Scientific American

ORNITHOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES ON LAYSAN, and confiding were they. The' little miller-bird would gressiveness of man against their kind, that impressed BY HAROLD J. BOLCE. come and look over the manuscript' which the natural the naturalists" but also their astounding abundance. Naturalists commissioned by the United States gov ists were preparing on a table, and when the men Small as this iSland is, it furnishes an asylum for un ernment have discovered on the distant island of Lay dined, the Laysan' finch and rail walked about theIl" counted millions of birds. Their combined cries and san in the Pacific some new birds, and many novel feet, industriously searching for' any crumbs that might minstrelsy make such a deafening chorus that if the facts in regard to known speCies. The visiJing scient fall. naturalists wished to converse, they found it neces ists were perhaps the first human beings whom the The Laysan raii (Po,rzanula palmeri) was found to sary to shout at one another. myriads of birds that crowd this tiny speck of land be the most confiding bird among a'll those that were So'dense is the bird life on this little island, that had ever seen. In consequence, the visitors enjoyed encountered. It was possessed of a great amount of the various speCies have economized space by building an experience unusual in modern adventures. Birds curiosity to fathom the mystery of the scientific expe their nests one above the other, and the scientists say representing speCies which in other lands wing hurri dition. A scientist had a curious experience while that tl!e similarity of these tiers of nests to the fiats , edly away at the sight of man, came up to the natu photographing a nest of one of these birds. He prop in tall apartment houses is quite marked. For ex ralists, 'looked curiously into their faces, perched on ped back a mass of juncus stems which concealed it, ample, the petrel and the wedge-tailed shearwater live their writing tables, wonderingly inspected the tripod and stationed his cainera' not more than two feet in burrows which compare with an apartment house and other accessories of basement. Above them the cameras, and permit dwell the gray-backed ted themselves to be tern and the sooty tern. stroked. Higher still in bushes The fact that these the red-tailed tropic bird birds are ordinarily re and the Christmas Island garded as the wildest shearwater have their kind of speCies made a apartments. Higher still profound impression on in shrubs the Laysan the visiting scientists. finch and the mi'lleT-bird "Wherever we went," build their homes. The said Walter K. Fisher, loftier branches ,of trees who under Dr. Charles H. are filled with the red Gilbert directed the Lay footed booby, the man-o' san expedition, "we were war bird, and the Hawai free to watch and learn, ian tern. and were trusted by the The naturalists fre birds. It was a most quently crushed through touching and unique ex the roofs of the petrel rerience, and one which burrows, sinking to the uemonstrates all too forc- A Large Colony of Laysan Albatrosses, Mostly Young Birds . knees in these subterran

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A Laysan Finch. CUStomary ActlvityOver a Large Colony of Sooty Terns.

Mr, Fisher Stud ying the Albatrosses of Laysan. A ," Nest" of Gygis, the, Bare Limb of a Chenopodium Bush.

ORNITHOLO GICAL DISCOVERIES ON LAYSAN.

iJJly the attitude of wild creatures which have not yet away; but while he was' in' the act of focusing the ean 'bird homes. It was necessary in walking about learned that man is usually an enemy." instrument, the bird fearlessly stepped into the nest to ' exercise' great care, lest nests and eggs and young Whenever a nest of white tern was approached" the and began to cover herself with the lining of ' soft of all,sorts of birds be trampled upon. Nesting room birds would come and hover in front of the explorers. fiber. She was photograph'ed several times, and was is at a premium, and every available inch in the island They would peer intently into the faces of the natu then bodily lifted off the nest and carried some dis is ,pr,e-empted by some species. A curious thing is that ralists, as if attempting to discover the purpose of the tance, and an attempt' was made by flaring the cameTa these· birds seem to' understand that certain sections unusual intrusion. Among the odd instances of lack cloth in her face to frightlm her away. She retired are al'lotted to them ,by inherited custom. of fear on the part of these birds of Laysan, was the a moment to some neighboring grass, and the natural The lines of demarkation separating the bird colonies action of an albatross, which came up and peered into ists hastened back to the camera, but when they turned on the island ,are clearly fixed. Even related speCies, Mr. Fisher's face and, finding that he was disposed to around they beheld the rail skipping rapidly back, a!1d although near neighbors, do not nest in each other's be friendly, began to make a critical examination of his before a photograph could be had, she was calm'ly territory. Thus the sooty tern (Sterna tuliginosa) in camera. Many of the young birds of this species on seated on her nest again, habits an upper slope extending clear around the isl the island permitted themselves to be stroked, and soon It was not only the marvelous gentleness of the and, while the gray-backed tern (Sterna lunata) occu acte'd as if they had been reared as pets, so friendly birds of Laysan, which had not yet learned of the ag- pies a narrOW strip near the beaches, Likewise the

