V “ 
3 
Red-tailed Tropicbird ( Phaethon rubricauda ) # Obs. = 1 
The single bird seen had no visible central tail feathers. 
Red-footed Booby ( Sula sula ) # Obs. = 2 
Two adult light-phase birds were recorded north of Molokai. 
Sooty Tern ( Sterna fuscata ) # Obs. = 476 
°Io Section total = 76.8 
Only a few scattered sooties were seen the first day. Feeding 
flocks of up to 150 birds were observed over 150 miles from land on the 
second day. The land base of these birds is uncertain. Except for a 
single immature, all birds appeared to be adults. 
Common Noddy ( Anous stolidus ) # Obs. = 43 
°!o Section total = 10.2 
All noddies were recorded within sight of Molokai where they were 
associating with Wedge-tailed Shearwaters in loose feeding flocks. 
Section n B n -Deep Pelagic Area 12-19 July 
After leaving the area of typical Hawaiian breeding birds some 300 
miles northeast of Hawaii, a barren area about 1600 miles in extent was 
traversed. Aside from the Black-footed Albatrosses following the ship, 
l4 birds were sprinkled over the 552 miles of diurnal observations in 
eight days. This averages out to one non-albatross bird in every 4-1/2 
hours, or about one bird every 40 miles. Black-footed Albatrosses ac¬ 
counted for 18 of the 32 birds recorded (56$>). Of significant note was 
the absence of this species during the first four days of the cruise. 
Constant northeast trades averaging 17-5 knots accompanied most of 
this leg, shifting slightly to the north during the last 2-3 days. 
Relative gusting up to 50 m.p.h. made for generally poor observing condi¬ 
tions. Watch was held from the ship T s bridge during most of this section. 
Effects of colder north Pacific waters were felt around 26-28° N; 
138-l45 0 W, when surface temperatures dropped from 74° to 65° F. Winds 
increased and cloud cover obscured the sky (see Non-Grid Table #3)« 
These changes only slightly affected bird observations. 
SPECIES ACCOUNTS 
Black-footed Albatross ( Diomedea nigripes ) # Obs. = 18 
No albatrosses were seen from 10 July through 13 July. A bird was 
reported by the bridge at sunset on l4 July (27°20 T N; 135°20’W). One 
bird was seen briefly on 15 July but birds were not regularly following 
the ship until l6 July (29° N; 138° W) when three were present most of the 
