Song Birds and Water Fowl 



my nearest ■ approach to it was in a plate of 

 these beautiful terns' eggs, offered me a few 

 moments after my arrival. They are quite 

 small, the yolk of a bright salmon color, and 

 richer than hens' eggs. Some think they have a 

 little gamey flavor, but I found only the merest 

 suggestion of it. The eggs of wild fowl have 

 always seemed a hallowed thing, and the idea 

 of actually eating them at first struck me as 

 being almost sacrilegious. They are highly 

 prized by many, and, previous to the "close 

 season ' ' each year, are collected in great num- 

 bers from Penekese and sold in the streets of 

 New Bedford. 



With this literal foretaste of the object of my 

 search, I then left my host to find the birds 

 themselves. Crossing the island to the south 

 or ocean side, and approaching the shore, im- 

 mense swarms of terns were to be seen rising 

 from the water's edge ; which, in their circling 

 and continuous flight, showed themselves to 

 be a sort of silvery prototype of our familiar 

 dusky land swallows, although considerably 

 larger, being about fifteen inches in length, and 

 coursing through the air with the same bound- 

 less and exultant ease. With a pearly blue 

 mantle upon the back and wings, pure white 



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