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A Comparative Study at Cobb's Island, Va

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A Comparative Study at Cobb's Island, Va Vol. 1911XXVIII-[ ] HOWELL,Birds of Cobb'sIsland, Va. 449 states:1 ,, The gameof Missouri,the ranksof whichare thinned as settlementsadvance, consists of .... wild pigeons.... " In 1848,James Hall, who has written somuch of the West says:2 "I havenever seen any of thosel•igeonroosts, which have excited so muchcuriosity, and wherethese birds are said to alight in such quantitiesas to break down the limbs of the trees." Lastly, in 1851,J. W. Bond,in 'Camp Fire Sketches'writes: • "Today [August24, 1851],our French-Canadiansand half breeds,who had chargeof the provisionand baggage-carts,have been shooting pigeons.... " A COMPARATIVE STUDY AT COBB'S ISLAND, VA. ]BY ALFRED B. HOWELL. ON June 22, 1909, I arrived at Cobb's Island, Virginia, equipped for a week'sstay, havingmade the trip solelyfor the purposeof ascertainingthe conditionsthen prevailingamong the water birds breedingthere, in order to comparethem with the facts gathered by Mr. T. Gilbert l•earsonin 1892 (0ologist,Vol. IX, No. S) and Mr. Frank M. Chapmanin 1902(Camps and Cruisesof an Ornithol- ogist) in the same locality. I chosethis island in preferenceto othersbecause it was the most accessibleof any of the large breed- ing grounds,and becauseit is uniformlywell known. Thereis frequentlya change from year to yearin theprevalent conditionsamong a colonyof birds,until at the end of a decade, it has often becomevery pronounced. Sometimesthese changes can be ascribedto -knowncauses, and again the reasonsare veiled in mystery even to the most observant. In the good old days Royal and Least Terns bred upon the • Wetmore, Alphonso. Gazetteer of the State of Missouri. St. Louis, 1837, p. 29. 2 Hall, James. The 5Vest: Its Soil, Surface, and Productions. Cincinnati, 1848, p. 124. 3 ]Bond, J. •V. Niinnesota and its Resources, k•cw York, 1853, p. 257. 450 HoweLL,Bird,s of Cobb's Isl,'r•d, V.. LOot.[Auk island by the thousands,but t]ley have been driven away and neither of them has bred in the locality for years. Willet also were extremely abundant at one time, but this cannot be said of them at present. Followingis a histof breedingwater birdsfound upon the islandat the three differentperiods referred to. Mr. Pearsonin his paper,failed to give the approximatenumbers of birdsobserved of someof the species,and therefore I am compelled to estimate from the generaltrend of the article. .'•{r. Pearson Mr. Chapman A.B. Howell 1892 1902 1909 Laughing Gull, several Larus atticilia common hundred 2000 Gull-billed Tern, Gelochelidonnilotica mere mention 16 16 Forster's Tern, considerable small Sterna forsteri number number 0 Common Tern, considerable several Sterna hirundo number hundred 300 Black Skimmer, large Rynchopsnigra number thousands 300 Willet, Catoptrophorussemi- palmatus 10 2 4 Wilson's Plover, Ochthodromus wilsonius not uncommon 2 0 Oyster-catcher, Hrematopusostralegus several pairs 2 0 The storieswhich I heard concerningthe wholesaleslaughter of Sternaantillarum in pastyears are almostbeyond belief. For ten centsapiece, men shot thesebirds until their shouldershad become too raw to fire a gun: shot them by the hundreds and the thou- sandsas longas therewere enough left to pay for a morningstroll. Small wonderthat they have beenwiped out entirelyin this local- ity. The scarcity of the Willet, Oyster-catchersand Wilson's Plovers can be ascribedto the depredationsof visiting sportsmen. I searched in the marshes for Forster's Terns, but in vain, for althoughI caughta glimpseof what may have beenone of these birds, I cannot be sure. The Gull-billed Terns seemto be holding their own, as do the CommonTerns, which latter are apt to be foundnesting anywhere along high water marks,but seemto prefer the colonies of Skimmers. Vol.XXVIII]1911 J Howm.•.,Birds of Cobb'sIsland, Va. 451 The most interesting problem was the reason for the rate of increaseand decreasein the numbersrespectively of the Laughing Gulls and Black Skimmers. The latter were nestingin four rather small coloniesseveral miles from the Life-saving Station, and as they nest later than, and their eggsare smallerthan thoseof the Gulls, the fishermen confine their attention almost exclusively to the nests of the latter. More than this, the people of this section have a more kindly feeling towards the Skimmers than the Gulls, and the plumageof the former has always been of even less value commerciallythan that of the latter. The nests of the Laughing Gulls are robbed by the fishermentwice, so I am told, and at the third setting of eggs,are left in peace,but one would think that even with this slight encouragement,they would leave the island for more favorable localities. However, they are thriv- ing and growing fat and increasingfrom year to year, while the sea dogs,as the Skimmersare calledlocally, seemdestined to take the trail back to the Southland. Nor can their growingscarcity be due to high tides floodingtheir nests, for these as a