Feb 
28 
out just north of the small boat landing and he about t mile further 
up the beach. Twelve seals were tagged before we reached the bare 
iff. 
sandy area. Two large relatively unvegetated areas extending up for 
50 yards or so into the vegetation of the island had 6 or 8 seals each. 
The bare area at the north end seems to be predomin ntly nested by 
black-foots, though Laysans are still numerous. There is a much more 
noticable chick mortality in this area, and this is, no doubt, due 
largely to the more exposed nature of the habitat. As I turned back 
toward the beach from the east-west ridge I stumbled upon a group of 
5 or 6 common noddies nesting on the ground. They were so tame I 
could pick a couple of the birds up off the nests. Each nest had one 
» 
egg in it. This nesting habit is quite different from that of the 
Hawaiian noddies, which all seem to be congregated in and around the 
low, spreading casurina trees east of the small boat lancing. None of 
their nests are on the ground, being either in the tree itself, or in 
the Scaevola around it. I also observed a group of 6 bristle-thighed 
curlews and the bare sandy area, and one wanderling tattler on the beach 
on the way back . 
Tagging data for this afternoon is as follows 
// 5 adult - female 1535 
>10 yearling - female 1545 
#21 adult - male 1550 
#22 adult - female 1600 
