' 
40 
b~.ro mor ?g b—.o.ck“»~co o s or.ny rr..3 orr * 
In i few ndnatos this Am I watched a pair of ^aysans 
copulate* For twenty minutes prior to copulation there 
a steady activity of mutual preening of the head and ne ck 
and rarely the breast* Occasionally this was accompanied 
by the call which seems to doubuo as a threau ca ll to 
trespassers in the territory. This call is noj; urli.ee that 
of babies which call to get attention: It as soiw, but —. 
sounds strained to my ear* After the long session of mutual 
preening, the male, with no apparent display simply_mounted 
the ferula, and copulation too place. Aftor copulation the? 
immediately gave the same call clacked her bill several s 
times ( <S also clacked ) and each sot cut to preen themsolvo 
' about ten minutes lator they resumed the mutual preen- 
r* 
several 
other occasions I have seen Laysans 
ing* On _ 
copulate or attempt copulations 'with little or no display 
and only this nemck and head preening* After watching a 
number of pairs I believe that this courtship preening is 
very important in the maintainenco of the pair bond* In 
defense behavior , a threaten Laysan J s territory at ehis 
seems ill defined, but intruders are repulsed in a very 
typical fashion. The defender arches his neck placing the 
bill on the breast feathers and utters the strained call* 
The effect of the posture is to make the bird seem muck 
larger than normal, while the call announces to the intrud¬ 
er that the territory is occupied* Laysans are not chival¬ 
rous sorts of birds and attack intruders when their backs 
are turned also. 
In cutting the vegitation study areas today I noted 
two communities which seem to be cJLimasc and stable in the 
ecological sense. The old high grass shock community seems 
to be a well defined association of saphrophytic organisms 
and insects { sow bugs, cock-roachos etc. )* Young vigorous¬ 
ly growing shocks have fewer insects than old dying clumps. 
In the older dying clumps is a rich humus created, 
and a very productive microenvironment for roaches and other 
associated insects. Under the scaveola clumps, and indeed 
the whole scaveola clump, appears to represent the Vegeta¬ 
tion climax for this island. Soil under the scaveola is 
inordinately rich compared to the rest of the island and 
there are a large number of insects associated with this. 
The environment in terms of temperature and humidity under 
these bushes seems to be very constant, and there as a 
leaf litter and branch litter there often 2 -4 inches deep: 
This like the Beech-Maple forest floor provides a very 
rich environment for many saphrophytes and unseats. 
o r 
y 
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