patches (birds which presumably had not nested). The ratio of males 
to females was 14:7 (67 percent males) for the former (nesters), and 
39:61 (39 percent males) for the latter (non-nesters) . 
It is apparent that the high proportion of unemployed birds 
in the Laysan albatross population cannot be blamed on a highly dis- 
proportionate sex ratio. 
Population Dynamics 
} 
The subject of albatross population dynamics is one in which 
we are almost totally ignorant, yet it is a phase on which, from the 
management standpoint, it is necessary to have a complete understanding. 
This lack of information cannot be remedied until large numbers of 
marked birds of known age and origin have been followed through many 
seasons. To create a reservoir of such birds in the population, a 
large-scale banding program was initiated in the 1956-57 season. This 
program was continued during the 1957-58 season with the banding of the 
following numbers of albatross chicks at the following localities: 
Species Eastern I., 
Midway Atoll Laysan Island Total 
Laysan albatross 4,000 2,000 6,000 
Black-footed albatross 600 900 1,500 
Total 4,600 2,900 7,500 
To facilitate recognition of living birds, each of the young 
albatrosses of the 1958 year class banded on Eastern Island was marked 
with a yellow plastic band' in addition to the standard U. S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service numbered aluminum band. 
This brings the total of young albatrosses banded during the 
past two seasons to over 13,000. It is unfortunate that termination of 
studies at Midway will prevent continued observations of these marked 
birds in sufficient detail to fill in the large gaps in our knowledge 
of their population dynamics. 
Distribution at Sea 
The pelagic distribution of both the Laysan albatross and the 
black-footed albatross has long been known in a general way from observa- 
tions made at sea. However many details remain to be worked out, and 
many questions concerning their sojourns at sea, where they spend such 
a large part of their entire lifetime, remain unanswered. 
Pelagic recoveries of banded albatrosses now (October 1958) 
include 49 black-footed and 21 Laysan albatrosses. These cover the 
entire length and breadth of the North Pacific Ocean, from latitude 
25° north to the southern Bering Sea, and from the waters off California 
to the waters off Japan. The majority are from the western Pacific, 
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