44 :\Iack.\v, Trnis of MKskrjrf/ fs/and. Vu^- 



Least Terns hovering around South Point, Muskeget Island 

 proper. ( )n the arrival of the Roseate's and Wilson's, they 

 seemed to have departed, for they were no longer observed. 

 They are said to be the first Terns to appear here in the spring 

 and to always leave when the other Terns arrive. They do not 

 l.iy on the uplands in this locality, as do the Wilson's and 

 Roseates, but usually along the beaches. They lay from two to 

 three eggs. On June i6, 1894, one nest containing three eggs 

 was found on the South Point of Muskeget Island. It was placed 

 a few feet from the edge of the low bank, which divided the 

 upland from the beach on the ocean side, at the foot of a bunch 

 of beach grass, and partially concealed. 'I'he eggs were not quite 

 half the size of those of the Wilson's Tern, and were nearly 

 equally covered over with very fine brownish spots on a pale buff 

 ground. 'J'hey are said to breed in small numbers on the sandy 

 point at the southeast end of Tuckernuck Island, and formerly on 

 Smith's Island (now washed away), south of Tuckernuck Island. 

 I am informed by an old resident that they were sometimes called 

 ' Oyts,' from a resemblance of one of their notes to the sound of 

 this word, and that formerly they were much more abundant than 

 at the present time. Not having particularly observed them 

 recently, I cannot speak with confidence in regard to them. I 

 am, however, inclined to regard the nest above mentioned as 

 accidental, it being the first I have known here. 



In considering the chicks in the down of S. hirundo and 

 S. donga///\ I have been somewhat puzzled regarding their 

 identity, and am unable to speak of them with certainty One 

 has a black throat, white breast and abdomen, the entire upper 

 parts, including the top of the head, being of a pale yellowish 

 gray, intermixed with small irregular black marks ; the feet, legs 

 and bill are of a reddish yellow, except the tip of the latter, 

 which is blackish brown. The other chick has the entire upper 

 parts, including the top of the head, of a rather more decided 

 gray than the otiier, and rather less of the yellowish tinge, with 

 black and brown markings intermixed. The throat is blackish, and 

 the feet, legs and bill are fiesh color, with the tip of the latter 

 blackish brown. As this chick advances in age, the upper man- 

 dible becomes brownish black, while the lower still retains the 



