* 
4 
Munter made detailed observations on the avifauna (Annual Report of the 
yf ,■£ f. ■" 
Coast Guard for 1915 P* 134-136)• . ‘ ; 
Accounts from other ship wrecks or visits to the island merely mention 
* - r J- . % s ’ - r J : 
* .) „ r ■ ■ .' ... 
the presence of birds, seals and turtles, and lack any Information of 
• * ’ * ; ' ’ .%* . ' 
.r". ' i , 
scientific value. 
• ■■ * ■ 
1 .£ i v ’ . 1 y , , • ‘ 
The Tanager Expedition, under the leadership of Dr. Alexander Wetmore, 
•• v-' - ’ f . ■ .. '>■- ” ir 1, ' :i ; ■' 
f \ , * V * , * t *, ** * * f , ’ 
visited Lisianski from 15 through 20 May 1923* In addition to Dr. Wetmore, 
. •%. , v . •. ^ . ■ . y . 
. ^ the party included Eric Schleramer, hie assistant; Dr. S. C. Ball, Bishop 
Museum; David Thaanum, conchologist; C. Grant, Naturalist; John Baker, 
, / ^ % is ■ 
collector; and George Higgs, Cook. As plants and insects were very rare 
y- ■ <-*• * N 
V- • r i * - v 
the expedition^ botanist and entomologist did not remain ashore. G. P. 
' ’ c . ; ■■ -iv:- . § 
Wilder, Federal warden for the refuge, planted Barringtonia asftatica and 
r - , '■ f : 4, . ■ 14 
' * W’'-'* ' 'l ’ • * ‘ ' _ . 
other plants. Though no record was apparently kept of which species were 
planted on Lisianski, Dr. Wetmore has a list of the species given the 
_»• 'S» • ‘ *•'. * •" ' ff" . \, w 1 
expedition by the Department of Agriculture of the Territory of Hawaii for 
planting on the refuge. Of the ten species on this list only three are 
* ■. J, V \ . '• V /. ; - , ‘ ' ft 
■9 
growing on the island today.^ 
The island was mapped^ and collections were made of birds, mammals, 
insects, arachnids, plants, fish, molluscs, and many varieties of marine 
u m3 
invertebrates. Twenty species of birds were noted by Wetmore (unpub. notesp 
and the bird and mammal life discussed briefly (Wetmore, 1925). The insects 
4 
collected by the Tanager Expedition were described in papers by Timberlake 
(1924), Bryan ( 1926 ), Wheeler (1934), and Zimmerman (1948). Christophersen 
and Caum (l93l) reported that the vegetation was "exceedingly poor, one 
patch of grass at the north end and a few other plants sparsely distributed 
being all that was to be found". Pour species of vascular plants were 
collected. Fish specimens collected by the expedition have been dis.cussed 
by Fowler and Ball ( 1925 ) and Fowler (1927, 1928, 1931* 1934 and 1949). The 
