nuzzled about our ankles like cur- 
ious puppies. 
In the afternoon we concentrated 
primarily on collecting plant spec- 
imens and taking notes on the vege- 
tation. The three dominant el- 
ements of the fauna were coconut 
palms, Messer schmidt i a trees, and 
a long non-pinnated bird nest fern. 
The surface of the ground was most- 
ly pulverized coral, littered with 
coconuts and palm fronds. Hermit 
crabs and large land crabs were 
abundant . Once , when we peered in- 
to a hollow log, we saw an immense 
coconut crab, more than a foot a- 
cross with very large and formi- 
dable pincers which I readily 
believed could open a coconut . 
It was very hot, and every so 
often we would stop to sip some 
water from our canteens. Bob stop- 
ped occasionally to take photo- 
graphs of the various habitats and 
vegetation associations. In all, 
I think we walked at least eight 
miles. Exhausted, we returned to 
camp about 5*00 PM. Grit and sand 
had gotten into our tennis shoes, 
and this, together with our blis- 
The Pacific Bird Observer is a 
bi-monthly newsletter distrib- 
uted to collaborators of the 
Pacific Ocean Biological Sur- 
vey Program of the Smithsonian 
Institution in order to promote 
the understanding of birds and 
their relation to man in the 
Pacific. 
ters, had made the last part of our 
excursion quite uncomfortable. 
Our supper, as usual, was C-ra- 
tions but we attempted to make a 
stew by boiling several cans of dif- 
ferent foods in one pot. It wasn't 
really very tasty, but it couldn't 
have been too bad because the com- 
plaints about the food settled down 
to occasional grunts. 
That evening we banded birds as 
we had the night before and got 
more birds than the night before, 
too--but as a result were more hea- 
vily covered with guano and regurgi- 
tated food than before. These Red- 
footed Boobies seem to have an un- 
fortunate tendency to go from both 
ends when caught, and they are ca- 
pable of inflicting a painful gash 
with their sharp-edged beaks. Com- 
pletely tired, we returned to camp 
and attempted to clean our cuts and 
scratches to avoid infection before 
we went to sleep. 
BIRD STUDY AT SEA 
In mid-October a Lesser Frigate- 
bird was banded in the Phoenix Is- 
lands. Eight months later it was 
in the Philippine Islands. In 
early March, a Black-footed Alba- 
tross was banded in the Leeward Is- 
lands. Fifteen and one-half months 
later it was found near Tiajuana, 
Mexico . 
Besides the movement of breed- 
ing birds to distant lands, spe- 
cies such as South America gad- 
fly petrels, Alaskan storm petrels. 
North American gulls, Australian 
shearwaters, Russian shorebirds, and 
many others make long overwater 
movements to get to the Central 
Pacific . 
What routes do they follow? How 
long do they take? 
(continued on next page) 
