16 
^+- 8-23 (cont.) 
seen the great sea bird colonies it remains one of the most remarkable of 
bird sights- By the time I got ashore the first bloom of the area about 
the houses had passed, for already the thieving finches had robbed many of 
cJ 
the tern nests whose owners were frightened from the nest by the land- 
ing parties. Even so enough remained to give me a realization of how com- 
* 
pletely the birds hold sway here save only, when man or man T s introduced 
pests compete. To my surprise I found awaiting me the remains of 7 or 8 
old shacks in various stages of collapse/ and Schlemmer tells me there were 
even more when the guano gang of 50 or more Japs was in full career. Before 
the main shack stand the two cocoanut trees that hold the record as being 
the only decent thing man has ever done for this island. In front (West), 
lies a-charming circular cove with a narrow break in the reef thru which 
we glided peacefully on this calm morning while the long swells pounded and 
broke on the reef a hundred yds each side of us. The break in the reef is 
so narrow, howevery that I can imagine the landing would take trained men 
to negotiate in a brisk breeze even from the No. E and with the wind in any 
other quarter it would be impractical for cameras at least. 
Even from the whale boat I could make out the birds, but as it grounded 
and I jumped out on the glorious curving beach I began to make out the 
species which as I said, have completely taken possession of the tumble- 
c 
down, settlement. The flat roof of a former cook shack is black with nesting 
Hawaiian Terns (M. hawaiiensis) which rise and settle back in only momentary 
surprise rather than alarm as the sailors pass with their loads of grub and 
auiire. 
Among them are 3 or 4- pairs of the gentle white Love Tern (G.a 
Xittlitzi) covering their lone egg on the rafters and plate sills of the 
old buildings without even one twig for a nest just as they do in their 
more natural habitat where their egg is laid and balanced in even the 
