AUT. 10 BIRDS OF PINCHOT EXPEDITION FISHER AND WETMORE 43 



They were very tame and unsuspicious and showed little fear w^hen 

 approached. Mr. Cleaves, while taking moving pictures of them at 

 Hood Island, was forced to push some individuals out of the field, 

 as they were obstructing the foreground. When a gun was dis- 

 charged near by they circled about for a few moments and then 

 returned to their resting places. They utter rather plaintive notes, 

 compared with the harsh rasping calls of their northern relatives. 

 This species, wdth its delicately colored plumage, graceful flight, and 

 interesting habits, may be considered one of the most attractive of 

 the whole group. 



STERNA FUSCATA OAHUENSIS Bloxham 



Pacific sooty tern 



Sterna Oahuensis Bloxham, Byron's Voy. Blonde to the Sandwich Islands, 

 1826 (publ. Feb. 20, 1827), p. 2.51. (Hawaiian Islands.) 



An adult male, taken at Uahuka in the Marquesas Islands Sep- 

 tember 24, 1929, measures as follows: Wing, 268.0; tail, 185.5; cul- 

 men, 41.2; tarsus, 22.0 mm. Sooty terns from the Pacific islands, 

 according to Mathews,-® have longer " streamers " or outer tail 

 feathers than those from the West Indies, and in the small series 

 compared at this time appear to the junior author, in addition, to 

 be more sooty black above. They are separated as a distinct race 

 under the name given above. 



At the same island of Uahuka, two juvenile birds were taken on 

 September 19 and 24, one of them about one-half grown and the 

 other with wings developed to a point where it must have had the 

 power of flight. 



The sooty tern was seen casually in the Galapagos, Marquesas, 

 and Tuamotu groups, as individuals or small flocks now and then 

 passed the yacht at some distance. When we reached Uahuka in 

 the Marquesas, however, an immense colony was found on Hat 

 Island — a flat-topped island of 10 acres or more in extent, with 

 perpendicular walls varying in height from 15 to 30 feet above the 

 ocean surface. Those who climbed to the top, with the aid of a 

 rope fastened above by a native, found the birds at their nests so 

 closely associated that it was difficult to walk without stepping on 

 eggs or young. The birds, as they arose in great masses, made a 

 deafening noise that could be heard a mile or more away. Some of 

 the young, in scrambling about, frequently fall into the sea and, 

 according to statements of natives, are soon eaten by groupers or 

 other larger fish. In fact, the natives are said to use them as bait. 

 The small one made into a specimen was picked up soon after it 

 fell into the water. Almost at any time of night these terns were 

 heard flying about the vessel, 



28 Birds Austr., vol. 2, pt. 4, Nov. 1, 1912, p. 394. 



