Reports of Field Agents 409 



Terns, which a few years ago were not known to breed anywhere in New 

 England except on Martha's Vineyard, now have estabHshed a colony on 

 another island, and at least two on the mainland. The nesting-places of all 

 these birds have been inundated more or less during the season by high tides, 

 but in most cases only a small proportion of the eggs or young were lost. The 

 season, on the whole, has been a successful one. 



It is well known that in inhabited regions sea-birds have great difficulty in 

 maintaining colonies on the mainland. The successful breeding of Terns on 

 Cape Cod is largely due to the efforts of the Massachusetts Commissioners on 

 Fisheries and Game, who appointed special wardens to serve during the breed- 

 ing-season and to protect these birds against visitors and their natural enemies. 

 Notwithstanding the presence of these wardens, some colonies have suffered 

 somewhat from the attacks of Crows and cats, and have been disturbed more 

 or less by visitors. But it is only through the protection afforded by the Com- 

 mission that such colonies can exist. 



Information has been received from Canadian authorities to the effect that 

 Gulls were shot in Maine and the skins smuggled into Canada, where they were 

 sold for millinery purposes and as souvenirs, largely to American tourists. We 

 believe that this traffic has been checked by our Canadian friends, and will be 

 closely watched in the future. 



During the past breeding-season. Kingbirds seem to have increased greatly 

 in southern New England, while Kingfishers have decreased locally over a wide 

 region. It is said that one Canada salmon association has been paying 25 cents 

 a head for Kingfishers and Mergansers for the past fifteen years. Probably the 

 shooting of Mergansers can be checked under the Convention between the 

 United States and Canada, but this does not protect Kingfishers, as they are 

 not migratory, game, or insectivorous birds. It is well known that Kingfishers 

 sometimes destroy young game-fish, particularly when such fish are tame and 

 kept in enclosed ponds, but those who pursue the Kingfisher for this reason do 

 not take into consideration the fact that it destroys many minnows which are 

 said to eat large quantities of the eggs of the game-fish. No doubt the King- 

 fisher is more or less destructive to fish in artificial ponds, but probably, in 

 the long run and under natural conditions, it does no harm to the fish 

 interests. 



REPORT OF EUGENE SWOPE, FIELD AGENT FOR OHIO 



Ohio stood still the past year in the matter of laws affecting wild life. The 

 protectionist and an element of sportsmen had hoped to inaugurate some sort 

 of state cat-control legislation, and the Lake fishermen intended to have the 

 extermination of certain fish-eating water-birds legalized, but neither side 

 introduced bills, because the reconstructive movements naturally following 

 the armistice, and the scourge of influenza, so engrossed public attention and 



