. Bird lore . we were transferred from Cobbs Island to-Wreck Island, several miles distant, where we camped on the open sand-dunes,until Friday, July 30, studying and photographing the Black Skimmers that,were attempting to nest there. 356 Bird - Lore Upon approaching the colony, we were of the opinion that each bird ofthe solid masses seen was standing over her nest; but we soon came to the con-clusion that this massing was simply one of the social traits of the Skimmer,for, shortly after a bunch of birds was disturbed, a few individuals would settleon the sand, and about this nucleus would r
. Bird lore . we were transferred from Cobbs Island to-Wreck Island, several miles distant, where we camped on the open sand-dunes,until Friday, July 30, studying and photographing the Black Skimmers that,were attempting to nest there. 356 Bird - Lore Upon approaching the colony, we were of the opinion that each bird ofthe solid masses seen was standing over her nest; but we soon came to the con-clusion that this massing was simply one of the social traits of the Skimmer,for, shortly after a bunch of birds was disturbed, a few individuals would settleon the sand, and about this nucleus would reassemble the entire company. We had not far to search to find our first Skimmers nest, but, consideringthe numbers of birds present, we were highly disappointed in not discoveringgreater numbers of nests as our search progressed. There were scores of depres-sions in the sand that were evidently the deserted nests of birds. The reasonfor this was brought forcibly to our notice the next morning, for, just as we. BLACK SKIMMER EGGS GATHERED BY EGGERS ON COBBS ISLAND, VIRGINIAPhotographed by Howard H. Cleaves -were preparing breakfast, we observed a very much perturbed cloud of birdsabove the southern portion of the island, and presently we made out the formsof three men walking about as they advanced toward us, stooping at frequentintervals to pick up the eggs of the Flood Gulls, as the Skimmers are locallycalled. Through our field-glasses we could make out that one of the partycarried a basket, in which all three men were depositing their finds. On approaching the trio we found the eggers to be quiet, congenial fel-lows, who had no more scruples about robbing the Gulls of their eggs than anyone might have about gathering the eggs of the barnyard fowl or in an orchard. Egging had been indulged in for generations—fathers, Reports of Field Agents ^ 357 grandfathers and great-grandfathers had probably egged on these sandy-stretches—and the tendency to do so in
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectorn
