Show BEAUTIFUL BIRDS soo some oralo 17 Im isid lit lii t lie fur bained fit in oil t ali at fish fiali key wo we found a lirgg colony of tile tho sooty terns or egg r bird as aa tile natives call them just be beginning to breed this is a collects collect colle cli i on n of wild looking rocks rigin rising ten or fifteen feet above alic sei like aronof a row of petrified sand bind dunes d lines which in reality they probably at ire and with low abrib be bery ry grasses and vi vines tie s when a 1 lono long way off we noticed the birds hover hovering P over the and on landin landing ta hicar ir numbers increased until the air fal h above and around us fairly swarmed wah i ali the gliding aiding f ornis of this graceful gracea ill t tern ea n and tile tho strange parang e medley of their it ligush arsh cries together 0 with the whirring of nf ali of wings 0 was nearly deafening eni it gr they were nesting anestin amid a danl tangle gle of three or four feet 0 along a low narrow ridge of one bif if the islands a few yards from the water partin parting the bushes aside asid e we we c could see the old birds sitting on their aggs and caught with on our r fiands hands several which were snared in tile the vinos vines as they attempted to fly this tern resembles a large and powerful swallow lv it lias has a sharply forat forked ed tail snowwhite snow white neckband breast while amie tuo the rest 01 the plumage 0 is black they nest close alose to together 0 ether under the bushes bushe laying it 0 a single 0 egg on oil the ground without it nest of any kind their eggs are easily distinguished froni from any others which we s saw tw bein being I 1 white or cre creamy anly mil lull boldly spotted all over with umber and lilac even in these remote places the die numbers of sea are being yearly lessened by the natives who persistently collect their cs c eggs 0 s for foot food the rare flamingo M is is to poly reduced to 9 a colony of a few hundred on abaco where as I 1 wa was s int informed ormed by an old settler they numbered thousands sev cral cri years ago si irav tile the beau I 1 laiful if ill tropic bird which is hunted chic chiefly fly for food is bein being gradually exterminated 1 i close besides beside this key there was a 1 amail rock a i fow few yards square with scarcely a spear of grass grasi upon it which a party of the 06 wilsons Wil sons tern held in undisputed possession their cone tipped olive ireen green and spotted cs c eggs t s lay in twos and threes on oil the bare surface of the limestone both this bird and the smaller edition of it are called shanks ky bv llie ilic islanders Iati ders while on the north carolina coast where we found both species breeding a month before ti thov icy ire are known to tile the fishermen i as I 41 grout ill an and 1 I little strikers the wi Wil wilsons so sons tern lias a 1 wide range and is one of the most beautiful ua of a large and exceptionally striking family it has a prominent black crest and coral red bill and feet like many of our our most attractive birds it is shot down clown each season to satisfy the widespread demands of a barbarous fashion its pearly wiggs s or as often the whole bird usually iauch distorted by the milliner mill r may be seen almost any day in the streets pin pinned ned on oil to ladles ladies hats popular science monthly |