20 THE BIRDS OF RHODE ISLAND. 
pied. No sooner do the winter inhabitants leave, than a colony 
of Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), take up their abode and 
rear their young in the crevices of the hard rock. This colony 
consists of about 175 birds. They arrive in a large flock early 
in May and at once take possession of the rock. We have already 
observed that there is no land vegetation on the rock and as the 
nearest land is one mile distant the Terns do not attempt to bring 
material thence for their nests, but prefer to use the bleached 
bones of the fish that have been devoured by Cormorants and left 
to whiten in the crevices of the rock. These bones the Terns, 
arrange (we can scarcely say weave) in small crevices of the rock, 
in such a way that they form a saucer-like depression and serve 
to prevent the eggs from rolling around on the rock. ‘The Terns 
lay from one to five eggs which are hatched about the last of 
June; and the downy young may be found running nimbly over the 
jagged rock. When any one lands on the rock the Terns rise in 
a body with loud cries and circle around and around high over the 
rock. Occasionally one, more daring than the rest, darts down- 
ward toward the rock, uttering, as it does so, its sharp, piere- 
ing cry, and again, swooping upward, joins the excited throng. 
Terns will fly miles in search of the small fish on which they feed, 
and hence it is that one so often finds them on and about the 
fish traps and pounds in Narragansett Bay, where they may be 
seen sitting motionless side by side on the horizontal poles that 
are used to stiffen the vertical piles. It is reasonable to sup- 
pose that these birds come, for the most part, from the Cormorant 
Rock colony, for the only other headquarters in Rhode Island is 
Dyer’s Island where some dozen pairs breed every year. (Auk, 
Vol. XIV, No. 2, p. 203.) . 
Among the occasional visitors to Cormorant Rock are the 
Turnstones (Avrenaria interpres) which have been found there in 
the fall and spring, during their migrations. And it is surprising 
to find them so tame that one may approach within a few feet, 
before they take wing. Even then they rarely go far, never leav- 
ing the rock, but merely changing their position on its collar of 
seaweed and barnacles. They have never been seen to alight on 
the rock more than three or four feet from the water, and accord- 
ingly it would appear that they find food by the water’s edge. 