white albatross has secured title to a large part of the strikingly beautiful, its plumage, with the exception of ExperlmeD.t. on White Lead and Zinc Paints. is'land, while the black-footed albatross confines its a black orbital ring, being pure white. Apropos of the proposed substitution of paints hav home to the sand beaches. The blue-faced booby (Sula The expedition resulted in the discovery of a new ing zinc white or other zinc compounds as a base, fo� cyanops) confines itself to a narrow, littoral sedge species of tern, which Mr. Fisher has called Procel white lead paints, M. J. Breton, a French scientist, has covered slope. In fact, every species h�s a definite sterna saa;(JItilis because it lays its eggs in hollows late'ly made a series of experiments upon the relative district. Thus horizontally and perpendicularly, the among the rocks. A peculiar species of teal was merits of different paints. He submitted a series of birds of Laysan are distributed, the boundari'-,s of found on Laysan. Although ducks· are regarded as paints whose base was white lead or oxide of zinc to their cramped nesting places being fixed as if by the wildest kind of fowl, these Lalvsan teal would come different actions and attacked them by strong reactive statute. up to where the naturalists stopped at nightfall, and agents. From these experiments he brings out the fol It was found that on this little island, crowded with would walk about like barnyard fowl. lowing facts: White lead resists the action of certain birds, the white tern deposits its one egg in a shallow Mr. Fisher'has prepared for the government a fascin acids better than its substitutes, but on the other hand cavity on the edge of a shelf of a rock. It wou'ld ating account of the dance of the albatross, which he it is quite inferior under the action of heat, of sud· seem that with all the bustling bird life these eggs witnessed on Laysan. This account was published den changes of temperature, also of hydro-sulphurous would be brushed off and destroyed, but such was in the 'last number of the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, and emanations and certain strong oxidizing agents such as not the case, although some of the eggs were balanced need not here be repeated. hypochlorite of soda. Besides, the white lead paints at the very brink of 'little escarpments. The island of Laysan, where these interesting obser are much less adherent to the surfaces to which they The naturalists paid special attention to the sub vations of bird life were made, lies in latitude 25 deg. are applied and have a marked tendency to blow up. terranean bird homes. Those tunneled by the white 42 min. south, and is 800 miles west of Honolulu. It The addition of sulphate of barium to white lead, while breasted petrel (Aestrelata hypoleuca) are no less than is an old atoll, its highest point above the sea not ex it diminishes its covering power considerably, does not six feet in 'length, and are crowded side by side. Those ceeding 30 feet. It is but three miles long and one seem to render the paint any less resistant. The addi made by the wedge-taile'd shearwater (PufTinus cunea and one-half wide, and although it belongs to the tion of siccative to zinc oxide in the proportion needed tus) are frequently three feet long and often very United States, has escaped.a.ttention until now. to give these paints a drying qua'lity which is equai much deeper. to that of the white lead paints, does not diminish the • ••• The study of the\3e excavated nesting places revealed resistance of the paint and appears on the contrary, at CALIFORNIA STRING BEANS. the fact that they are very ancient. Year after year least in certain cases, to increase its solidity. The they have served as breeding homes for these birds. The largest string beans in the world may be seen white lead forms a simple mixture with linseed oil, Laysan is in such demand as a bird home, that one growing in the gardens of Charles" Richardson,' in and not a combination, and the mixture is less homo species of migrants no sooner departs than another Pasadena, Cal. They range from thirty to forty-three geneous than that which is formed by oxide of zinc. flocks in to take its place, and the times of departure inches in length ana average halfan inch in width. By a series of different methods which give very of one kind and the arrival of another are as precise They are not only enormously' large but they make a concordant results M. Breton compared the covering as the movements of planets. delightful table delicacy when cut and' stewed and power of white lead and zinc oxide. He found that for Although the apartment-like arrangement of nests prepared with cream and butter. The' commercla'l an equal weight the spreading capacity of the zinc enables the birds to make oxide is nearly double that the best possible use of the of the white lead. For island's area, Laysan would equal volume'S, the cover be utterly unable to con ing power of zinc oxide is tain a1'1 the birds that have superior to that or the chosen it as their breeding white lead, but as for home if they arrived at equa'l quantities the first the same time. "To find of these bodies forms a satisfactory places," said much less fluid mixture one of the scientists that with the oil, it is neces explored the island, "the sary in practice. to make birds are obliged to take the zinc paint thicker. in turns." Some species order to obtain the same lea ve the place as soon as result. He shows that their young are strong fresh white lead paint enough to fly, and while gives off emanations con they are in the act of de taining lead and which parting, newcomers begin may in some cases bring to. arrive to take their about serious consequence'S places. "In this way," said to persons who are oblig the scientist, "a most defi ed to breathe them. This nite succession, whicll series of experimentR probably dates back, thou forms a new argument in sands of years, takes place favor of substituting zinc year after year in the ar for lead paints, which is rival and departure of ce• .' so much to be de'Sired from tain species." Such is the a hygienic standpoint, and law and custom in this presents so many advant bird Eden which, until ages from a technical point now, so far as is known, of view. has been uninvaded by ••• man. Radlu'll In ADlerlf'a. Whenever the naturalists Prof. Alexander H. fired a shot from a gun, Phillips, of Princeton, is thousands upon thousaftds reported to have stated of birds would suddenly that radium exists in this fly about, crying out in' a TEN TliOUSANDYARDS OF BEANS ON A THIRTY·FOOT ROW. country in carnolite, an ore pandemonium of· protest from Utah. The professor against the disturbance. A'lthough the prevailing spirit gardener would find them a most profitable production, found on experimenting that from twenty-five pounds of the teeming bird life is: one of comity, there' are for the vines bear profusely and the beans are so large of carnolite a sample of radio-active barium chloride some exceptions. A notable one is' that which ac· that one of them is more than a single person can com� can .be obtained, which will give about 1,500 activity. companies the arrival of ,the white-breasted petrel. fortably manage. This activity, whi'le not so powerful as that obtained These birds migrate by the thousand to Laysan, their These beans are of an aristocratic species and do from some European ore\3, is sufficient for many practi habits on land being strictly nocturnal. Immediately not claim alliance with. the common string bean. Cali· cal purposes. A company has been formed to place upon their arrival they rnke possession of their ances· fornia botanists class them as' belonging to the genus this new substance upon the market, and it is expected tral catacombs, but not without quarrels and contests, Dolichos, but owing to their great length they are that it can be produced in paying quantities. and so rampant are these petrels, that milder species more popularly known as "yard beans." The plants Carnolite, while not a very common ore, is found tn expediently move, out of their way. The clamor of are natives of China and Japan and the seeds were good quantities in Utah, and very likely in other places the petrels issues from under evety bush and bunch sent to Mr. Richardson from Japan. in the Rocky Mountains. of grass on the island. Even from under the 's'1eeping Early in the spring he planted' them' in a well-spaded, ......

