Report of a Visit to Midivay Island. 



41 



more important plants determined for Midway are: Cenchrus 

 calycidatiis Cav., Boerhaavia tctya^idra Forst., a variety near Lcpi- 

 dium oaJmensis Chan. I. Schl., Capparis sandwichiana DC, Ipo- 

 mcra insularis Stend., Sccsvola ka'nigii Vahl., Tribulus cistoides 

 Linn., and Eragrostis cynosiiroides (Retz). In addition to the 

 above are three widely distributed beach plants, two of which are 

 grasses that are as yet undetermined. 



List of Birds. 



IvARID^E. 



Sterna fuliginosa Gmel.— Sooty Tern. 



Under the low Sccevola bushes on the eastern end of Sand 

 Island was an extensive colony of Sooty Terns that were rearing 

 their young. They were in about the same stage of development 

 as I had found them on Marcus Island. On Eastern the colony 

 was much larger than on Sand I.sland. This was doubtless due 

 to the more abundant growth of shrubs and grass, which was thick 

 enough to furnish some prote(5lion from the sun. Although I made 

 diligent search, only one ^"gz^ ^^ infertile one, was found. From 

 what I have seen on the outlying islands I conclude that all the 

 colonies of Sooty Terns in the North Pacific nest at or near the 

 same time. A good series of skins was secured. 



Mr. Palmer spent a week on the island (July 11 to 19) without 

 seeing the Gray-backed Tern, Sterna lunata (Peale). It is a 

 peculiar freak in distribution that this species should be met with 

 on all the low islands except Midway, but during my sojourn I did 

 not see a single example, although here, as at Marcus, I w^as es- 

 pecially on the lookout for it. 



Anous stolidus (Linn.). — Noddy. 



There were but few examples of this species on either island. 

 The few nests found were built on the ground, usually under the 

 shrubs which grew on top of the sand mounds. The young were 

 still in the down. 



Micranous hawaiiensis Roths. — Hawaiian Tern. 



Only a little colony of a dozen or twenty individuals w-ere seen 

 on Sand Island. These were huddled together sitting on the low 

 bushes on a sand mound. I have observed that birds of this species 

 seldom leave the place where they have been reared, so that when 



[295] 



