92 



SCIENCE. 



Vol. XXII. No. 5^0 



to incubate their eggs or to rest, and others rising to join 

 the trooj). While walking on oisposite sides of the island 

 we were made aware of each other's position and course 

 by the vigilant birds surrounding. 



The nests contained one, two or three eggs, usuallj' 

 fairly well advanced in incubation. One nest contained 

 four eggs, the only case which we noted, and we proba- 

 ply examined hundreds of nests. Mr. Rackliff, my com- 

 panion, who had visited the place for quite a term of 

 years previous, and had probably examined thousands of 

 nests in all, remarked that this was the second time that 

 he had seen more than three eggs in a nest.' 



While fishing at the Triangles and shoals around the 

 island, the terns were our constant companions, apjDroach- 

 ing closely to our boat, hoping to secure refuse from the 

 bait, or dressings from the fish. With fishermen, it is an 

 unpardonable display of slackness "to dress down on the 

 ground," and the small-boat fishermen usually dress on 

 the beach or in harbor, or mayhap, on the trip to shore. 

 Hence the terns were accustomed to gather in comj)act 

 comiDanies at these dressing stands, and at the Green 

 Island beach I have seen them so closely crowded that it 

 seemed wonderful that they could move without coming- 

 in contact at every sweep — a sight that prompted the 

 "salts" to relate tales of slaying several at a single stone's 

 throw through the mass, or of greater gatherings at other 

 times. 



Of this matter they seemed to feed but very little to 

 their young, though the adults would become gorged 

 with it and drop out from shore to alight on the water, 

 drifting whither the wind and tide listed, occasionally 

 rising to flap a short distance and resettle. During the 

 heat of the day they were fond of basking in the sun, and 

 at low water the Triangles and rocky points of the island 

 were rendered especially attractive to the sight by the 

 flocks of terns and Bonaparte's gulls reposing on their 

 dark and treacherous brows; the whiteness of their 

 plumages being suggestive of the soft white sea foam 

 wont to settle there in the fury of the violent storms, 

 whose sighs and groans have proven to be the funeral 

 dirge of the mariners and their vessels which lie moulder- 

 ing here. 



The higher parts of the island and its beaches, especial- 

 ly the rockj' ridges near the shore, were always adorned 

 by their elegant forms, resting with stoical gravity. It 

 required but a slight disturbance to send the whole gath- 

 ering scurrying lightly through the air to a short dis- 

 tance, when they would return with inquisitive glances 

 and impatient cries. They evidently incubated at inter- 

 vals, at least, throughout the heat of the fairest days, and 

 some were constantly going from or returning to their 

 nests. Thus, when we were seated quietly on the beach, 

 we viewed them in constant motion, their voices never 

 quiet during daylight, and occasionally at midnight the 

 wandering sheep provoked them to peals of solicitude or 

 rage. Several times we found eggs trampled by the 

 sheep, and it was a common sight to see a tern diving 

 fiercely at one of these animals, to utter a prolonged sjdla- 

 ble and rise for another dash, thus annoying it to make 

 it move to another j)lace. They often made similar 

 dashes at us, coming within a few feet of our heads, and 

 stories of their having pierced hats with their beaks were 

 related by the fishermen. After the young hatched this 

 boldness was more frequently displayed. 



Raptorial birds were objects of intense hatred, and 

 very seldom through the breeding season, it was claimed, 

 ventured near the island. I had the good fortune to 

 observe an osprey passing along the shore one day, and 

 close behind followed a train of indignant terns vocifer- 



asionally six eggs in a 



ating wildly; and his hurried flight proved that it was an 

 unpleasant company. 



July 16 and 18 I revisited the jDlace accompanied by 

 my father, when many of the young were hatched out, 

 and a very few were able to fly; still quite a large number 

 of nests contained eggs. The downy young were very beau- 

 tiful, their colors were pure, and their down faultlessly 

 clean. The little creatures were weak, and cuddled among 

 the jjejjples on the shore or in the grass on the uplands, 

 and by the anxious clamor of the birds overhead were 

 made conscious of a supposed danger, and without moving 

 directed the gaze of their large black eyes at us, seeming 

 to bear an expression of fear and pain for their helpless 

 condition, which could not fail to move the feelings of the 

 naturalist with pitying love. 



Those that were partly feathered ran freely, as was in- 

 dicated by numerous paths in the grass that now was 

 several inches high and seeded, in places that had escaped 

 the sheep. I "trailed" out several of these, and on being 

 handled they maintained a rigidness of the body so per- 

 fectly that at first I wondered whether I had not found a 

 dead bird; but the cautious expression of the eye quickly 

 dispelled the presumj^tion, and on my turning the little 

 creature on its back, it quickly sought to recover itself, 

 and as I retired a few feet, it waddled slowly for a few 

 yards and settled snugly in the grass. 



During this visit Ave spent considerable time fishing at 

 the Triangles, and for the benefit of the birds threw the 

 fish livers oveTboard. This never failed to gather a large 

 company of birds, and they grew to expect this attention, 

 and after a short time the birds that were near would 

 come to look for food at a swing of the arm above the 

 head. At first they were very cautious, often dipping- 

 down to the water, but instead of seizing the food would 

 raise their heads to look for danger, and, as they never 

 lighted, jDassed onward and ujJ bearing- the liver; or in 

 some cases the flight was so hasty that the grasj^ could 

 not be efllected. Soon, however, they became jserfectly 

 fearless of us, scaling across the boat to secure pieces 

 within three feet of the side, and on several occasions they 

 brushed my hat with their wings. While thus feeding 

 they swooped down, pausing and frequently touching- the 

 tail and toes into the water, bowed the head, and took the 

 article in the bill to be swallowed in the air or rarely to 

 be borne shoreward. 



Viewed thus in their active, vigorous conditon, they ex- 

 hibit their gracefvilness and beauty in a most pleasing 

 way, the pearly blue mouth, lustrous black cap reaching 

 to their large eyes, which in their closeness seem glowing 

 with excitement, the carmine bills and tiny red feet, long- 

 slender wings and undulatory tail-feathers, are especially 

 noticeable, as they glide with arrowy swiftness, their slight 

 bodies and close-set plumage being perfectly adapted to 

 the aerial path which they pursiie. Nature must have 

 labored long and skilfully to produce a beautiful, active- 

 creatiire to inhabit these lonely and often desolate sea- 

 isles through the pleasant summer season. 



By sunset most of the great number had come ashore 

 and settled for the night. A gun fired after they had 

 become quiet seemed to have the effect of a dynamite 

 blast, as the colony of birds shot upward like so many 

 thousands of snowy fragments hurled to the darkening 

 ; sky. One evening after dark, in m.y father's company, I 

 £ sauntered out over the island where few nests were 

 I placed. As we gazed upward we could just discern the 

 jbirds gliding in the dusky starlight overhead, having 

 J'risen from theii- resting places on the ground. 

 g Near noon of the 18th we sailed away, losing this col- 

 Bony of terns from view, not for a season, but forever. 

 gDuring the next year, 1886, the Little Green Island, 

 fithrough the magnitude of its tern population, attracted 



