Page:Bird-lore Vol 05.djvu/123

 no Bird—Lore

captain of the life-saving station told me of 1.400 Least 'I‘erns being , killed in one day: while the present captain of the station and Mr. E. B. Cobb. owner of the island, informed me that when Terns were first killed for millinery purposes they. with another man, killed 2,800 birds in three days on and near Cobb's Island. The birds were packed in cracked ice and shipped to New York for skinning; ten cents being paid for each one. . July, 1902, I vis- ited Cobb's Island to secure data. photo- graphs and material to represent its bird- life in a group at the American Museum of Natural History. A

HIS-\Cll Ar c0an ISLA'D. SHOWING svtiMMERs 0N NEST photograph of a por- IN THE DISTANCE

tion of this group is shown herewith. Least Terns have been included in it, although the species is now extinct on the island. with the double object of show» ing the island-life as it was and of emphasizing the cause of this bird's annihilation.

Several hundred common Terns were observed and the species was said to be increasing None of the few young seen had passed out of the downy plumage. Of Gull-billed Terns not more than eight pairs were noted. Several nests were found containing eggs, but no young were seen. Forster's Terns were present in small numbers nesting out on the marsh. A pair of Oyster-catchers. one pair of Willet. and a pair of Wilson's Plover had nested successfully earlier in the season.

Laughing Gulls were breeding in the marsh in large numbers, making their nests on piles of grass and weeds The nests. as a rule. contained eggs. but in some cases young were found. and two birds :1 week or more old were found running about on the beach.

Black Skimmers proved to he the most abundant. as they are the most interesting birds on Cobb's Island. several thousand pair doubtless nesting there. Fortunately their plumage has never been fashionable and to this fact may be attributed their happy escape from the fate of the more daintily colored Terns. The Skimmers alone make Cobb‘s Island a worthy Mecca for bird students. Singular alike in structure and in habit. remarkably