The Terns of Weepecket Islands 11 



The birds that were found in these small unbroken prairie 

 areas are chiefly of species that live in woodlands, includinj^ 

 shrubby growths, but only a small proportion of the species 

 of the woodland birds of the Charleston region appear to visit 

 the prairie ponds. Some marsh birds are found in them. The 

 true open field birds treat these areas as they do woodlands, 

 avoiding them almost entirely. Upland plovers, horned larks, 

 dickcissels, savanna sparrows, and grasshopper sparrows, all 

 of which are common in the Charleston region, gave no in- 

 dication of being attracted by these ponds. 



Since these areas of undrained prairie land constitute a dis- 

 tinct type of bird habitat with a fauna having some semblance 

 to that of the old prairie sloughs and since they are rapidly 

 being destroyed, ornithologists, who find them accessible for 

 field work, should strive to preserve data on the bird inhabi- 

 tants of these and other remnants of the primitive prairies. 



Charleston, III. 



THE TERNS OF WEEPECKET ISLANDS, 

 MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY ALVIN R. CAHN. 



During the summer of 1903 and 1904, Professor Lynds 

 Jones had the opportunity of watching and studying the col- 

 ony of terns (Sterna hirundo and 5^. dongalli) in the vicinity 

 of Woods Plole, Massachusetts, and the results of this study 

 were given to the public a couple of years later. ^ As Professor 

 Jones does not confine his remarks to any one special colony, 

 it may be taken for granted that his observations will hold 

 for one island he investigated as well as for another. Among 

 the islands he visited was the small group of three known as 

 the Weepeckets, located about four miles off the coast of 

 W'oods Hole. Eleven years have elapsed since Professor 

 Jones investigated these islands, and it is evident from obser- 



^ Jones, L., "A Contribution to tlie Life History of the Common 

 {Sterna hirundo) and Roseate {Sterna dougalli) Terns." Wilson 

 Bull., Vol. XVIII, No. 2, Junp 1906, pp. 35-47. 



