h-9-23 
23 
Laysan ad. 
Decided to do a good bit of scout work before .getting down to brass tack 
o 
with the movie - 
Cloudy at dawn but by 9:00 it had broken away into the glare that seems 
typical under these No.e. trade conditions. 
Wilson, Wetmore, Seno and I struck out east and followed around the No. end 
of the lagoon through the two damp patches where "pickle weed" is still clinging 
to life. Killed a few more rabbits- The remnant of the former host is necess¬ 
arily congregated here. 
The Laysan Albatross also seem to like this green stuff and are thicker 
here than anywhere else on the island. 
Just beyond the larger patch Nc. e. of the lagoon the Sooty-backed Tern 
s 
apparently intend to nest, but for the moment they -are still a circling screaming 
undecided, mass of whirling feathers and a babel of tongues. 
» * 
Besr of all was the sight of a flock of 11 Laysan Teal out waddling around 
in the pickle weed. They were never abundant - totalling, perhaps 60 at their 
peak according to Schlemmer, so it is a delight to find they have survived the 
sanding in of the old fresh water pond and the extirpation of nesting cover. 
We also saw a nair together in another part of the same damn natch. 
Finding the Teal gave me renewed hope of finding the Rail, for it would 
% 
seem that he was better adapted to survive in the. low matted pickle weed that 
is left in these two spots than any of the other endemic residents. But not 
a trace of Rail or Honey-eater or Miller Bird could we find. 
Finches were common among the rocks where the Sooty-backs are to nest ; 
and also down among the albatrosses and shearwaters, in the pickle weed patch. 
I I V- 
more c 
V-' --O ■ 
Wandering Tattler from among the thousands of Turn- 
W 
prtr *P*i ovpv 
I'"' 
on 
the way back I saw a Curlew break and eat a Gray-backed Tern egg and 
