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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