112 



THE OOLOQIST 



Increase of Herring Gulls and Com- 

 mon Terns in Northern Lake Huron 



Four years ago, in 1916, somewhere 

 in the vicinity of seventy-five or one 

 hundred pairs of Herring Gulls were 

 found breeding on a small isolated 

 island off the south shore of the upper 

 peninsula of Michigan. A return on 

 June 17th of the present year (1920) 

 gave evidence of the fact that this 

 number had increased to approximate- 

 ly one hundred and fifty pairs or there- 

 abouts. Only a limited time was 

 available for a reconnaisance of the 

 situation but even that brief survey 

 was sufficient to reveal the occupancy 

 of over one hundred nests. The con- 

 tents of these being distributed as fol- 

 lows: 



One egg Twenty nests 



Two eggs Forty-two nests 



Three eggs .... Thirty-seven nests 

 Two and young and one egg. . . . 



Three nests 



In addition to the occupied nests 

 there were between twenty and thirty 

 nests of this year's building. The ma- 

 jority of the nests were found on or 

 close to the point at the extreme south 

 end of the island, but the remaining 

 suitable stretches were by no means 

 neglected. All of the nests were on 

 the ground and within forty or fifty 

 feet of the water's edge. No young 

 birds feathered or out of the nest were 

 to be found. The only young seen 

 were those which had but recently 

 hatched and were still covered with 

 their natal down. 



The tiny island on which one pair 

 of Common Terns bred in 1916 afford- 

 ed nesting places for twenty-five pairs 

 this year, and a practically adjoining 

 reef held four additional pairs, mak- 

 ing a total of twenty-nine pairs of 

 breeding birds. The island on which 

 the main colony was established was 

 hardly larger than thirty by forty feet 

 while no point on it was at a greater 



elevation than four feet above the 

 water line. However, it was given fair 

 protection by the proximity of the 

 heavily wooded shores which bounded 

 the bay in which it was situated. The 

 twenty-nine nests were distributed as 

 follows : 



One egg One nest 



Two eggs Nine nests 



Three eggs Eighteen nests 



Four eggs One nest 



The set of four was composed of 

 three eggs of normal size and one 

 runt. In addition to the above men- 

 tioned nests one egg was discovered 

 in a crevice between two rocks which 

 showed absolutely no evidence of 

 ownership and it was, therefore, not 

 credited in the list of twenty-nine oc- 

 cupied nests. 



It was very gratifying to note this 

 large increase in the case of both gulls 

 and terns, especially in lieu of the fact 

 that the neighboring shores are be- 

 coming more popular yearly as sum- 

 mer resorts and with a greatly aug- 

 mented tourist body disturbances of 

 birds on their breeding grounds would 

 naturally be expected to increase and 

 thus tend to continually lessen the 

 number of birds resorting to this lo- 

 cality to breed. That such is not tho 

 case reflects as a compliment an both 

 summer and permanent residents. 



Albert D. McGrew. 

 September 30, 1920. 



A New Use For Camouflage 



By Geoffrey Gill 

 You all know that not one single 

 thing won the great world war, but a 

 great number of things. One of these 

 was camouflage. Did you ever stop to 

 think what a' great life-saver this art 

 of 'Making things appear as what they 

 ain't,' is, and of the great number of 

 lives and untold suffering this art has 

 saved. Many of our sons, brothers, 

 husbands, our boys, that have return- 



