Page:Bird-lore Vol 05.djvu/90



The Tortugas Tern Colony

BY DR. JOSEPH THOMPSON. U. s. N.

With photographs hum nature In Dr..-\l1n:d (1mm; “mam-d by permission 07 mt» Museum m m: Brooklyn insrimc A1! A": and strum:

BOUT eighty miles to the westward of Key West, the Florida Keys terminate in a group of seven small islands, two of which, Logger- head and Garden Key, are "inhabited. Loggerhead Island is

so called because of the great number of Loggerhead turtles (Thalvrxubzlyj mretta) that visit it in the spring for the purpose of digging holes in the sand and depositing their eggs; Garden Key is the site of Fort Jefferson, one of the largest fortresses in the country

One mile southwest of Garden Key is a small island, about two hundred yards long by seventy-ﬁve wide, and in no place more than four feet above high tide. The vegetation consists of a few scrub palm trees, a dense growth of bay cedar bushes, patches of Bermuda grass and some cacti. This island is known locally as Bird Key, and has received its name from the fact that for as long as any one can remember it has been the chosen nesting spot of a large colony of Terns. Year after year these birds return to lay their eggs and raise their young, in spite of the relentless persecution to which they have been subjected by the natives, who have gathered their eggs for eating purposes. There have been years when not a single individual was raised, every egg having been taken shortly after it was laid.

It is admitted that the birds have decreased in numbers, and, in view of the treatment accorded them, it is remarkable that they have not been completely exterminatedl

Last year ([902) was the first one that the A. O. U. model law was in effect in the state of Florida. Its enforcement would be an easy matter in such an out—of—the~way place, but in spite of the efforts of Mr, Dutcher, of the A. O. U., and in the face of a letter of promise from the commanding ofﬁcer of the station to afford protection to the birds,