^°9o?T TiauiLR, Birds of Laysan Island. 385 



and we began to gain some notion of what a pandemonium the 

 distant swarm was raising. We landed on the west side, where 

 there is a narrow passage through the breakers, which curl with 

 beautiful hues on the coral reef, and then sweep shoreward with 

 flying foam. 



Mr. Max Schlemmer, the superintendent, his two assistants, 

 and a couple of dozen Japanese laborers constitute the human 

 population. The phosphate rock is very valuable for manufac- 

 turing fertilizer, and is worked assiduously during the summer 

 months. To Mr. Schlemmer the expedition owed much, for his 

 unfailing courtesy and substantial aid very materially promoted 

 the success of our week's visit. • 



Laysan is a slightly elevated atoll, rudely quadrilateral in 

 contour, and suggests a shallow basin or platter. It is three 

 miles long by one and one half broad. In the center is a wholly 

 enclosed lagoon, covering perhaps one hundred acres. This is 

 surrounded by a broad, level plain, that part nearest the very 

 saline waters of the lagoon being destitute of any vegetable life. 

 From this plain the land rises as a gentle sandy slope to a low 

 divide or rim (about twenty-five feet above the water) near the 

 oca beach. Not a tree breaks the monotonous expanse, but 

 instead are low bushes {Che/iopodiiim saiuhvicheum, SantalutJi 

 freycinctiaiiinn, Sccei'ola ka'/iigi) and broad areas of high, tussocky 

 grass. On the narrow seaward slope the turf is short and wiry, 

 and a broad band between the bare shores of the lagoon and the 

 beginning of the bush-grass is covered mostly with matted beds of 

 succulent Fortiilaca lutca, and reddish-flowered Scsuviutn portu- 

 lacastniin. Beautiful morning-glories, yellow Tribuhis (reminding 

 one of Potenfilla), showy Capparis, and numerous other flowers 

 add a bit of color to the landscape. 



Laysan is a bird paradise. Albatrosses {Dioinedea immutabilis 

 and D. iiigripes) by the thousands rear their young here each 

 year, free from fear of molestation or injury. More numerous 

 even are the Sooty Terns {Sterna /iiHgiiiosa), while the Gray- 

 back Tern {S. /iitiafa), White Tern {Gygis alba kittlitzi), Nolo 

 {Micranons ha%vaiiciisis), and Noddy {Anoiis sfolidus) are all 

 abundant. Attractive and interesting birds are the boobies, of 

 which two species, Sii/a cyanops and Sula piscator are on the 



