A Visit to the Four Brothers, Lake 
Champlain. 
3LOGIST 
[Yol. 12-No. 9 
liY A. H. JORDAN, WILLSBO ROUGH, N. Y. 
The Brothers are four small islands near the 
centre of the lake and some two miles from the 
New York shore; they contain altogether six 
acres, partially wooded. Last spring I decided 
to make a collecting trip to these islands, so 
accompanied by my ornithological partner, set 
sail early May 22nd, and soon reached our des¬ 
tination. The woods were alive with Warblers 
and the air discordant with the screams of the 
Herring Gull ( Larus argentatus smithsonianus'). 
Eight or ten years ago a large colony of these 
Gulls used to breed here, but owing to the re¬ 
lentless persecution of the farmers and small 
boys, who gathered their eggs by the basket- 
full, the colony had been reduced to some fifty 
pairs and I do not think they raised a single 
brood last season. We found the nests scat¬ 
tered all along the shore, but only three con¬ 
tained eggs, and these held full sets of three. 
Most of the nests were clumsy affairs of grass, 
placed on the bare rock, while others were 
mere hollows in the ground, but we found a 
few, quite well concealed in the edge of the 
woods under low hanging trees. 
While carefully approaching two Loons that 
were having a good deal to say, I was startled 
by a frantic flapping close to my feet and on 
looking down saw a Black Duck (Anas obscura) 
entangled in some brush. Before I recovered 
from my astonishment the duck was speeding 
across the lake, but after a few minutes search 
the nest was found carefully hidden under the 
brush, about fifty feet from the shore. It was 
composed entirely of down and contained nine 
eggs of a creamy buff color. 
During our two day’s stay we observed the 
following birds: 
Loons, several pairs. 
American Herring Gull, common, breeding. 
Black Duck, one pair, breeding. 
Spotted Sandpiper, common, breeding. 
Bald Eagle, one. 
Night Hawk, a few seen. 
Kingbird, a few seen. 
Phoebe, common. 
Crow, one pair, breeding. 
Bobolink, one male seen. 
American Goldfinch, not common. 
White-crowned Sparrow, several specimens 
taken. 
White-throated Sparrow, common. 
Chipping Sparrow, not common. 
Song Sparrow, abundant. 
Bank Swallow, abundant, breeding. 
Tree Swallow, abundant, breeding. 
Black and white Warbler, common. 
Yellow Warbler, abundant. 
Yellow-rump Warbler, abundant. 
Black and Yellow Warbler, common. 
Black-poll Warbler, common. 
Blackburnian Warbler, a few seen. 
Oven Bird, a few seen. 
M’d. Yellow Throat, common. 
Canadian Warbler, one specimen taken. 
American Redstart, common. 
Long-billed Marsh Wren, one taken. 
Wilsons Thrush, abundant. 
Q.&O. 2mLSe£i.aSS8_p^l38 ~l3f. 
Notes- Birds of Grand Manan^ 
Ohas.H. Andros. 
American Herring Gull, Lavus avgentatus 
smithsonianus. We noted this bird on all parts 
of the island and seeing them occasionally in 
pairs and trios during our stay at North Head 
and growing more abundant as we journeyed 
southward along the coast. At the sout.hei n 
end we found several large colonies breeding. 
Noticeably abundant were the nests upon 
Wood’s Island, while both Hay and Sheep Is¬ 
lands have numerous colonies. They do not 
strictly breed together, however, as we found 
scattering pairs nesting in the swamps on floss 
and the main island. Naturally the nests, are 
placed upon the ground, but having grown 
wary from the visits of the eggers, many have., 
taken to shrubs and trees for protection. Here 
if out of reach they are practically safe, as the 
wants of the egg hunters are usually supplied 
by those gathered in positions easy of access. 
The wiser heads we found had done this, and 
as wisdom increases so does their distance from 
terra firma increase. The majority, however, 
still cling to the established customs of their 
ancestors and lay like hens until a set is al¬ 
lowed them. The natives use them largely for 
food and gather by basketfulls, which they 
sell for a small sum. the eggs having an intrin- , 
sic value of about a cent apiece. We found j 
them upon our host’s table, who considered the j 
contents superior to those of rasorial fowl. To 
a novice, however, they have a slight “wild ’ 
taste. The yolks have when boiled either a 
bright yellow or an orange hue, the latter hav¬ 
ing a much more “wild” flavor. 
On our arrival at a colony the inhabitants 
would at once take flight from the nests and 
circle about in hundreds over our heads, all the 
while keeping up a hoarse croaking which they 
would occasionally extend into a series of shrill 
screeches. The position which the Indians oc-, 
cupy in regard to securing the Gulls is a per¬ 
fect vantage ground. The island on which 
they are stationed being a long narrow arm, 
over which the residents of the Hay and Sheep 
colonies must necessarily pass on the way to 
feeding grounds. Their flight being slow and 
steady they rarely swerve from a direct course 
unless a natural obstacle compels it. Both 
night and morning they fly over by thousands 
tlie island where so many of their kin have fall¬ 
en victims; whereas a slight change in their 
route would carry them out of danger, at least 
from this source. 
Their food is largely made up of sea urchins 
which they find in immense quantities on the 
borders of certain coves and inlets at ebb tide. 
Indeed, in some places the bottom of the bay is 
so thickly carpeted with the spined fellows 
that I could think of naught else that resembled 
it but the ground neath a huge New England 
chestnut after an early October frost. Hither 
at receeding tide the Gulls hie themselves, mak¬ 
ing the shores fairly white with their numbers. 
The sea urchin is adroitly turned over and 
the flesh picked from a circular hole in the bot¬ 
tom without injuring the shell in the least. 
The nests which we examined, as a rule, con¬ 
tained three eggs as a full set, but those on the 
ground, many of which are daily harried, con¬ 
tained usually but one or two. 
Charles H. Andros. 
O.&O. XII. Sept. 18 87 P.152 
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