102 
Iff L,V H * iW ^ 
1963- 'Ml? 
25 March 1963 
W© arrived at Canton Island at 1430 today, and were met at the 
pier by the American sdmlsistrator for the island. e then went to his 
L 
office, were he told txs something about the island, and told us where we# 
could rent a Jeep from one the workers there so that we might look for 
birds while we were here. We had dinner at the island cafeteria and then 
rode around the island clockwise, to a point about a mile past the Project 
Mercury tracking station, stopping along the way to w&lk to the beach and 
lagoon sides of the etoll to look for birds. 
We noted very few birds as we approached Canton today. I recorded 
a group of about 9 fairy terns about 1000, and 3 sooty terns a bit later. 
There is an £rtificial cut through the etoll to the hertling place, actually 
two cut with an island in the middle, on the west side of the atoll, and 
most of the sea birds which we noted at Canton were and around this small 
island. There were numerous brown and a few masked boobies, some sooty and 
gray-back terns and this third which we noted at Howland that appears to be 
intermedi te between the two, and perhaps a hundred or so common noddies. 
We saw only a few frigates in the area, 3 being noted in the vicinity 
of some shallow lagoons on the east side of the atoll. Golden plovers 
were fairly sbfundant all over the half of the atoll which we visited, 
we saw numerous small groups of turnstones, and noted some wandering 
tattlers along the edge of the lagoon. 
Canton is e l&r/ff circular ate 11, the lagoon is enclosed except for 
the ship channel, end the land varies in width fron.60 to 600 yards. We 
recieved a bjyjhure on the island. The ground is primaryly coral rock or rock 
fragments, or coral send.a^d the island is very dry. The native vegetation 
