A Mo7iograph of Marcus Island. loi' 



of being within fift}' miles of laud — visually, though not always, a 

 low coral island. Fish of the small varieties, commonl}^ flying-fish, 

 is the staple food ; but on several occasions I found what I believe 

 to be fragments of squid in the stomach contents. A good sized 

 flock was nearly always to be seen sitting on the sand beach close 

 down to the water line, apparently sunning themselves and enjoy- 

 ing the roar of the ocean ; for they would remain hours at a time 

 in this way, and never did I observe them picking up food on the 

 beach after the tide had gone out. 



The birds with eggs sit quite close, allowing one to lift them 

 off the nest, a familiarity which they resent only by picking with 

 the beaks ; but when the young are out of the shell they sit on the 

 branches close by and never fail to swoop close to the head of an 

 intruder, uttering their hoarse K-r-a-ii-k, K-r-a-u-k, a warning 

 which is taken up by others of their kind who come to the spot to 

 assist their distressed neighbors. This coarse call, when taken in 

 connection with their color, has done much, I fancy, to gain for 

 them the not inappropriate descriptive name of "Sea Crow." 



A critical comparison of the specimens secured with those in 

 the Museum colledlion resulted in finding them to agree with the 

 specimens from Guam in being slightly darker than September adult 

 Laysaii and Midway Island birds. The feet, including the soles 

 and webs, in both adult birds from Marcus were quite black, while 

 all the specimens from the Hawaiian Islands show more or less 

 3-ellowish browm in the dry skin. The measurements carefully 

 taken from the two adult birds agree very closely with those from 

 Guam birds, and differ quite appreciably from those given by Mr. 

 Saunders at page 139, vol. xxv of the Catalogue of Birds. 



Micranous tnarcusi. New species. Marcus Island Tern. 



Type. No. 2089. Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. Adult 

 male. August 3, 1902. Marcus Island. Wm. Alanson Bryan. 



Range. Marcus Island and adjacent waters of the northwest 

 Pacific. 



Specific Characler. Lores deep black; cheeks black, though 

 less intense than the lores ; nape and shoulders sooty black with a 



