19 
have their breeding spread out, and there is a constant 
supply of chicks, juvenals and adult birds for such a labora¬ 
tory. From having worked with avian physicbly before I can 
say that the supply of birds here excells a^oything I have 
ever i-.’orked with or heard about. 
^ Skinned several birds in the afternoons, and hunted for 
an hour each day with no success. 
1014-63 
Bill and I today began the whole-hearted construction 
of an observation platform on the Radar tower to the South- 
West of the buildings. Bill ( alians the human fly ) clamored 
about at the top of the tower, while acrophobic me hoisted 
lumber et.al.up to his precarious perch. I admire jgis guts. 
The basics of the platform we completed before dinner and o n 
the way in saw another Eroli a which was then collected and 
turned out to be a Sharp—tailed Sandpiper. Xn the evening 
in spite of some persistent showers and scaveola, with the 
help of the Coastguardsmen we went Frigate and Red-footed Booby 
banding. Although we had grave difficulties in the Scaveola 
we tagged over 140 of the larger birds and about 200 in total. 
While the moon is down we expect to get at it once again. 
10-15-63 
This AM we finished the Radar tower's platform just be¬ 
fore the rains came. The platform now rests about 60 feet 
above the ground, and about 70 feet above the sea level. From 
it we can see the whole island, and with the spotting scope 
should be able to monitor bird activities over the whole 
atoll. X also should be able to get some excellent-pictures 
of bird behavior with the 6x telephoto on the 16mm. Also, 
■with the birds flying by very closely there will be opportun¬ 
ity to photograph in flight behavior. Skinned the Sharp- 
# ta:Ll this M aiS0 * In the afternoon while Bill presented an 
information lecture to the men on .the station ( my turn in two 
weeks ) I repacked the skins in the trunk with plenty of moth 
balls, and fumigated them. After Bill «t«s finished we went to 
North end of the island to work on a tower there: after an hour 
we- were rained out, and so retired to recoup energy and spirits 
for the remainder of the day as it was already dinner time 0 
The wind again shifted to the North East at 15 - 30 knots, and 
it looks like another siege of bleak weather. Perhaps we shall 
see some new accidentals brought on this storm. 