rule are higher above the water than are those of the Gulls. The only explanationthat seemsto be left is one which Mr. E. J. Court of Washington,assures me is now acceptedby the majority of orni- thologistswho are conversantwith the conditionsof that section. It is that the schools of a certain small fish on which the Skimmers feed almost exclusively,have within the past few years forsaken the locality, and that now there are only enoughleft for the few birds remaining. Another reason that some have advanced is that during a series of heavy winter storms several years ago, the southern end of the island was washed away. However, as fully nine tenthsof the originalisland is left, this suppositionseems to be hardly worth mentioning. Clapper Rails (Rallus crepitans)are found upon the island in the greatest abundance,and evidently have always been just as numerous. At this time, most of their eggswere pipped, and a few sets had already hatched. A habit which the Rails had was that of very often placingtheir nestswithin about three feet of those of the Gulls. I am sure that this was from no feeling of friendship,for the Gulls love to teasethe Rails, and I have seen them swoopat the latter on their nests,while the victims danced 452 HOWELL,Birds of Cobb'sIsland, Va. [Oct.['Auk up and downin great fury at not beingable to reachtl•elr tormen- tors. In onenest of crepitanseontainlng eggs of the rightful owner there were two eggsof the Laughing Gull, but these had been pushedto one side. These birds' nestswere very easy to find on accountof the tall marsh grassbeing bent over them toward the center, dome-fashion. I took an umbrella blind witl• me in order to facilitate my photographing,and alsoto study the nestingbirds at closerange. It is no light work to start out for a walk of six miles through the soft sandladen downwith a heavy camera,several dozen plates, large umbrella tent and otl•er paraphernalia,not forgetting the water bottle, when tl•e thermometeris registeringone hundred and two. However,this was refreshingcompared to the dreadful heat which I experiencedwith the sun pouring down upon my blind after I had crawledinto it and closedevery cranny except two small holes. Complete quiet had settled down among the birds in less than an hour. Mr. Chapmanwas the first to disprovett•e popularfalacy that tim Skimmersincubated only during the night and in cloudy weatt•er, and I also observedthat they incubatett•roughout the brightestdays, althoughtt•ey are very restless,remaining on the nest for but a few minutes at a time. One would alight on the sand,waddle up to the nestand after inspectingits contents,settle downupon the eggs. Then almostinvariably she would cock her eye at the sun,and findingthat orb fully .upto her expectations, she would give over her thoughtsto seriousbusiness for a while. This speciesis to me at least, one of the most interestingof tt•e seabirds. They have a certainease of flight that is not surpassed even by the Terns,and to seeone quartering tt•e little tide creeks at duskis enoughto stir the interestof the mostblas4 ornltt•ologist. They often fly in stragglingflocks of about a dozenindividuals, and whenpassing, strongly remind one of a pack of houndson the trail, as Mr. Chapmanso aptly puts it, for tt•eir cry is an almost exactcounterpart of the yelp of a hound. In the middle of tl•e day when one decidesto feed, he often choosesa placewhere a wave has brokenand is recedingdown the beach. Then he fliesalong where tl•e water is about two inches deep,skimming with his lowermandible beneath the surface. At ¾ol. 1911XX¾III] 2 EIFRIG,Bird Protectionin ForeignLands. 453 such times, he hits bottom every twenty feet or so, and his head is jerked back in a most comical manner. The Gull-billedTerns were the only birdswhich continued to be suspiciousof my blind, and the CommonTerns acceptedit as a necessaryevil within a half hour. During my stay I spent in all about elevenhours in my blind within sight of many Gulls, but they seem to be less rapacious than someof their cousins,for I saw them attempt to steal eggs only once. In this locality and at this time of year the Gulls feed almost exclusivelyon soft-shelledcrabs, which they capture with great dexterity. Other speciesof birds observedon the islandwere: Green Heron (Butoridesvirescens), 'one. Osprey (Pandion halia•tuscarolinensis), one. Phoebe(Sayornis pheebe), one pair breeding. Red-wingedBlackbird (Agelaiuspheeniceus), several, probably breeding. Meadowlark (Sturnellamagna), one pair. SeasideSpin'row (Passerherbulus maritimus), abundant, chiefly at the northern end of the island. Song Sparrow (Melospizamelodia), common. Barn Swallow(Hitundo erythrogastra), four pairsbreeding. BIRD PROTECTION IN FOREIGN LANDS. BY G. EIFRIG. I• MAY, 1910, the "First German Convention for Bird Pro- teetion" was held at Charlottenburg, near Berlin, Germany. This representativegathering had assembledat the invitation of four of the largest and most important societiesdevoted to the study and protection of birds in that country.
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