FLOCK OF LAUGHING GULLS BY THE QUARANTINE STATION 



CHAPTER VII 



VIRGINIA BIRD HOMES OF BEACH AND MARSH 



. . . with a step I stand 

 On the firm-packed sand, 



Free 

 By a world of marsh that borders a world of sea. 



LANIER. 



THE fame of the region had travelled afar. Its dis- 

 tances were impressive, its sea-beaches magnificent, 

 its marshes the very symbol of the infinite. But these 

 were not the reasons for its renown. It was a land of birds, 

 birds of sea and shore, of kinds not easy to find, rich both 

 as to numbers and variety. Winnowing gulls and darting 

 terns of several kinds laid their eggs'on sand and marsh, and 

 their excitable colonies added a spectacular interest to the 

 landscape. The singular and remarkable Black Skimmer 

 was there in all its glory. Shore-birds, some of them nesting, 



