174 



NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The Black Skimmers leave for the south about the first of Oc- 

 tober, and are not again seen until the following spring. In the 

 place of the thousands of these birds which formerly bred along 

 our middle Atlantic coast, there are now but two or three small 

 colonies north of Cape Charles, the largest of which are the two, 



HALF-GROWN COMMON TERN. 



each consisting of about one hundred birds, which breed on 

 Assateague Island. 



A flock of these birds — a mass of black, white and scarlet — 

 flying above the green water, beyond the yellow sand, and sil- 

 houetted against the clear blue sky, is a picture which will re- 

 main in our memory for many years. 



19. Least Tern (Sterna antillarum, Less.). — The smallest and 

 the most graceful of the sea-swallows has become only a memory 

 on Cobb Island, where thousands formerly made their home. 

 Once, while at the extreme end of the island, I saw one of these 

 feathered fairies dash past me with a frightened glance. Was 



