282 Mackay, The Terns of Pentkese Island, Mass. wae 
On becoming convinced that a large colony still existed on 
Penikese and Gull Islands, I determined to visit it, if the neces- 
sary permission could be obtained. This permission the owners, 
the Messrs. Homer, kindly granted, and offered me every facility 
for carrying out my plans. These plans I communicated to my 
friend, Mr. Reginald Heber Howe, Jr., a fellow-member of the 
Nuttall Ornithological Club, who had agreed to accompany and 
aid me in the investigation, and whose help I desire to here grate_ 
fully acknowledge. We visited and remained on Penikese and 
Gull Islands June 1s and 16, 1896, checking off and examining 
every nest and egg we were able to discover; a condensed report 
of which work is here furnished. It will no doubt surprise the 
reader, as it did us, when we remember that up to June ro about 
all the eggs that were considered good had been taken for food 
purposes. Next year I hope to see more favorable conditions 
prevail, and that these beautiful birds will be better protected. 
During our observations on Penikese I noted that in a very 
large number of instances even the apology of the few straws for 
a nest to keep the clutch of eggs together were wanting. I aiso 
noticed that every little depression in the sward, as also any 
shallow, saucer-like hollows on the boulders, or at their bases, were 
utilized by the Terns to deposit eggs in, that they might not be 
rolled away, the sward being so hard that the birds were unable 
to excavate an artificial hollow for their reception. At several 
places on the island some fence rails had been carelessly thrown 
down on the ground, and even the spaces between them had been 
made use of by both Sterna hirundo and Sterna dougalli as nesting 
sites. To me it was a new experience to see these birds, so essen- 
tially of the beaches and sands, alighting upon and walking about 
over what was to all intents and purposes an elevated and close 
cut lawn. 
Neither Mr. Howe nor myself observed a chipped egg or a 
chick during our visit, which is what might be anticipated under 
the local custom of taking the eggs till June ro. 
The considerably larger portion of the Terns domiciled on 
Penikese Island are Wilson’s; with them, mixed indiscriminately, 
are a goodly number of Roseates, breeding. I failed in detecting 
the presence of the Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisea). Gull Island 
