54 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



while they were protected from their natural enemies by Mr. 

 Charles Ives, employed by the Department of Conservation, 

 who killed cats and skunks which in recent years had greatly 

 reduced the colony. The terns had little success on the We- 

 pecket Islands, where it is said that storms and rats destroyed 

 the eggs and young. At Wellfleet and Truro, also, very few 

 young were reared. We have no definite report from Penikese. 

 On the other hand, Least Terns which recently have been de- 

 creasing seem now to be increasing. At Monomoy many were 

 reared, probably owing to the protection from their enemies 

 afforded by Mr. Ives. The species now seems to be scattering 

 along the beaches in the breeding season, like the Piping 

 Plover. This expedient has been successful this year, but the 

 birds will have to move from time to time as their enemies dis- 

 cover their breeding places. Having long had a precarious 

 existence in New England this species has begun to increase 

 now not only in Massachusetts but also locally all along the 

 Atlantic coast. It may be that under protection the species 

 is coming in from the south; at any rate, it is now extending 

 its range northward. Conditions here, however, will become 

 more and more inimical to its safety as the summer population 

 increases, with its accompanying multiplication of house cats 

 and dogs. Unless special protection from man and other 

 enemies can be provided, it will become increasingly difficult 

 for this species to maintain itself in Massachusetts. 



Bird Banding. 



Trapping and banding of birds is by far the most important 

 method in ornithology that has been developed in many years. 

 During the past year the Division of Ornithology has co- 

 operated with the Biological Survey of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture in encouraging the tagging of birds by 

 means of numbered bands. Most of the official observers of 

 the Division have taken up bird banding. 



A meeting to form a bird banding association for this section 

 of the country, to co-operate with the Biological Survey, was 

 held Januar}^ 17, 1922, in the lecture room of the Boston So- 

 ciety of Natural History. The meeting was attended by many 

 New England people and resulted in the formation of the New 

 England Bird Banding Association. This body now includes 



