8 - 23-23 
51 
island. One had considerable white on crissum with faint indication of 
light feathers on rump, but no suggestion of a true rump patch. Another 
hold scattered light feathers on crissum - none on rump. All the rest were 
unicolor posteriorly. I am at a loss to account'for the birds I saw on 
snip ooard with the full white rumps. I had assumed that they were simply 
m tne plumage of xull maturity, and that 'chose with less white were grading 
down in age - or at least in degree of high plumage - to the unicolor (in 
rump <1 crissum) immatures. Yet here I am on one of their great breeding 
grounds ano yen I can find no single individual with a real rump patch, 
and 98 to 99 ex 100 exhibit no tendency, even, to white on either crissum 
and (even less) rump. 
Bail has an ornithological find to his credit today.. A pair of Sula 
leucogasters are nesting on the ground among the rocks No.e. of the lagoon. 
This neatly vindicates my first sight record for the island, (cf. 8-11-23) 
So. 2. of the lagoon there is a glorious Man-o'-war bird colony that 
should ce filmed, but time slips by under the curse of days wasted by wind 
% 
and cloud, gale & mist, until I despair of covering half that should be done 
» < . , * 
With even 50^ of working weather I could have made a clean-up ? but except 
* # 
for yesrerday it is rare to get an hour of working weather a day & day after 
day has been an utter blank like today - in fact a blankety-blankI For when 
* 
we goo over 3. of the lagoon it came on to rain - driving horizontally in 
a me. spray that soon soaked us to the skin & chilled us to the bone de- 
spioe one fact the thermometer showed 66° at M. when we got to camp. 
So. 3 
ie lagoon is one small ^o * x o 1 x 10 ! ) wind sculptured phos- 
pnate rock in wnich an interesting colony was nesting. Just a glance with 
'oip-mmaec eve 
i -• 
several pairs cf Bulveria, 1 Phaethcn, 2 gygas. 
severe- Puffinus around the base and a-top the whole, spying for eggs, a 
/ 
