No. 123.] DIVISION OF ORNITHOLOGY. 81 



lings scrambled clown, fluttered down, or fell out of the tree 

 and were either led or conveyed to the water. Considering all 

 the evidence, it seems that we can no longer doubt that in many 

 cases the young of the Wood Duck are carried from the nest 

 by the female parent, and that they are sometimes thus con- 

 veyed for distances of half a mile or more. 



An Investigation of the Present Status of the Gulls 

 AND Terns of Massachusetts. 



It is well known that for some years past the gulls and the 

 terns of Massachusetts have been increasing. More and more 

 Herring Gulls have remained in summer in the State, and more 

 and more Laughing Gulls have appeared in summer on our 

 coasts at points where in the past they have been absent. 

 This increase of the gulls is due mainly to two causes: (1) The 

 Herring Gulls have been protected for years in the great island 

 nurseries of sea birds on the Maine coast. This protection by 

 wardens of the National Association of Audubon Societies has 

 resulted in such a multiplication of the birds that the species 

 gradually has disseminated southward. (2) The Laughing Gulls 

 which breed on Muskeget Island have been protected for many 

 years by an officer employed by the town of Nantucket, and 

 during these years they have increased from about a dozen 

 pairs to many thousands. 



The terns of Massachusetts are protected by strict laws. In 

 recent years several of the most important colonies have been 

 guarded during the breeding season by w^ardens employed by 

 the Massachusetts Commission on Fisheries and Game, and last 

 year by deputies of the Massachusetts Conservation Commis- 

 sion. This protection, together with a public sentiment in favor, 

 of the birds, has given the various species an opportunity to 

 breed with comparatively little molestation; therefore until 

 1921 they have increased. Herring Gulls began breeding in 

 Massachusetts in 1912, when Mr. Allan Keniston found the 

 first nest on Marthas Vineyard at Swan Neck in the Edgar- 

 town herring pond. A year or two later several pairs nested 

 on the east side of the pond, and after that the birds went to 

 Skifi''s Island where there was a large colony of the Common 



