°89s"] Mack AY, Tcm^ of Mi/skes^ei hland. A-y 



to the water's edge. As far as I have observed neither the 

 Roseate nor Wilson's Terns alight on the nest, but always several 

 yards away from it, and then walk to it. They also walk away 

 from it before flying. The repeated imprints of their little feet 

 upon the sand have many times directed me to their eggs. They 

 are quite active when on the ground, and can be daily seen on the 

 sand, walking about in the vicinity of their nests. 



I do not think the Roseate or Wilson's Terns lay as a rule 

 more than one set of eggs. Should they lose them through acci- 

 dent or otherwise, it is probable they would lay again the same 

 season, if not too late. 



The eggs of Wilson's Tern are smaller, as a rule, than those of 

 the Roseate, and they are shorter, and more blunt at the smaller 

 end, yet some are not so. They vary in color and markings, as 

 do those of the Roseate, but I think not so much so in size and 

 shape. Some eggs have a coffee-colored ground with irregular 

 brown spots all over the egg ; others have them only at the larger 

 end, where often they are merged in a ring, with the rest of the 

 egg without spots or with very few. They do not often have the 

 small irregular brown marks so characteristic of the Roseate's 

 eggs, yet some eggs look so much like some Roseate's as to be 

 with difficulty distinguished from them. 



I have not had sufficient experience with the Arctic Terns to 

 write very much regarding them. As far as I know, their habits 

 and food in this locality are the same as those of the Roseate and 

 Wilson's Terns. They are said to breed in small numbers on the 

 South Beach, on the southwest side of Muskeget Island, which, I 

 believe, is their southernmost breeding limit. I have never col- 

 lected any eggs here that I felt sure were those of this species. 

 They resemble the eggs of Wilson's Tern so closely that it is 

 nearly impossible to distinguish them, and there is a very close 

 resemblance between the birds themselves when flying. I have 

 seen Wilson's Terns with breasts as dark as some Arctics, and 

 the difference in their bills can be seen only at close range. I 

 have seen but few of their identified eggs, and these I was unable 

 to distinguish from those of S. hinindo. 



When Mr. Sandsbury took up his residence for the season of 

 1894 on Muskeget Island, on May 4. he noted about one hundred 



