^°^'i9lO^^^] TowNSEND AND Bent, Birds of Labrador. 9 



eous material. These latter nests appeared to have been used in previous 

 years. The nests were seldom over three or four in number on a single 

 island, and often not more than one. They contained two or three eggs. 



12. Lams argentatus. Herring Gull. — Common summer resident 

 all along the coast. Nearly all the birds seen were in full adult plumage; 

 a mottled gray bird was rare: we saw large flocks on the islands and shore 

 near Seven Islands, and were told that they bred there in great numbers. 

 At Esquimaux Point they collected to the number of at least 2,000 along 

 the flats to feed at low tide. We found several small colonies among the 

 islands to the eastward of Esquimaux Point just beginning to lay eggs the 

 last of May. 



13. Sterna caspia. Caspian Tern. — The only previous records of this 

 interesting bird are those of Audubon and Frazar. The latter found a 

 colony of some two hundred pairs about twenty miles to the westward of 

 Cape Wliittle in 1884. At the mouth of the Natashquan River flying close 

 to the sandy beach we both saw and satisfactorily identified a bird of this 

 specie*s on May 31. The bird was watched with glasses and we heard it 

 scream but we imfortunately failed to secure it. 



14. Sterna hirundo. Common Tern; "Stearine." — We found Terns 

 abundant about the rocky islands between Watcheeshoo and Natashquan 

 where they apparently bred. There were also fifteen or twenty pairs at 

 Betchewun, at Esquimaux Point and at Mingan. The birds arrived at 

 Esquimaux Point on June 3. All the terns identified were of this species. 



15. Sula bassana. Gannet; "Margot" (Fr.). — On June 8, ten miles 

 east of Esquimaux Point, we saw a Gannet in immature plumage flying 

 west. M. Johan Beetz gave us an adult bird in the flesh that he shot on 

 June 11 near Mingan. On June 21 we saw about 30 of these birds, all but 

 one in adult plumage, between the Peroqueet Islands and Magpie River, 

 and we saw one the next morning near Seven Islands. We were told that 

 although a few Gannets visited the Peroqueet Island each year they had 

 not bred there for fifteen years, a desertion that was predicted by Bryant 

 as long ago as 1860. The last record is that of Lucas in 1887 who found 

 "a few Gannets. . . .in spite of the incessant persecution of the Indians 

 who regularly make a clean sweep there." 



16. Phalacrocorax auritus. Double-crested Cormorant; "Gagati- 

 ship" (Ind.). — We observed three colonies of these birds, the only ones, 

 as far as we could learn, in the region included. On May 26 at Seal Rocks 

 off St. Genevieve Island we found at least 200 pairs nesting on a smooth 

 rocky island of about an acre in extent. We counted 204 nests, including 

 some not finished. Some of the nests were empty, others contained one, 

 two, three, four and in a few cases five eggs. The nests were made of sticks 

 carefully interlaced, forming in some cases structures of large size. Many 

 were partially composed of fresh rock weed (Fuc'U.s) and in several we found 

 green branches of fir or spruce. One appeared to be adorned with some 

 gull feathers, and another with a long curling shaving. Large crabs also 

 were not uncommon on or near the nests. The rocks and nests were tliickly 



