314 Allen on the Breedhtg Habits of the Fish Hawk. [October 



1 paid my first visit to this island home of the Fish Hawl<s in 

 May, 1879. It was then owned, with the exception of an acre or 

 two around the lighthouse, by Mr. Jerome, then an old man. 

 whose main hobby and object in life seemed to be the protection 

 of his pets and 'mascots,' the Fish Hawks and their nests, even to 

 the extent,^ it was reported, of usinp; a shot gun or rifle if neces- 

 sary. He claimed that fully two thousand nightly roosted on the 

 island, and that over five hundred nests had been built there. I 

 finally reduced these numbers one half. At last I won him over, 

 with good cigars, a thorough appreciation of his pets, and various 

 other more powerful arguments, until he finally gave me permis- 

 sion to investigate their nesting liabits on his island. 



At this time on nearing the island, even while ten or fifteen 

 miles away, one was struck with the number of Fish Hawks that 

 were to be seen on all sides, and they became more and more 

 numerous as the island was approached. All the way down 

 Gardiner's Bay they were seen sailing through the air in every 

 direction, or perched on the stakes of the fish pounds. 



The island is three miles long, east and west, narrow and high 

 to the eastward, broadening to the westward, wheie is a light- 

 house on a high bluft'or sand clift". To the south of this a rolling 

 sandy meadow extends for a mile, some parts of which are nearly 

 level and others, especially near the beach, form a series of sand 

 hills. Near the center of the island, to the westward, is a swamp, 

 partly clear water, partly boggy and overgrown with bushes, 

 across which was a much used causeway, called Love Lane. 

 Near the swamp, and almost enclosed by it, was a piece of wood- 

 land of perhaps twenty acres in extent. The north shore of the 

 island is high sand clifls, with great boulders, ten to forty feet 

 high, on the beach and out in the water. The south side is 

 lower. 



The first Fish Hawk's nest shown to me by Mr. Jerome was 

 fairly in his dooryard, close by his front gate, ^nd only about 

 fifty yards from his house. It was placed upon an old pile of 

 fence rails, rotted to black mould in the center, but kept up by 

 the yearly addition of fresh rails. Mr. Jerome said that to his 

 knowledge this nest had been occupied every year for forty years. 

 It likewise had been added to yearly until its bulk of sticks, sods, 

 cow ^niig, decayed wood, seaweed, etc., would amount to at 

 least three cartloads, in addition to what had rotted and fallen to 



