EXPEDITION TO LAYSAN ISLAND IN 1911. 11 



species of beetles, the larvae of which devoured everything that was 

 not well poisoned. 



Plenty of netting is needed to keep flies away from the skins while 

 drying. Rough frames should be made and their legs immersed in 

 pans of water, in order that boxes of skins may be placed in safety 

 from the ants. The beetles are, however, harder to control, for they 

 seem to reach the skins notwithstanding the netting. If the skins show 

 signs of larvse, put them in a tight box with a good cover. In the top 

 of the box place a shallow pan of carbon bisulphide, using about one 

 tablespoonful of the fluid for every cubic foot of space. Cover the 

 box tightly, allowing it to remain 48 hours. The carbon bisulphide 

 should be put in the top of the box, since the gas settles. This should 

 be repeated in about seven days, so as to kill the larvae that may have 

 hatched in the meantime. Where pests are so prevalent, I recom- 

 mend treating each box of skins in this manner as they are packed 

 for shipment. 



The acres of carcasses left by the poachers have furnished breeding 

 places for flies and beetles; hence their great numbers. 



BIRDS AS SEED CARRIERS. 



Mr. H. W. Henshaw, Chief of the Biological Survey, requested that 

 our party make careful observation as to the presence of seeds or balls 

 of earth attached to any portion of the bills, feet, or plumage of the 

 island birds, since there is reason to believe that birds play an im- 

 portant part in the transplantation of seeds from shore to shore. 



In handling and preparing 400 specimens we found but one that 

 was of interest in this connection. On the foot of a Laysan albatross, 

 between the second and third toes, was a spinate seed about the size 

 of a flattened buckshot, the spines of which were firmly embedded in 

 the sides of the toes. The seed was sent to Washington, where it was 

 identified as the seed of Tribulus hystrix R. Br. This species belongs 

 to the family Zygophijllacex and is generally distributed in the South 

 Sea Islands. So far as known there is no record of its occurrence on 

 Laysan, but a thorough examination of the flora might reveal its 

 presence there. 



NARRATIVE. 



The 17th day of April, 1911, our party sailed from Honolulu on the 

 revenue cutter Thetis. During the first five days of our trip few 

 birds were seen except a number of black-footed albatrosses 

 (Diornedea nigripes) that followed the ship nearly all the way. When 

 within about 50 miles of Laysan, their numbers increased, and later 

 they were joined by one or two of the white species (J), immutabilis), 

 also by a few sooty terns (Sterna fuliginosa) and wedge-tailed shear- 

 waters (Puffinus cuneatus). 



