AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAN, ETC. 



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pinched our legs, which was by no means pleasant. This in any case was the habit of the 

 young Albatrosses ; but also the old ones did not fly away until they found out that we really 

 meant to harm them. It was thus possible for us to take all the birds we wanted without 

 the help of a gun, except a few, namely the Duck, the Himatione, and such species which 

 visit the island only occasionally. The tameness of the birds sometimes became troublesome. 

 A Frigate-bird once took the cap off a Japanese workman, and carried it high up into the 

 air before it dropped it again, and this play was repeated for several days. A Japanese, 

 returning with two full baskets from an egg-collecting tour, was hit on the neck by a flying 

 Albatross, so that he tumbled down and rolled among the eggs. 



" Laysan is an actual bird-paradise, such as may not be found again on the globe's 

 surface. While land-birds are of lesser importance, and must be content if they are left 

 unmolested, the sea-birds are the dominating and domineering occupants. They characterize 

 the whole island. From an extended portion of the North Pacific Ocean they flock to this 

 island, which, on account of its sandy soil, is more convenient to them than many others 

 which, though being uninhabited, lack the sand and consist merely of rock, in which the 

 Petrels, which deposit their eggs in long tunnels, cannot burrow. 



" The quantities of birds nesting on Laysan are prodigious. When approaching Laysan 

 we saAv clouds of birds marking the situation of the island, and the Terns (Sterna fuliginosa), 

 which were seeking their nesting-places, appeared from far off like swarms of bees. It is 

 most difficult to guess at the number of these masses of birds ; but those we saw flying 

 numbered tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. In many places almost every 

 square foot of ground is literally occupied by breeding birds, so that the wanderer finds it — 

 specially at night — hardly possible to put down his feet without hurting the birds. But the 

 birds are not only distributed horizontally over the island but also vertically, so that they 

 dwell one above the other as well as side by side. Wide portions of the island, especially those 

 with soft sand and but little vegetation, are honeycombed by the Petrels. Nothing is more 

 tedious than to walk over such ground. The thin ceiling of the birds' burrows breaks 

 through continually, and one sinks in to above the knee at every step. On places Avhere thick 

 scrub grows, especially the Chenopodhim sandwicheum, it happens that not only two parties, 

 but even four, live above each other ! On the top of the bushes the Frigate-birds have 

 built their nests ; deeper below r , in the same bushes, the little land-birds (mostly A otocephalus, 

 sometimes also Himatione) are breeding ; below, on the ground, overshaded by the branches, 

 breed the beautiful Tropic-birds ; and, down in the ground, the black Petrel hatches out its 

 young in subterranean passages. Thus the birds live in four stories, and a comparison with 

 the series of flats in large towns is opportune. 



" In spite of this excellent use of all the available space, the birds which have chosen 

 Laysan for their breeding-home would not be able to breed if they arrived there all at the 

 same time ! They are therefore obliged to make room for others, so that some species of 

 sea-birds leave the place as soon as their young are strong enough to fly; and while the 

 former occupant is leaving, the new comers already begin to arrive. Thus we see a constant 

 coming and going ; and it follows that breeding-species can be found at almost every season 

 of the year, a fact which is remarkable even in the tropics, where the breeding-season is 

 generally less regular. In this way a most definite succession, which probably dates back 

 thousands of years, takes place year after year in the arrival and departure of certain species. 



