TWO PAYS WITH THE TERNS 



123 



countless multitude of hovering, darting Terns, 

 whose voices united in one continuous, grating 

 te-a-r-r-r made the air tremble. There was an ocoa- 



6(>. YounfT Terns ; first sta^'o, about four days okl. 



sional vibrant cack from a Roseate, but not more 

 than a dozen birds of this species were heard. Asked 

 to estimate the number of birds present I should 

 have said ten thousand, though I should not have 

 been surprised to learn that there were twenty thou- 

 sand. Howevei', Mr. George H. Mackay, of Nan- 

 tucket, who may be regarded as a Tern specialist, 

 jDlaced the number of Terns on Penikese, in 1896, at 

 "six or seven thousand," and with the assistance of 

 Mr. R. H. Howe, Jr., counted 1,416 nests containing 

 2,055 eggs (Auk, xiv, 1S97, p. 283). 



A small flock of sheep shared this part of the 

 island with the Terns, and tlieir presence accounted 

 for the short grass whicb made the upland resemble 

 a closely cut lawn, and permitted one readily to see 



