1 20 DuTCHER, Report of Comtnittee on Bird Protection. fhin 



rising like a rugged cone for perhaps fifty feet and containing less 

 than two acres of area, was a flourishing colony of terns and 

 Black Guillemots. From the top of the rock the entire colony of 

 terns was in sight at once. I roughly estimated them at from 

 five to seven hundred old birds, with Arctic Terns decidedly in 

 the majority. I found the warning notices most conspicuously 

 placed, and on the small rocks they commanded attention long 

 before we reached them. Further observation led me to consider 

 this a most important factor in the protection afforded by the Com- 

 mittee. The birds here were very tame, and there were no evi- 

 dences of molestation. A few nests still contained eggs (July 25), 

 and young were in every stage of growth to those that could take 

 short flights ; none were on the wing, and were everywhere to 

 be found, making it necessary for one to look carefully before each 

 step when walking in the scanty herbage. Abundant as were the 

 living, I noticed quite an extensive mortality among the downy 

 young, and their decaying bodies were scattered over the island. 

 There was no visible cause, but two things suggested themselves : 

 one, an epidemic ; the other, that the damp, cold summer just 

 passed had not supplied sufficient warmth and sunlight to keep 

 them from being chilled. The Sea Pigeons were also tame ; they 

 were in little groups of from two to six, and in one instance a flock 

 of fifteen was seen." 



Capt. R. G. Johnson, keeper of Libby Island Lighthouse and 

 the w^arden for the Brothers Islands and Libby Island, reports as 

 follows : " Since the enforcement of the law there has been an 

 increase in the number of young Herring Gulls raised on the 

 Brothers. They sit on the shores in large numbers after they 

 become full fledged. There is also a marked increase in the 

 number of terns on Libby Island. I do not allow any shooting 

 on the island." 



Capt. L. E. Wright was the warden for the Old Man Island and 

 Double Shot Island, each of which was the breeding place of 

 Herring Gulls. He reports that the birds were not molested, as 

 all classes of people take it for granted that the birds must be let 

 alone. 



Mr. Norton, who passed close to the Old Man colony July 26, 

 reports that numbers of gulls were hovering about it and were 



