. On the loth, at sunrise, the 

 Wilson's and Roseate Terns were rising in very large numbers 

 from the northern-middle part of Muskeget proper, the weather 

 being clear with a strong southwest wind. On the nth they 

 continued to increase ; there was a strong southwest gale during 

 the night, dying out in the forenoon. On May 19, 1893, I took 

 a walk over Muskeget proper to ascertain how they were laying, 

 as I also did the next day over Gravelly Island, Mr. John R. 

 Sandsbury, who was charged with seeing that the law is main- 

 tained in regard to the birds and eggs, being with me. I did 

 not visit South Point, nor South Point Island. On Muskeget 

 proper we found 238 nests, g of which contained one egg 

 each ; 121 had two eggs each ; 94 three eggs each ; 10 four eggs 

 each ; and 4 five eggs each. On Gravelly Island we found 

 145 nests, 5 of which contained one egg each; 59 two eggs 

 each; 74 three eggs each ; and 7 contained four each. No nest 

 with five eggs was observed. The birds here were mostly 

 Roseates ; those on Muskeget proper were largely Wilson's, with 

 a good many Roseates among them. On Gravelly Island there 

 is an unoccupied house and I found one nest of three eggs within 

 eighteen feet, and another also containing three eggs within fifty- 

 one feet of it. Only eight chicks and two chipped eggs were 

 observed. 



As a rule there was no regularity in the way the eggs rested in 

 the nests. Of those containing three eggs the larger percentage 

 seemed to be two eggs with the smaller ends towards the centre 

 of the nest, the other lying crosswise. I found considerable 



