120 SPRING BIRD MIGRATION, ANTIGONISH, 1914 LEWIS. 



reason to think that the date of arrival as observed for a par- 

 ticular species is, or may be, inaccurate, this fact has been in- 

 dicated in this paper. 



Of the species herein recorded from Antigonish County, the 

 following are stated by Chapman ('Handbook of Birds of East- 

 ern North America' revised edition, 1912, p. 30) to be charac- 

 teristic of the AUeghanian fauna: Black-billed Cuckoo, King- 

 bird, Bobolink, Chipping Sparrow, Blue-headed Vireo, Catbird, 

 and White-breasted Nuthatch. 



Taking one species, such as the Fox Sparrow, for instance, the 

 following items are recorded concerning it in this paper in the 

 order here stated: serial number, scientific name, vernacular 

 nam<« date first seen, number of individuals observed on the 

 date n 6t seen, date next seen, date of becoming common, 

 estimated degree of abundance, date last seen, remarks. So far 

 as they are applicable or were noted, similar items are recorded 

 in similar order for each of the other species in the list of migrants. 

 The nomenclature used is that of the 1910 edition of the 'A. O. U. 

 Check-List'. Terms indicating degrees of abundance are used 

 in the following relative order: rare, uncommon, not common, 

 tolerably common, common, very common, abundant, very 

 abundant. A species is not recorded as breeding unless its 

 nest was seen by me in the county; other species were observed 

 as summer residents, presumably breeding, unless otherwise 

 stated. 



1. Sterna hirundo. Common Tern. — First seen, May 21 

 (13); next seen, May 23; common. May 21: a very common 

 summer resident; breeds. On June 13th I visited Mahoney's 

 Beach, at the western side of the entrance to Antigonish Harbor, 

 and there found about 50 pairs of this species nesting. The 

 beach on which the nests were placed is a long, narrow ridge of 

 sand, forming part o the mainland, and separating the waters 

 of Antigonish Harbor from those of St. George's Bay. Much 

 of it is covered with the usual low herbage of our sand beaches; 

 other parts are bare white sand. I counted 49 nests containing 

 eggs; of which 23 were hollowed in the sand, while the 26 others 

 were hollowed in dry bunches or windrows of seaweed which 

 had been thrown above ordinary high-tide mark by the storms 

 of winter. On June 21 I again visited this colony, when I found 

 but one nest containing eggs. As a search revealed no trace 

 of the other eggs or of any young Terns, it seems probable that 



A 



