The Terns of Weepecket Islands 13 



grating of the boat on the beach, all doubts were forcibly ex- 

 pelled, for instantly it seemed as if the entire island had burst 

 into life and was about to rise bodily out of the water and 

 soar away. In an instant the quiet green was transformed 

 into a blaze of dazzling white, as hundreds upon hundreds of 

 long-winged, long-tailed birds sprang from their nests and 

 swung into graceful flight overhead. Like a great, slow- 

 moving wave the birds rose, until it seemed quite certain that 

 very nearly all the birds were a-wing. The air was alive with 

 them, each screaming and calling- in what seemed to be an 

 honest effort to out-scream and out-call his neighbor. The 

 birds at either end of the island, seeing that the cause of the 

 confusion was not to their immediate concern, soon returned 

 to their nests, but wherever I went I was accompanied by 

 protesting birds, so that for two' days I had hardly any peace. 



As the object of the trip was a survey of the colony, and 

 as photographs were desired, some few minutes were spent 

 in selecting a suitable position for the umbrella blind, after 

 which it was speedily erected. For nearly half an hour after 

 I was safely inside, the birds wheeled and screamed over- 

 head ; then one by one they dropped to the ground, and wad- 

 dled to their respective nests. As luck would have it, I chose 

 well in selecting the individual for photographic purposes, 

 and in the nest three hours she was shot no less than sixty 

 times. After a short time it became necessary, in order to 

 get a variety of poses, to resort to radical treatment to make 

 the bird leave the nest, and in the end it was necessary to 

 thrust a leg out suddenly from under the blind, or actually 

 to prod the bird with a stick. 



For nearly seven hours I sat in the blind, photographing at 

 intervals, and watching the actions of the birds about me. In 

 approaching the nests the birds never settle directly on the 

 eggs, but alight near, — often within five feet of them, — and 

 then waddle over the intervening distance. Often the birds stand 

 for some minutes over the eggs, shading them from the hot 

 sun : again, they approach, and without any ado, settle upon 

 the eggs. Usually the birds find it necessary to remodel the 



