TWO DAYS WITH THE TERNS 109 



Hence it follows that if one would see Terns in 

 numbers on the middle Atlantic coast to-day, he 

 must journey to two small islets off Massachusetts, 

 which thus far have afforded them a refuge. Inter- 

 esting it is to recall that on Martha's Vineyard, lying 

 between the two, are found the only living repre- 

 sentatives of the Heath Hen, or Eastern Prairie 

 Hen, which was once locally abundant in certain 

 parts of the Eastern and Middle States. 



In 1889 I visited the Terns of Great Gull Island, 

 and a desire to be again surrounded by these birds, 

 and perhaps secure photographs of them and their 

 way of living, brought me on July 16, 1899, to 

 Wood's Holl, Massachusetts, en route to whichever 

 Tern headquarters it might prove most convenient 

 to reach. 



Quite unexpectedly there proved to be a small 

 colony of Common and Roseate Terns on three islets, 

 known as the Weepeckets, standing in Buzzard's 

 Bay, near the entrance to Wood's Holl. In all, there 

 were probably between three and four hundred 

 birds, of which by far the greater number appeared 

 to be domiciled on the largest of the three islands. 

 This contains from ten to twelve acres of sand, 

 grown with beach grass, scrub sumach, bayber- 

 ries, and a few stunted pines about two feet in 

 height. 



On this apparently uninviting bit of land I passed 

 two delightful days alone with the Terns. The ac- 

 companying photographs tell far more of the birds 

 than pen can well express, but they convey no sug- 

 gestion of the pleasure I experienced in again finding 

 myself among them. 



