Eastern Shore Sea Birds
F. C. Kirkwood's Observances on the Virginia-Maryland Coast.
Baltimore, Aug. 14. Frank C. Kirkwood, Secretary of the Maryland Game and Fish Association, has just returned from a tour of inspection of the breeding places of the sea birds along the coast of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia.
Mr. Kirkwood made the tour under the auspices of the American Ornithological Union, which has taken up the protection of the breeding sites, and stationed nine wardens along the coast for that purpose. He used an open bateau and cruised about 300 miles in eight days among the coast islands. William H. Fisher, a locally well known naturalist, accompanied him and secured a series of fine pictures of wild fowls and their summer homes.
Mr. Kirkwood said of his observations:
"There are more birds along the coast this season probably by 50 per cent than there were last year when I visited the coast. It is extremely difficult, however, to even approximate the numbers. When you stand and look at an ever moving mass of birds flying close to you and one another the eye gets confused by the incessant movement and the ear is dulled by the babel of sounds. While the result of this inspection has been very satisfactory and has proved that good results can be accomplished in so short a time, still an observer who has visited the scene no longer than eight or ten years ago cannot avoid a feeling of sadness at the fact that there is now not more than one bird to thousands then. But there are enough to reproduce the stock, and the promise is that in a few years the birds may reach the old-time numbers if the present good policy is continued.
"The money for the work of preservation is supplied by the Thayer fund. When the question of protecting these birds was brought up by some of the members of the American Ornithological Union a doubt was expressed as to whether a sufficient amount could be secured to make protection possible. Mr. Thayer took the matter up, and in a short whole succeeded in raising an amount which under the judicious care of Mr. William Dutcher, of New York, treasurer of the American Ornithological Union, has been sufficient to accomplish the desired result. The confiscation last winter of 2,600 terns under the Lacy act was the first result, in the way of actual prosecution after the birds had been shipped from the breeding grounds. Since that time there have been several prosecutions in different section of the country, and the market being cut off the incentive to shoot the birds upon the breeding grounds has been destroyed.
"When I speak of shooting the birds on the breeding grounds alone,I speak with a thorough knowledge of the impossibility of shooting them at any other time of the year. If one or more persons were to locate themselves in the center of breeding colony where the nests -- simply constructed of a hollow scooped out of the sand -- are so close together that one has to watch his feet to keep from walking upon them, it would only be a matter of how many shells were in the party as to how much shooting would be done; and at close range, in which the birds come sometimes almost in one's face and in compact bodies of several hundreds or thousands, it is readily seen how terrific the slaughter would be. And the birds killed would not be the worst feature of the slaughter, but the three or four eggs of the dead bird would be left to rot upon the sand or the nest of young left to die of starvation.
"As soon as the young are able to accompany their parents the birds scatter all over the coast and ocean and but few are to be found in any one locality. Even when at roost on a sand bar they are wary and difficult to approach for even if the majority are asleep there are enough sentinels on duty to sound the alarm before the gunner can get within four or five gunshots of them. To see just how close one could get to them I tried various means, walking, riding in a beach cart, and stalking them behind bushes, but never succeeded in getting anywhere near them. It is true that sometimes a bird will come near enough to a boat to be shot, and that when they are killed and fall into the water others will come to see what is the matter, but if the shooting had been confined to these methods it would never have made any impression upon the numbers along our seacoast. Almost every citizen of Baltimore is aware that in the harbor gulls come fearlessly to within a few feet of a boat, but assume their natural wariness as soon as they get below Fort McHenry.
"But to return to the trip itself. With Mr. Fisher I started on the Old Bay Line steamer. At Old Point we took the ferry to Cape Charles City, and from there drove to Cobb's Landing, where we were met by the 24-foot bateau, which we had already engaged. Then the cruise began. The first night out we put into Smith's Island, and were entertained very hospitably by Captain Hitchins, of the life-saving station. An old deserted lighthouse was near by and upon the railing surrounding the top of this, at an elevation of 150 feet, blankets were prepared for us. There was a fine breeze, and it was enough to make the blankets very comfortable at the top, while at the base of the tower the heat was unbearable and the mosquitoes where so numerous that the dense clouds of them could be cut with a knife. In the early part of the night we descended for a surf bath, but were driven back to our porch by the swarms of ravenous mosquitoes.
"Many islands were visited, and a thorough survey of the main breeding sites was accomplished. The territory covered is with but very few exceptions devoid of any human habitation except those of the life-saving crews and the lighthouse keepers. The most prominent landmarks upon the little islands are the oyster houses -- not the oyster packing houses which are familiar to the Western Shore Marylander, but little shanties built high up on poles like the huts of the Samoan Islanders. In these live the men who guard the extensive oyster beds.
"On of the saddest sights of the trip was the remnants of Cobb's Island, formerly one of the most favored breeding sites of the sea birds along our coast which was several years ago almost completely washed away. In this instance the elements joined forces with the human sea bird slayers in driving the birds from their natural haunts.
"Strange to say, the beach birds were not in their usual evidence at any time during the trip. I do not understand the cause."