SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington, D, C. 20560 
Dear Maryanna: 
On the recent boat we received several letters which 
require answers and also some matters here which you would 
probably like to know about. 
In regard to Mr. Danko 1 s letter of August 12, I will 
be happy to fill the vacant position on the At-Sea Cruise 
beginning in October. Vin says that he will gladly stay 
on in Alaska and make observations. I might say that the 
proposed Pribilofs—to—Aleutians trip on September 5 is 
only of 18 hours duration (that is to Hike1ski but the ship 
goes on to Atka and then returns to St. Paul where it will 
leave again on September 15 for Dutch Harbor and Seattle). 
This therefore leaves the problem of what is Vin to do if 
he remains in Alaska for an additional period after my de¬ 
parture for Washington? It might be of value for him to 
make a auick island homing tour through the Aleutian chain 
stopping at those places sewed by Peeve Airlines and check¬ 
ing for Puddy Turnstones that we have banded on St. George. 
Some of the areas are closed unless you have security passes 
and it would be necessary to check in advance with the military 
liason officer in Anchorage to get the necessary passes. I 
do think that any time spent on this project after October 1 
would probably be wasted. Due to the time lag in our getting 
mail, I suggest that a reply to this be sent by return mail 
or TPX. It could be as also stated in the letter that this 
will be settled in the next letter so you need not answer. 
As of 22 August, we have banded 1,200 turnstones and 
painted the rumps of 258 with hi—viz paint. The 258 represent 
the largest single netting to date and I might say we are 
quite proud of it. The last two days have really been great 
as yesterday we got 321 in two firings. We hope for a mini¬ 
mum of 2,000 by September 4- You will find under separate 
cover, three bands recovered from turnstones banded by the 
Japanese. One is illegible and will have to be etched. 
