74 



TWO ATLANTIC COAST ISLANDS 



they gleaned from the burden of the waves; but it was at 

 dusk that they became really active. Then they followed the 

 course of the streams winding through the marsh, now skim- 

 ming for a short distance, again rising slightly and uttering 

 a sharp yap, yap, like a pack of hounds on the trail. 



In addition to the Skimmers, the breeding birds on 

 Cobb's Island at the time of my visit, were several hundred 



Laughing Gull on Nest 



Common Terns, a small number of Forster's Terns, about 

 eight pairs of Gull-billed Terns, a pair each of Oyster-catch- 

 ers, AVillet, and Wilson's Plovers, several hundred Laugh- 

 ing Gulls, and many Clapper Rail. The young Rails furn- 

 ished the principal fare of several cats which Mr. Cobb had 

 brought to the island to kill the meadow mice which de- 

 stroyed the sails and rigging of his boats. 



Two pairs of Gull-billed Terns were nesting in the Skim- 

 mer colony to which I devoted my attention, where, aside 

 from the difference in their eggs, the Terns' nests were at 



