Marcus Island Birds — Kuroda 
85 
individuals, as the early birds can be seen 
along northern Japan in late April. 
Puffinus nativitatis 
Small compact flocks and a few individuals 
were occasionally encountered south of about 
27° N. and also around Marcus Island. 
Pterodroma brevipes hypoleuca 
Occasional individuals were seen sailing 
over the sea south of 27-29° N. 
Diomedea nigripes 
A few were always seen, sometimes floating 
on the water, and they followed the ship 
south to about 28° N., but none was observed 
to the southward. D. immutabilis was not seen; 
its occurrence in Japanese waters is earlier 
than nigripes. 
Stercorarius pomarinus 
Two birds were seen in Tokyo Bay on April 
26, and a bird followed the ship for a while 
on April 28 at about 28° N. 
Stercorarius longicaudus (?) 
Three birds, probably of this species, were 
seen at a distance on April 27. 
On arriving at Marcus early in the morning 
on April 30, Sterna fuscata and Anous stolidus 
were seen flying about the island but were 
never observed offshore. 
GENERAL FEATURES OF MARCUS ISLAND 
The island is situated over 1,000 miles from 
Tokyo, 600 miles S.E. by E. of the Bonin 
Islands (Chichijima) and 790 miles N.W. of 
Wake Island at 24°14' N. and 154° E.,^ in 
the same latitude as the north point of 
Formosa. 
According to Yoshida, the former Japanese 
garrison (crew of "Kasagi”) recorded a sum- 
mer temperature of 87-88° F., rarely over 
100° F. The colonists recorded over 130° F. 
outdoors, at the most 92-93° F. indoors, and 
in winter never lower than 60° F. Bryan, dur- 
ing a week’s stay in August, noted a low of 
72° F. and a high of 82° F. The spring tem- 
perature during our stay was as shown below: 
2 Various other records have been made of its posi- 
tion. Cf. Bryan, 1903: 78-79; Yoshida, 1902: 674. 
Temperature 
Date Maximum Minimum 
°C. °C. 
April 30 25.5 20.0 
Mayl... 27.5 21.2 
May 2 25.9 19-8 
May 3 24.6 20.9 
May 4 25.5 20.7 
May 5.... 26.7 22.0 
It was, however, very hot indoors, and the 
sunshine was strong and glaring against white 
coral gravel, the earth temperature reaching 
about 45-50° C. The brooding terns and nod- 
dies seemed to sit on their eggs to protect 
them from being overheated, as the eggs were 
cooler than the gravel. The weather was fine, 
and the only precipitation was on the night 
of May 2. Rainfall is rare, and, as fresh water 
is lacking, the drinking water is said to be 
obtained mainly during the rainy season in 
August. 
The whole island is formed of coral gravel 
and is flat, being only a few meters above 
sea level. It has a triangular litoral line, a little 
over 4 miles in extent, the white beach being 
particularly extended at the western point. The 
coastal reefs are to be found along the north- 
ern and northeastern beaches, and the island 
is surrounded by scattered coral rocks about 
200 meters offshore, especially on the north- 
ern coast. Formerly, the island must have had 
some elevated parts, as Bryan reports that 
’'Near the north end the land attains a height 
of seventy-five feet which was the highest 
point found,” and, ”In the middle of the 
island along this side the highest point is not 
to exceed forty feet, while at the southeast 
point an elevation of sixty-five or seventy feet 
is attained.” However, at present the whole 
island is almost entirely flat as the result of 
war destruction, and the central planted part 
is low, reminding us of former lagoons, which 
he mentioned. At these places he found "four 
separate deposits of loose black alluvial soil,” 
which were a few feet deep according to Yo- 
shida, but we found such soil to be entirely 
lacking at present, and there was no sign of 
