126 Dutrcuer, Birds of Little Gull Island, N. Y. [April 
Great Gull to the ‘Race’ to fish, and though no Jaegers could be seen in 
the air before the arrival of the Terns, no sooner would the latter begin 
to fish than the Jaegers would gather around to pursue their regular busi- 
ness of robbery. As soon asa Jaeger would spya Tern witha fish in its 
bill off he would start in pursuit, and dodge and dart as the Tern would, 
the Jaeger was always right in its track, pressing it closer and closer, 
until, despairing of ever eluding its pursuer, the poor Tern would drop 
the fish, which would be caught by the Jaeger before it reached the water. 
Although the Terns were swift and graceful flyers they were no match for 
their larger and more powerful enemies, who, when not engaged in pursu- 
ing the Terns, might sometimes be seen resting singly or in flocks of four 
or five on the surface of the water. 
Chas. B. Field informed me that the Jaegers, or ‘Hawks’, arrived 
about the same time as the bluefish,and stayed as long as the bluefish 
were there, but that he never saw them in the winter. 
When J arrived at Little Gull both Jaegers and Shearwaters were very 
tame indeed, not seeming to pay the least attention to us when we went 
out among them after bluefish; in fact, I was told that a bird of one of 
these species had, a short time before, been knocked down with an oar. 
But after we had shot three or four of them, they seemed to grow wilder. 
The Jaegers while on the wing keep the tail widely spread, in the shape 
of a fan, the long feathers, when the birds have them, being kept close 
together. 
The jaegers and Shearwaters could be easily distinguished from each 
other by their generally different appearance. 
Two specimens of S. Jomarznus and one of S. parastticus were secured. 
Their stomachs contained fish-bones. 
3. Sterna hirundo. Common TERN.—This species was by far the 
most abundant seen on the trip; the number of individuals I should esti- 
mate somewhere around five thousand. They were everywhere, at all 
times, and almost exclusively on the wing; it was a rare occurrence to 
see one at rest, and when one did alight it was almost always on the top 
of some rock, or on the surface of the water, Rest I suppose they did, but 
it must have been at night, since in the daytime, as I have said, they were 
always in motion. The condition of the rocks wouldalso seem to indicate 
that they did roost at night, and that they used the rocks for that purpose, 
as the tops of the largest bowlders were completely covered with the drop- 
pings of the birds. 
The Terns were very jealous of any intruders on Great Gull, no matter 
who they were. The angry birds would congregate in one large flock 
directly above the object of their wrath, and attempt to annoy him by every 
means in their power. They would scream at him, circle around him, 
then poise in the air, set their wings, and come down like a shot, as if to 
transfix him with their bills, then when within a few feet would suddenly 
open their wings and swerve off, only to repeat the performance again 
andagain. While this holds true inevery other instance, in the case of man 
the Terns had learned by sad experience that he was not to be approached 
