A Monograph of Marcus Island. loi 



of being within fifty miles of land — usually, though not always, a 

 low coral island. Fish of the small varieties, commonly 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 qviite 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-ic-k, K-r-a-u-k, a warning 

 which is taken up b}- 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 collection resulted in finding them to agree with the 

 specimens from Guam in being slightly darker than September adult 

 Laysan 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 

 yellowish brown 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 marciisi. New species. Marcus Island Tern. 



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

 male. August 3, 1902. Marcus Island. \Vm. Alanson Bryan. 



Range. Marcus Island and adjacent waters of the northwest 

 Pacific. 



Specific Characler. I^ores deep black; cheeks black, though 

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



