Marcus Island Birds — KURODA 
87 
BRIEF HISTORY OF MARCUS ISLAND 
It is said that an American priest discovered 
the island first, naming it Marcus, or Weeks, 
Island (whether Weeks is identical with Mar- 
cus is not clear). In November, 1883, Tsune- 
taro Shinzaki landed on the island as the first 
Japanese, coming on board the British ship 
"Eta” of the Yokohama Konshiro Company. 
Another Japanese, an offshore fisherman of 
Kinkazan (N. Honshu), reached the island 
accidentally. In 1889, Captain Rosehill of the 
United States visited the island and suggested 
its commercial value to his government, and 
in December, 1896, Shinroku Mizutani, the 
chief of the South Pacific section of the Tokyo 
Bird and Mammal Company, explored the 
island, followed by Haruzo Kobayashi, a 
former navy officer. They emigrated the na- 
tives of the Bonin Islands and Hachijo Island 
to Marcus, to engage in collecting feathers 
of the albatross which was then very abundant. 
This trade was assisted by Shichigoro Ka- 
mitaki, a trader merchant of Yokohama, and 
the trade patent for bird-feather collecting, 
fishing, and salt production was given to 
Mizutani by the Tokyo Prefectural Govern- 
ment, which, on July 24, 1898, declared Mar- 
cus Island to be in the Bonin Islands section 
under the name Minami Torishima. 
In July, 1902, a Japanese cruiser, "Kasagi,” 
commanded by Lt. Akimoto, was dispatched 
to the island to receive the expedition party 
of Dr. Bryan of the Bishop Museum of Hono- 
lulu, who stayed on the island the week of 
July 30. On August 28 of the same year, an- 
other Japanese cruiser, "Takachiho,” with Dr. 
Shinpo, Mr. Yoshida, newspapermen, a law- 
yer, and others on board, visited Marcus on 
a round-trip cruise from Yokosuka-Torishima- 
Marcus-Bonin Islands. 
Both Bryan and Yoshida reported on the 
history, geology, climate, fauna, and flora, 
and the more scientific and detailed report by 
Bryan is of particular importance in ornithol- 
ogy. As curator of ornithology at the Bernice 
P. Bishop Museum, he gives valuable data 
on the bird life of the island, reporting many 
species which are not found on the island 
now, including Micranous marcusi, which he 
described as a new species. Yoshida, a geolo- 
gist, only reports some birds in vernacular 
names used on the island. According to him, 
there were 29 colonists (including four wo- 
men) making their living by catching the 
birds which they stuffed for exportation. The 
birds, about 20 species in all, were all sea 
birds crowding all over the island and were 
exceedingly tame. They were caught with a 
bamboo pole with a round net at the end and 
were stuffed in fast procedure. This regrettable 
slaughter, chiefly of Sterna fuscata, which was 
the most numerous species, is further de- 
scribed in detail in Bryan’s report. Most re- 
grettable is the fact that the albatrosses, 
Diomedea immutabilis and D. nigripes, for whose 
feathers the colonists first settled on this 
island, were already all gone by that time. 
The sad history of their disappearance is also 
recorded in detail in his report. 
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE ISLAND 
Until how recently the colonization existed 
is not certain. However, World War II was 
undoubtedly the second and decisive crisis 
for many species of birds, as the physical 
topography was entirely changed. About 
5,000 Japanese troops were garrisoned on the 
island, and after severe bombardment by 
United States planes they retreated from the 
island before the end of the war to be replaced 
by American troops. The newly constructed 
camps and materiel of the latter were then 
all destroyed (a few trucks and jeeps have 
been repaired and are now in use on the is- 
land) by a violent typhoon, accompanied by 
storm waves which washed out almost one 
third of the island. (Bryan reports typhoons 
of particular violence in October, 1901, and 
September, 1902.) Subsequently, a weather 
station was constructed on the eastern coast 
by the Japanese under the supervision of 
American occupation forces (construction 
was begun in December, 1950). About 30 
