AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



engaged an old fisherman and his 

 sloop for the day. When the sun 

 shows his face above the water, 

 we are speeding swiftly to some 

 outlying islands, which our guide 

 informs us are thickly populated 

 with sea gulls and terns. 



We are now approaching a low, 

 sandy island without a sign of 

 trees and shrubs; the middle, how- 

 ever, is covered with salt marsh- 

 grass. Up to this time only a few 

 terns have been observed, but as 

 we draw near the island it seems 

 to take life, and a cloud of thou- 

 sands of terns are soon circling 

 about us, and the air is full of 

 their hoarse, grating cry of 

 "creak-ee — creak-ee." 



What a sight meets our eyes 

 when we make a landing. The 

 ground is literally covered with 

 nests, each containing from two 

 to four eggs, and occasionally one 

 with five. There is no attempt at 

 nest-building, except in a few 

 cases, the majority being a hollow 

 scooped out in the sand. It does 



not seem possible that the birds 

 can find their own nest among 

 that vast number, they being so 

 close together that we can scarcely 

 avoid treading on them. Having 

 walked the length of the island 

 and back, the birds meanwhile 

 almost deafening us with their 

 cries, we relieve their anxiety, con- 

 cerning their homes- by taking our 

 departure. 



As long as the island remains in 

 sight we can hear the familiar cry, 

 "creak-ee, creak-ee;" ringing in 

 our ears. I must not forget to 

 add what to me proved to be a 

 very interesting feature of this 

 trip, and that is the lobsters which 

 our guide kindly obtained from 

 some of his traps and boiled for us. 



What a pity that these beautiful 

 and interestiug birds should meet 

 the untimely end that awaits 

 them, unless some more stringent 

 laws are made, and enforced, to 

 prevent the slaughtering of them 

 for millinery purposes. 



