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1 
Since the vast majority of the colony contained large chicks.the adults 
were not sitting as tight as they did in July. A total of 4,500 adults 
was banded and 4,000 of these birds were streamered. 
Members of the P0BSP field party returned and streamered 285 adults 
while engaged in banding activities. If this sample of returns tru^ly 
represents the colony as a whole then we can safely say that about 6% 
of the Howland Sooty Tern population had been banded before July, 1966* 
The breakdown of the returns was : 280 Sooty Terns originally banded on 
Howland, 2 originally banded on McKean’:; 1 originally banded on Phoenix; 
and 2 whose original banding location is not known to us* This would 
mean that 1*8% of the Howland breeding birds have been banded (very 
possibly as breeding birds) on islands other than Howland* Of the 280 
returns originally banded on Howland 13(4.6%) were banded in July, 1964; 
119 (42.5%) were banded in October,1964; 142 (50.7%) were banded in 
February, 1965, and 6 (2*1%) were banded in May, 1965* 
Gray-backed Tern Estimated population--—-----—5 
(Stlunstto.) Sp§@im©n§ collected 1 
An adult Gray-backed Tern flew over the campsite at 0900, 14 August. 
Another adult Gray-backed Tern flew over camp at 1700 the same day and 
was collected. Both birds were first seen when flying along the beach 
with Sooty Terns. The collected bird, an adult female, had no brood 
patch but had recently completed molt and had a somewhat enlarged ovary* 
Common Noddy Estimated population-- • 25 +.10% 
( Anous stolidus ) Specimens collected —------ • ^ 
On 14 August a flock of nine noddies was observed feeding at roosting 
at the north end of the island; six birds were seen roosting at the south¬ 
west end of the island; and one individual was found at the northeast 
end of the island. Both small flocks contained both adults and immatures. 
On 16 August a group of 21 were found roosting along the northwest beach 
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during the afternoon. Eighteen of the 21 birds were in two small groups 
of about 9 birds each; the one group roosting on the sand about four 
or five feet below the top of the sandy beach crest, the other group 
roosting on exposed rocks at the edge of the reef. The other three birds 
were roosting together about 100 yards down the beach from the first 
two groups and with them roosted an immature Sooty Tern* Four of the 
nearer 18 birds were immatures* 
