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long enough, they will find some of it. We were shown several 

 places where digging had gone on, but so far without result. 



The chief object of our trip — finding the Royal Tern at home 

 — was no more accomplished now than when we left New York. 

 When we were disappointed on Royal Shoal, we were afraid 

 that we should have to return without seeing a breeding colony 

 of these birds. We decided, however, that if there were any 

 Royal Terns in Pamlico Sound, we would find them. We were 

 told by the warden that on some small islands — or ''lumps," as 

 the natives call them — close to the Hatteras Banks, and some 

 thirty miles north of Ocracoke, there was reported to be a small 

 colony of the Terns. As the ''Dutcher" was at our disposal, 

 we decided to take a chance and prolong our trip a sufficient 

 length of time to visit these lumps. As it turned out, our 

 decision was a wise one. On the 26th of June we started north 

 along the banks, and about noon we came to a group of very 

 small and low muddy islands, known locally as the Miller 

 Lumps. On the west side of the Hatteras Banks is a mile or 

 more of deep water, and then there is a considerable expanse 

 of hard, peaty mud flats, over which there is scarcely six inches 

 of water. These mud flats extend for miles, and every half 

 mile or so the mud is raised a foot or two above the surface of 

 the water, forming a ''lump" or hummock, seldom more than 

 half a hundred yards in length. As we drew up in the deep 

 water off the Miller Lump, the warden said, " The Terns are 

 there." We were about a mile from the lump, which looked 

 like a mere black speck capped with white, but with our glasses 

 we could see that this white was a mass of living birds. As we 

 looked, three or four, and then half a dozen, would leap into the 

 air and settle slowly back. Royal Terns ! Not the vast colony 

 which we had hoped to see on Royal Shoal, but enough to 

 amply satisfy enthusiasts like us. 



Warden Jennett ran the "Dutcher" in over the mud flats 

 until she was almost aground. We disembarked into the small 

 boat, which we pulled in for a hundred yards or so, and then it 

 was a case of wading the quarter of a mile to the lump. The 

 warden told us that if we went slowly, we could probably ap- 

 proach the lump and even get upon it without disturbing the 



