306 



Scott on Birds at the Dry Tortugas. [October 



i. Larus argentatus smithsonianus. Herring Gull. — Rather com- 

 mon, especially during the earlier part of my stay. 



2. Larus atricilla. Laughing Gull. — Rather common resident, and 

 some birds undoubtedly breed at this point. 



3. Sterna maxima. Royal Tern. — The commonest representative of 

 the family. All of the individuals examined were moulting, or had al- 

 most completed the spring moult. The majority had assumed, or were 

 assuming, the black cap of the adult; but at least twenty per cent, 

 though their moult had taken place, remained in a phase similar to that 

 of winter adult birds. About April 5 the moult was completed and, 

 though the birds were still in flocks, mating in at least some cases had 

 begun. The birds are known at this point as 'Redshanks,' and I am told 

 that many breed here. The moult was in all cases complete, including 

 the primary quills and tail-feathers. 



4. Sterna antillarum. Least Tern. — These birds were not observed 

 during my stay, but Dr. Goodman obtained them commonly in late April 

 and early May, and they breed, I should judge, rather commonly. They 

 are known by the egg hunters who resort to this point as 'Sandpeters.' 



5. Sterna fuliginosa. Sooty Tern. — This is another species that had 

 not arrived at the Tortugas up to the time of my departure. Dr. Good- 

 man, however, found that they arrived about the same time as the Nod- 

 dies, but were, though plentiful, not so abundant as that species. They 

 breed here in numbers, laying soon after their arrival, and are known 

 to the egg hunters as the 'Egg Bird,' their eggs being more esteemed 

 for food than those of the other Terns breeding here. Their breeding 

 ground, as near as I could ascertain, is restricted to East Key and to 

 Bird Key. 



6. Anous stolidus. Noddy. — An abundant breeding species at the 

 Tortugas, being mainly confined to Bird Key as a breeding place, and 

 nesting in the low bushes. So far as I could learn, the birds are not resi- 

 dents at this point and I only observed three during my stay. This was 

 one day late in March. They, with the Sooty Terns, appeared on April 

 20 in large numbers, but only remained two days, when, after inspecting 

 their breeding grounds, all departed, to return about a week later in greatly 

 increased numbers, when breeding was almost at once commenced. They 

 leave, I am told by the people familiar with the region, early in the fall 

 and are not seen, except an occasional one, till the following spring. 



All of the Gulls and Terns that breed at the Dry Tortugas have been 

 much diminished in numbers in the past ten years. It has always been 

 the custom for some of the boats engaged in fishing and sponging about 

 Key West to resort to these islands during the breeding season, and 

 lately their depredations have really made a very appreciable difference in 

 the birds that resort to this breeding ground. I am told that the eggs 

 have a commercial value as an article of food in the markets of Key West, 

 where barrels of birds,' eggs from the Tortugas are brought every season 

 of late years. 



7. Rynchops nigra. Black Skimmer. — The sergeant in charge of 

 the government property on Garden Key showed me the head of one of 



