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0Aabn -C-ooWA RV* 
r: Roger B. Clapp 
om: Lugene Kridler 
January 1969 
Well, heio.0 there Roger. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to 
u and all the rest of the people there. I’ve decided to try and get 
,3se comments to you via recorded methods. It seems there is one 
-ntinual interruption after another and I figured maybe this is the 
test way to get it to you. 
Starting with the Black-footed Albatross - under status - present 
and breeding from at least December through June, probably absent from 
August through October. From observations at Midway and everywhere else 
there in the Leeward Islands Albatross beginning to appear at sometime 
around late October to early November so I would say that they probably 
like the rest of the birds in the Chain, this species in the Chain begin 
resting at least in early November, so I don’t see the basis for saying 
probably absent from August through October. On the basis of our 
observations I would say absent from July through at least the middle 
of October. 
Getting into populations - I don’t go along with your statement 
’that recent estimates suggest that the breeding population has decreased 
since 1915. n Going all the way through this whole thing on various species 
( 3 ) this chap Munter seems to be extremely high in his estimates on just about 
everything and I am not familiar with his paper and I very strongly suspect 
the accuracy of his estimates. Then you go on to say that the 60 young 
seen by Wetmore in June 1923 were more than were present on any subsequent 
visit. The only figure for breeding birds which approaches that estimate 
^ was in the 1968 observation of 59 young. That's only a difference of one 
bird and to me this is really splitting hairs. The 60 young seen by » 
Wetmore in June 1923 was almost the same as the 1968 observations so then 
now could we come up with the statement that estimates suggest that the 
breeding population has decreased since 1915* Then you say however that 
this observation was made much earlier in the year than Wetmore’s and it 
seems likely that by June chick mortality would have decreased the number 
present. Well on the basis of all my trips to Nihoa, and that number is 
about 10 now as I recall, I think that there’s very little chick mortality 
at all on these. We get up there in July and then again In August, you 
find no bones, you find no old bands, and we’ve been banding birds up there. 
Now this is not like Laysan and Lisianski and even Pearl and Hermes Reef 
where you have quite a bit of mortality. I think there’s very very little 
mortality and ptntil someone can come along and show me that there is 
considerable mortality I don’t think that a statement like this belongs 
in this particular paper. There’s bound to be a few that may be deserted 
but we haven’t found it so. I was there in July of 1964 then again in 
: ily and e arly August of 1966, and in late August of 1968 and found no 
vidence of mortality. This isn’t saying of course that a few birds might 
ot have died, but I don’t think that the mortality there amounts to a 
.4.ill of beans or is significant at all and I feel that your statement that 
