TWO DAYS WITH THE TERNS 

 -. 



^ ] ERNS are useless for food, and can 

 ] not therefore be classed as " game 

 j birds." So far as we know they 

 are of no special economic value. 

 Consequently, when one protests 

 against their practical annihila- 

 tion for millinery purposes, he is 

 not infrequently answered : " Well, what good are 

 they ? " The question exposes so absolute a failure 

 to appreciate the bird's exquisite beauty and unex- 

 celled grace such a discouraging materialism that 

 one realizes the hopelessness of replying. 



I confess I find it impossible to describe satisfac- 

 torily just what the presence of Terns along our 

 coast means to me. It is not alone their perfection 

 of color, form, and movement which appeals to one, 

 but also the sense of companionship they bring; and 

 doubtless this feeling is emphasized by the impres- 

 sive loneliness of the sea, which makes anything 

 alive doubly welcome. And so the coming of a 

 single one of these beautiful creatures changes the 

 character of the bay or shore. With unfailing 

 pleasure one watches its marvelously easy flight, its 

 startling darts for its food of small fish, and when 

 it disappears the scene loses a grateful element of 

 life. 



106 



