20 THE BIRDS OF RHODE ISLAND. 



pied. No sooner do the winter inhabitants leave, than a colony 

 of Common Tern {Sterna hirundo)^ take up their abode and 

 rear their young in the crevices of the hard rock. This colony 

 consists of about 175 birds. They arrive in a large flock early 

 in May and at once take possession of the rock. We have already 

 observed that there is no land vegetation on the rock and as the 

 nearest land is one mile distant the Terns do not attempt to bring 

 material thence for their nests, but prefer to use the bleached 

 bones of the fish that have been devoured by Cormorants and left 

 to whiten in the crevices of the rock. These bones the Terns 

 arrange (we can scarcely say weave) in small crevices of the rock, 

 in such a way that they form a saucer-like depression and serve 

 to prevent the eggs from rolling around on the rock. The Terns 

 lay from one to five eggs which are hatched about the last of 

 June ; and the downy young may be found running nimbly over the 

 jagged rock. When any one lands on the rock the Terns rise in 

 a body with loud cries and circle around and around high over the 

 rock. Occasionally one, more daring than the rest, darts down- 

 ward toward the rock, uttering, as it does so, its sharp, pierc- 

 ing cry, and again, swooping upward, joins the excited throng. 

 Terns will fly miles in search of the small fish on which they feed, 

 and hence it is that one so often finds them on and about the 

 fish traps and pounds in Narragansett Bay, where they may be 

 seen sitting motionless side by side on the horizontal poles that 

 are used to stiffen the vertical piles. It is reasonable to sup- 

 pose that these birds come, for the most part, from the Cormorant 

 Rock colony, for the only other headquarters in Rhode Island is 

 Dyer's Island where some dozen pairs breed every year. (Auk, 

 Vol. XIV, No. 2, p. 203.) 



Among the occasional visitors to Cormerant Rock are the 

 Turnstones {Arenaria interpres) which have been found there in 

 the fall and spring, during their migrations. And it is surprising 

 to find them so tame that one may approach within a few f^et, 

 before they take wing. Evch then they rarely go far, never leav- 

 ing the rock, but merely changing their position on its collar of 

 seaweed and barnacles. They have never been seen to alight on 

 the rock more than three or four feet from the water, and accord- 

 ingly it would appear that they find food by the water's edge. 



