22 
:• _ t s-oo 
feeding on a fish that had probably been dropped by a Sula cyanops as it 
ran the gauntlet of the Man~o f war bird colony. It seems striking to find 
this tender-billed shore bird-.turned scavenger and even canibal, for sorae 
of the boys saw one devouring a tern T s egg 1 . 
I found the body of a recently dead Bonin Island Petrel (A. hypoleuca) 
but no signs of it above ground. In the vast mass of Wedge-tailed Shear¬ 
waters scattered everywhere over the island we noted only a few dozen P. 
nativitatis. However, as evening approached they appeared in greater 
number near camp., so it may merely be that they are more nocturnal than 
cuneatus. 
The rarity of the Ped-tailed Tropics worries me. Piecing together the 
dope of those who went in the other directions there seems hardly a dozen 
pairs on the island and the wild sailors have pulled the tail feathers out 
of half of those. It may be early, but since Po rubricaudus usually lays 
i 
. on the sand in the shade of bushes it may be that they have left for other 
islands to nest now that this is a glaring desert. 
Speaking of glare - the utter lack of green eye relief makes the drifted 
coral sand almost unbearable to the eyes - only my helmet is going to save 
* 
me, for I fear I will not be able to judge light changes and focus with the 
dark glasses. 
Looked in the rocks at So. end and in the guano rock piles near the 
tobacco patch for Bulweria and Oceanodrcma but with out avail. I would 
expect them both to be late arrivals on the island. 
m the distance as we came home we saw a vast hovering circling crow 
VU 
of thousands upon thousands of Sterna ^uliginosa that act as tho they had 
ct o •v.v* 1 0100 •""lorl yi o.t rr- 
3*c olea. 
Monday 4-9-23 
Cloudy early - sun Wo. e. trade 
