121 . 
27 Fe&. (cont). as they attempt to make it to their 
nest. On one occasion X saw a twig exchange 'hands* 
5 ti^es before one bird finally managed to land wth it. 
At 1855 Roost Counts were made both towers, as follows: 
N. Tower - 154 RFB, 200 Frig. 
R. Tower 120 RFB, 17 Frig. 
£ 0 -tai 217. This is a seen number, 
probably twice that number are in the roos, or at least 
\ 400-iix500 RFB' and about 400 Frig. We must add a cirrigen- 
da to last report - there were not 800 RFB in the roosts 
or about the island. 
Brown Boobies remain hard to count - there are prbb. 
still about 75 Brown Boobies on the island, but they are 
dispersed all about, roost on the reef §■ the buoy, and 
rocks, even on Sand Is., that a proper evaluation is 
difficult. The Blue-faced Booby number remains con- 
sistent. 
On two successive days 3 Fairy Terns have been seen 
flying about the siiand. Today courtship flights by one 
pair were conspicuous, synchronized, but erratic, flights 
of the two over the N. Roost. We als^ljiad a tremendous 
increase in the RTTB pop - Alan had x nrfigx2g fl in the air 
this afternoon. There were many more on the ground - 
so at least 200 birds, prob. a good deal more, were on 
the island today. We banded and bled five of them. They 
will continue to get easier to find and handle. Alan, 
grabbed and X bled 5 SAF Blue-faced Boobies this 
afternoon after dinner. They gave me difficulty - x. 
could not consistently find the heart, ihe sternum is 
box-shaped, with a projection ventrally that points 
caudad - it makes direct penetration to the heart more 
difficult that in other species. The blue-faced are 
hardy, and seem not to feel the needle, flying away 
afterward without hesitation. 
While I remain after the flick to get ready for 
departure. Bob and Alan go after no* 1001 Laysan — only 
66 more birds to band and the magic feat has been 
accomplished in the shortest month of the year. Con- 
sidering that 3/4 of the Laysan have bands, we have to 
handle many birds to get 1000 unbanded ones. 
The painting is showing conclusively that theye is 
minimal intra-island movement of Lay sans. Only one or 
two per day, out of several hundred seen, move from one 
area to another. In any location at least 99 psr cetn 
of the birds are of the color for that area. 
t 
