(RBC) 
U>VwW TewA 
p.l6 
Kridler's Comments 
and surprised as to the amount of overhang. We thought that we could see 
most of the Cliff from up on topalong the ridge there between Tanager 
and Miller Peak, but actually found/out it probably overhangs 25, maybe 
sometimes more, feet, so trying to get an idea what is along the dliff 
face from the top is impossible because there a lot of the area you can 
not see and the rocks which we were throwing down probably had been land¬ 
ing half-way down and frightened out the birds from just the lower portion 
of this cliff face. When we got down to the Devil's Slide and gla:ssed over 
the upper portion of the cliff face we could see numerous Fairy Terns in 
the folds and other little pukas there that we couldn't get any idea as to 
what the population may have been that were in these holes. So here again, 
not knowing how Wetmore got his estimates, he may have worked along the base 
of the north cliff face there by boat and got some idea by looking up. So 
your statement about we hesitate to conclude that his estimate was any more 
inaccurate than the recent one is kind of a funny sounding sentence. So I 
don't know just how that sentence should be rephrased but it certainly needs 
rephrasing. 
-----Checking over here, the thought just struck me that we haven't mentioned 
anything about behavior of birds here. Do you intend to cover that in a 
preface or something like that Roger? I think one of the things that should 
be brought out here is the extreme tameness of some of these birds. However, 
not all are so tame as others, for instance the , the Brown Booby is 
much more wary than either the Blue-faced or the Red-footed, and, of course, 
the red-foot on the nest won't get off, but they are, in turn, warier than 
the Blue-faced and are more apt to flush off their nests except, of course, 
when young are very small or the eggs are about ready to hatch. But it is 
certainly a lot easier to - approach the red-footed and the blue-faced than 
the brown. We might mention the wedge-tails and the Bulwer's Petrels habit 
of when we are camped on the island and have our lights on they will fly into 
into the tent. I think that the Blue-gray Noddy is a littl| t more wary than 
the Fairy Tern. You can certainly get a lot closer to a/Fairy Tern than 
you can to a nesting Blue-gray Noddy. 
u 
I don't know how often you noticed the Red-footed Boobies who put 
their bills on their back or those nestling frigatebirds and Red-footed 
Boobies that seem to have a habit, I think it probably is to keep cool, 
not only of fluttering the gular pouch and having the mouth open but also 
drooping head down over the edge of the nest so that the head hangs way 
down below the edge of the nest. 
I have a few odds and ends to clean up on these things, Roger. I 
think by and large it’isn't too bad, although I think you are speculating 
far too much and as I mentioned before, on some of these speculations I 
think the data is rather meager and you are on a little thin ice. I think 
on many of these accounts we should state what has been seen and go a little 
light on all these speculations. Some of them, of course, as regard nest¬ 
ing and knowing the incubation period of some of the birds you can then back¬ 
date their probable time of laying. I didn't know just how I should treat 
this thing; I kind of chopped it up here and there. I would suggest that 
you read it over yourself and check on some of the phrasing. And here 
again, as I also mentioned before, you have spent a couple of days in March 
