to Q 
Kridler Comments 
(to RBC) 
P 
•6 
Under banding -you might also insert 87 were banded by Bureau of 
Sport Fisheries personnel on March 14, 1965 . 
Getting over to your table again - in 1964 25 and 24 September, here 
again, poor Bob Fleet had a hard time making it to the top of Miller Peak 
and almost passed out from the heat. The Wedge-tails I’m positive were 
not sampled well enough or counted well enough and so when you say a state¬ 
ment of 2,000 downy nestlings present, that would be a very rough guess 
and it should be so qualified. If it is a rough guess let us not intimate 
that it is otherwise, do you not agree? 
Now in July 1966 (20 July - 1 August) this trip which Heiden took with 
myself and Berger and Ernest Tasaka, the population estimate was ours not 
Heiden*s and you should say that an estimated 10,000 nests present, and that’s 
all it was, a very rough estimate. Then an addition to the table - 1968 
22-25 August, population estimate, many thousands. Under remarks' - so many 
were calling at the same time in the early dawn hours that the island area 
was filled with a loud and steady roar. The same would hold true for the 
September 1967 remarks. _ _ 
"“New the Great Frigatebird - Hunter’s estimate of 50 ; 000 - all I can /JS 
say is "yee gods 11 ; where did he drag that figure from? • In your last 
paragraph under populations - in your various numerical estimates, etc., 
there’s an error. In March 1964, we made a very damn good estimate as 
to the number of birds on the nests and’.what was probably in the sky. 
Walker, myself and O’Neal covered the ground very thoroughly and blasted 
very thoroughly to come up with this figure and we feel it is a very good 
one. I notice on the observations page that there is quite a bit of, or 
rather I should say, quite a few observations seen from offshore. And 
other than indicating the presence of the birds there at that time I don’t 
know of what value those figures have. Under ecology - breeding habitat - 
second paragraph - last sentence - in March 1968 these Frigatebirds nested 
i"-.....Strike that out and instead insert the sentence: this was true also 
daring March 1965 ^ 67 , and 68. Then on Nihoa these birds nest mostly in 
small colonies which contain a dozen to 30 nesting pairs, add or insert 
after pairs the phrase ’’while distributed over the island.” "Others also 
are found nesting in widely scattered individual sites.” Then I would strike 
out the sentence "the larger colonies tend to be located just above areas (Vp 
below which are considerable decreases in elevation" this does not 
necessarily hold true. I don’t think it’s -the rule either. Larger colonies 
definitely are at the heads of the valleys and some are at the base of the 
wait out croppings at the heads of the valleys and some are above. 
Then we get on to your tables page - the last entry March 1964 - 1,28(3 
active nests - most with eggs. This count was made by Bureau personnel and 
not by Pacific Project people. In July 1964 when the population estimate - ^ 5 ) 
just say none mads, instead of the question mark. Anybody reading this then 
of con:c; thouls be satisfied. When you leave the question mark he wonders 
what aw:.ct ly does that question mark mean. 
