837 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
UNCLE MARKIE’S GULLS. 
Out in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of 
Maine, there is a rocky little island with a 
stunted growth of trees, known as No Man’s 
Land. 
The surf breaks against the rocks summer 
and winter, and the ocean stretches out and 
away to the coast of Europe. 
It is a desolate place in winter, with its storms 
and its ice-bound shore, and, if we saw it then, 
we could not dream what a change would take 
place when the soft south wind driving back 
the cold north wind takes possession and it is 
spring again. 
Some warm day when the ocean is calm, Uncle 
Markie, who owns the island will take his sheep 
over to the island for their summer pasture, 
and will look in the thickest part of the trees 
to see if the ravens are nesting. 
Two pairs of ravens come to the islands each 
year and build a bulky nest of sticks, lining it 
with wool which they gather from where it has 
been torn from the sheep by the branches, for 
the ravens nest very early, and the raven babies 
have to be kept warm. 
Soon there will come sailing up on the south 
wind large white birds which will circle about 
the island and then drop down appearing at 
home as if they had only been away on a visit. 
The gulls continue to come until many thou¬ 
sands are on the island, and the fisherman over 
on Matinicus Island will say that Uncle 
Markie’s gulls are back again on No Man’s 
Land. 
The grass is green now and the sheep are 
gamboling about among the rocks, and the 
ocean is smiling in the summer sun as it 
stretches out and is lost in the distant blue. 
It is a busy bird city now; the gulls have built 
their nests on the ground, among the trees, 
under the rocks, and everywhere we find the 
nests of sticks and grass, containing three or 
four large spotted eggs. Let us find Uncle 
Markie and get into his fisherman’s dory and 
row over to the island. 
It is such a wonderful sight that you would 
hardly believe it true unless you had been there 
and seen it for yourself. It was estimated that 
there were 50,000 gulls on the island last year. 
They rose in the air circling and screaming as 
we approached, a constantly moving mass of 
birds, looking from a distance like a cloud 
hanging over the island. 
The young birds are brown and unlike their 
parents, and after they are old enough to leave 
the nest they sit around on the rocks while the 
old birds go out on the ocean to search for 
food. 
The young look as much alike as two peas in 
a pod, and we wonder how the parents find 
their own among so many, yet they seem to 
have no trouble. 
P>y the middle of August the young are grown 
and begin to leave the island and appear on the 
other islands near the fish wharves, where they 
feed on the refuse from the fish houses. 
They appear also in the harbors and keep 
working down the coast until some day we 
again see the gulls circling about our own 
harbor, and we say the gulls have returned, yet 
how few know from where they came, and how 
some were white and some were brown. 
Do you wonder how it is that so many birds 
can nest in safety on one island and why no one 
disturbs them for their feathers or eggs? 
When the gulls were being killed for 
millinery purposes, Maine made a law to pro¬ 
tect the sea gulls, the gulls which had been com¬ 
ing to No Man’s Island for years to build their 
nests were safe if the island was saved to them, 
and some one appointed to look after the gulls. 
Uncle Mark Youngs, an old sea captain, who 
went to sea when he was twelve years old, and - 
had charge of a schooner at fourteen years, 
owned the island. Uncle Markie, as he is 
known to everybody, rented the island to the 
Audubon Society for a home for the sea gulls, ' 
and his State made him a game warden to pro¬ 
tect them. 
Uncle Markie lives on Matinicus, a mile away 
and with his glass can watch the island and 
SPECIFY FOR REGULAR USE 
the powder you insist upon to make the best 
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You naturally refuse to take chances when you realize that competition is going to be close. 
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The Angler's Workshop 
RODMAKING FOR BEGINNERS 
Jr 
9 
By PERRY D. FRAZER 
A unique work, bringing the science of rodmaking up to the very moment and 
epitomizing the knowledge and the experience of experts for the guidance of the 
- rag Y la 7 f 1 Ilc j evolut »on of bait-casting principles has made Mr. Frazer’s book 
supersede all previous publications on the subject. 
Every angler—young or old—who is fond of adapting his rods and tackle to his 
own ideas of what they should be, will find in this book ! large fund of mformation 
gathered by the author 111 years of study, experiment and practical experience in 
Sot‘af\ , OU H a eTellV- a t S h in h T* bench ' He ‘Prizes and^peculates 
'that Iti'c - n 1 • °A of ever yt1nng connected with rodmaking in a way 
that makes results certain. All explanations are simple and easily followed. 
. be P arate chapters are devoted to each of a half dozen types of bait-casting- rods- 
flv XV" , a " d water rods; bass and Irout, •alrnon and tcfurnammt 
nj-rods. Complete specifications of well known types are given, and the chanter 
OI Y?P , . lt n' ro dmakmg is the most comprehensive treatise on the subject ever 
published. Indispensable in the angler’s library subject ever 
every feature?o^Mre'text" 60 W0 * to * P lai " 
i FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO., 127 Franklin Street, NEW YORK CITY * 
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TRAINING vs. BREAKING 
Practical Dog Training; or. Training vs. Breaking. 
, y. . r. Hammond. To which is added a chapter on 
gaining pet dogs, by an amateur. Cloth, 1G5 pages 
Price, $1.00. ; 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY 
Hunting Without a Gun, 
And other papers. By Howland E. Robinson. With 
Illustrations from drawings by Rachael Robinson. 
Trice, $2.00. 
This is a collection of papers on different themes 
contributed to Forest and Stream and other pub¬ 
lications, and now for the first time brought together 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBUSHING CO. 
