THE O O L 



Birds Nesting Upon the Four Brothers, 

 Lake Champiain. 



Last summer in connection with 

 some botanical work, I had occasion 

 to visit the Four Brothers, a group of 

 small islands comprising about six 

 acres in the middle of Lake Cham- 

 plain and about two miles from the 

 New York shore. On the first day of 

 July I set out with my daughter and 

 a friend of hers to explore these 

 islands. We went to Willisborough 

 Point to get a boat to take us over to 

 the islands. No one was available to 

 take us in the motor boat, but we 

 were able to hire a row boat for the 

 day. 



As we were about to start a small 

 boy at the dock mentioned a man 

 and a camp upon one of the islands. 



"Why does a man stay over there?" 

 I asked. 



"To protect the gulls," he replied. 



This bit of information added one 

 hundred per cent to my interest in 

 visiting the islands, for I had never 

 had the opportunity to visit the breed- 

 ing grounds of any of the gulls. I had 

 seen occasional birds farther down 

 the lake and had wondered where 

 they might breed. 



When we approached the first is- 

 land we could see a large number 

 of gulls (Larus argentatus smithson- 

 ianus) flying about the island and 

 .uttering their characteristic discord- 

 ant screams, which did not cease so 

 long as we remained in sight about 

 the islands. As soon as we landed 

 we were challenged by a pair of 

 rough-winged swallows (Stelgidop- 

 teryx serripennis) whose nest full of 

 young was in the rocky bank behind 

 a lump of clay and rocks. I had no 

 sooner climbed to the top of the bank 

 than a spotted sandpiper (Actitis 

 macularia) flew up from her nest, 

 which contained four eggs. 



I soon found the camp and made 



O Q I 8 T 68 



knoM^n my errand to the "Bird Protec- 

 tor," an elderly man, who seemed to 

 be much pleased to find some one 

 with whom he could talk. He gave us 

 reveral interesting bits of informa- 

 tion about the birds. He said he had 

 made a census of the gulls in the 

 spring and determined that there 

 v-ere about three hundred of them. 

 He fhowed us several nests near our 

 landing place and said that some of 

 the old had little fear of him Avhile 

 th-v Y^ere incubating their eggs. He 

 pointed out a sm.all nest in a stump 

 vhere he said a "flycatcher" (prob- 

 ably tree sv/allow, Tachycineta bi- 

 eolor) had reared her young. 



"She would sit there quietly and 

 let me talk to her," said he. 



A three-fourths-grown gull remain- 

 ed upon the upper bank and allowed 

 the girls to photograph him in sev- 

 eral different poses. 



As I started to walk around the is- 

 land, there Avas a rustle in the low 

 burhes and a mallard duck (Anas 

 boschas) flev/ out and away across the 

 lake. I parted the brush carefully and 

 looked into my first mallard's nest 

 (see the accompanying photograph). 

 There v'cre nine eggs which did not 

 appear to have been incubated long. 

 The "Bird Protector" was much 

 plea:ed to see this nest. He said 

 he had noticed the birds often but 

 they had led him to believe the nest 

 v/as in another place nearer the shore. 



My time was limited for I had to go 

 to all four islands and allow time to 

 row back to V/illsborough Point 

 against the wind. I saw three more 

 rpotted sandpipers' nests, each with 

 four eggs, two song sparrows' (Melos- 

 piza fasciata) nests, one with five 

 eggs, and one v/ith three eggs and 

 a recently hatched bird. There 

 were many gulls' nests, some of which 

 contained addled eggs. The "Bird 

 Protector" showed me one nest of 



