( Cont’d from page b ) 
The courtship of the Red- foots 
is filled with squawks, screeches, 
and posturings. The male, to show 
his devotion, presents the female 
with a stick which is usually 
discarded since the unmated birds 
have not yet begun nest building. 
The nest itself is a crude platform 
of sticks and twigs picked from the 
ground or broken from trees . In 
nesting colonies of Red-footed 
Boobies there is often intense 
competition for nesting material 
with one Red-foot stealing twigs 
from the partly completed nest of 
his neighbor while his neighbor is 
out stealing twigs from still 
another bird. Other twigs are 
stolen from frigatebird nests and 
from abandoned nests of earlier 
years . 
After the single egg, blue- 
white with a rough chalky coating, 
is hatched the young stays in the 
nest for several months until it is 
well grown enough to fend for it- 
self. After fledging the young 
birds spend much time at sea and 
occasionally travel long distances 
from their natal islands (See map). 
When at sea they are more confiding 
than the other central Pacific 
boobies and alight more readily on 
passing vessels. On one occasion 
such inquisitiveness led to some 
discomfort on the part of one young 
booby. It landed on a rotating 
radar antenna just below a cross- 
beam on the mast and was forced to 
duck its head under the mast on 
every rotation as it attempted to 
peer about the boat. 
- Roger B. Clapp. 
► Letters to us concerning our ; 
► program in the Pacific, requests *• 
► to be put on our free mailing *• 
► list for the Pacific Bird h 
► Observer , and contributions for *• ; 
►future issues, should be addres- < 
■ ► sed to Pacific Bird Observer , -« ; 
► Pacific Ocean Biological Survey a ; 
► Program, Smithsonian Institution < 
k W ashington, D. C., 20560. ^ 
IF YOU FIND A BAND... 
(cont’d from page 2) 
heavy paper. Send the following 
information with the band: 
1. Your name and address 
(plainly printed) 
2. All letters and numbers 
on the band. 
3. The date you found the 
band. 
4. The place where you found 
the band. 
5. Tell how you obtained the 
band (on a bird found 
dead -- shot, trapped, 
etc. ) 
PLACE THIS INFORMATION AND THE 
BAND IN AN ENVELOPE AND SEND 
IT TO THE ADDRESS ON THE BAND . 
If the band you found was that 
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- 
vice you will receive a letter from 
the Bird Banding Laboratory tell- 
ing where the bird was banded, what 
kind it was, and who banded it. 
The Smithsonian’s Pacific program, 
or whoever banded it, will also 
learn that you found the band. 
Please do not send bands or 
band numbers to the Smithsonian 
Institution. This may cause con- 
fusion with other banding programs 
operating in the Pacific. 
