108 BIKD STUDIKS WITH A CAMP^RA 



looked in vain for the Terns wliicli head previously so 

 enlivened our shores. 



The protection afforded by an insular existence 

 was now given a practical and striking illustration. 

 The Terns which nested on the mainland or near- 

 lying sand bars were soon extirpated, l)ut on cer- 

 tain less accessible, uninhabited islets, they still sur- 

 vived. 



Thus all that were left of countless numbei's of 

 these birds which once inhabited the shores of Long 

 Island were to be found on the Great Gull Island, 

 while Muskeget and Peuikese, i;>ff the Massachusetts 

 coast, contained the only large colonies of Terns 

 from Long Island to Maine. The existence of the 

 Gull Island colony being threatened by collectors, 

 the influence of several bird lovers secured the ap- 

 pointment of the keeper of the lighthouse on the 

 neigldjoring islet. Little Gull, as a special game 

 warden to enforce the ])reviously useless laws sup- 

 posed to p)rotect the Terns. 



Tlie result was botli ('ucouraging and instructive. 

 In two years it is estimated that the colony increased 

 from two thousand to four thousand, and it was ho])ed 

 that it might prove a nucleus from which the ad- 

 j(jining shores wijuld eventually be restocked with 

 Terns, But the Government at Washington selected 

 Great Gull Island as a desirable point for fortifica- 

 tions, and before even this suggestion of war tlie 

 poor Terns disappea-red. For one season the labor- 

 ers employed by the Government feasted on Terns' 

 eggs; then the gradual occu])a,ucy of Ihe eighteen 

 af-res coDipdsiiig tlie islet fcu'ct'd the birds to seek 

 iKunes (ilsewhere. 



