1890
Aug. 2
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Clear with light E. to S.E. wind.
  Rose at daybreak and after getting breakfast lay quietly on
the sand by the side of the canoe, watching the Least Terns
and various waders for several hours. There were a number
of Red-breasted Snipe and Turnstones scattered in little bunches
along the water's edge on the harbor side of the beach but
not as many as I saw yesterday. As the tide fell the
little "Peeps" betook themselves to the great rafts of eel grass
on which several Night Herons were also fishing in company
with a lot of Herring Gulls. A pair of large Terns which
seemed to have young or eggs on the beach came very
near me at times and I made them out to be
Arctic Terns of which species I have seen very few [delete]during[/delete]
this season. They were evidently a solitary pair and there
were no Wilson's Terns breeding near them.
  The Least Terns were wholly at ease respecting my
presence this morning and paid very little attention to me.
I had the good fortune to see a pair in sexual union
within less than 40 yds. of me (see notes under S. antillarum)
and watched the nesting birds sitting quietly on their eggs
as long as I wished.
  At about 10 A.M. I packed the canoe and started
down the inner shore of the beach towards the opening
seeing nothing of particular interest until I reached a
small island just inside the opening. Here I found about
100 Terns sitting on a sand-bar with nearly as many
more fishing about 200 yds. off. Among those on the 
sand I counted 11 Short-tailed Terns most of them adults
in more or less full plumage and among the fishing birds seven
more. The greater part of the adults were mottled
with white but one appeared to be in absolutely