16 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 94 



A few words should be said about the nests themselves, of 

 which four general types were noted, with gradations, of 

 course, from one to the other. The simplest nest was no nest 

 at all : merely a slight depression in the sand, with no lining. 

 This type was found quite commonly along the beaches, and 

 such nests contained eggs differing in incubation from prac- 

 tically fresh to nearly ready to hatch. This is at variance with 

 the observations of Professor Jones. More than a hundred 

 such nests were noted. The second type was a nest in the 

 sand, with a grass lining; this was the dominant beach nest. 

 Third, a depression in the seaweed drift just above the high 

 water mark, either with or without a small amount of grass 

 lining. It is but a short step from this to the fourth type, — 

 grass-lined nests in the grass, poison-ivy, and other vegeta- 

 tion, protected from the blazing sun and the full blast of the 

 ocean winds. 



In an estimate as to the number of eggs to a nest, I should 

 say that fully 50% contained but a single eggs; 40% con- 

 tained two; the remaining 10%, three. Not a single nest was 

 found with more than three eggs, a rather curious fact. xA.s 

 incubation was in general well along', these facts would seem 

 to be significant, and point to the conclusion that the colony 

 is in poor condition, if not actually on the decline. This con- 

 dition may, perhaps, be explained : there was ample evidence 

 on the island to show that the colony had been raided by egg- 

 gatherers, despite the warning of the conspicuous sign of 

 Massachusetts Audubon Society posted on the highest point 

 of the island. It was possible at the northwest corner of the 

 island to trace an area of over half an acre, through the fact 

 that all the nests contained but one egg, and this one in a 

 very early stage of development, where the gathering had 

 taken place. I was confirmed in these suspicions by informa- 

 tion gathered at the Marine Laboratory to the effect that the 

 islands are raided by parties from New Bedford, who use the 

 old method of clearing every egg from a given area, and re- 

 turn in a few days and gather in the fresh stock. 



Durinc the summer of 1915 there was but a single brood 



