11)2 Bllili STUDIES WITH A tVUIERA 



jjrobaljlo that tlio surviving individuals retTirn each 

 yoar to their forniur breeding grounds. The Terns 

 of Muskeget and Penikese, forming tlie only two 

 large colonies of these birds remaining on the At- 

 lantic coast, I'ctui'u to their island retreats every 

 spring ; and actuated by this same love of home, the 

 Brown Pelicans of the Indian River region of east- 

 ern Florida annually rejjair to a certain small island 

 for the purpose of rearing their young. Many simi- 

 lar cases might Ije cited in confirmation of the belief 

 — supported also by isolated observations on the 

 mainland — tliat birds nest in the same locality 

 throughout their lives, and, on occasion, may even 

 occupy their previous season's nest. 



As regards the manner in which these island- 

 inhabiting Ijirds arrive at the nesting grounds, as 

 far as our recorded information goes, it seems that 

 without relation to latitude they appear each spring 

 with remarkable regularity, not straggling liack a 

 few at a time, but sending on an advance guard, 

 which usually remains only a short time and is fol- 

 lowed, a few days later, l)y apparently the entire 

 colony. 



Thus, Mackay writes of the Terns of Penikese : 

 " In IsiiS the Terns arrived on May lOth, in the night, 

 an advance guard of several hundred being noted 

 early the following morning at daylight ; these all 

 left before noon (if the lltli, and on the morning of 

 the 12th, before daylight, immense numbers had 

 again arrived. ... In 1800 the Terns commenced to 

 arrive during the night of May 0th; they were in 

 oviih^nce at daylight on the loth, and continued to 

 arrive all day, and on the mni'ning of the 11th the 