place of the naturalists came the querulous notes. well-fertilize'd trench and put" up a trli'iUs seventeen Pre1lllu1lls Cor Improved Methods In ltIanuCactur-. The Hawaiian tern (Micranus hawaiiensis), a hand feet in height to' support the vines. The seeds lug ""arnlshes. some little bird, lives exclusively on fish, yet it never sprouted quickly and the plants began' to grow with' a At the third general meeting of the Association of dives for its food. It hovers over shoals of noi, and vengeance. They climbed to the tops of the poles and German Varnish Manufacturers recently held in Berlin, when one nears the surface, the tern swoops down and then turned around and began to grow backward. the board of directors was empowered to offer premi seizes it. Its fishing habits make this bird valua.ble They are now twenty-five feet in length and are still ums or prizes of several thousand marks for methods of to fishermen. It travels some distance to sea in search growing. The row is thirty feet long, contains fifty manufacturing varnishes which involve noteworthy im of its favorite diet. By following it, fishermen are vines and it has been estimated that the crop amounts provements. As an important subject for considera enabled to locate the whereabouts of great schoo'ls of to ten thousand yards of beans. The beans grow in tion, a method for the deodorization of oil of turpen fish. clusters and can be easily and quickly gathered. The tine is mentioned. The jury for awarding prizes con The white tern (Gygis alba kittlitzi) has the curi fragrant lavender blossoms resemble those of the sists of the board of directors and four other members. ous habit of never bringing less than two fish at a sweet pea. They are peculiar in their habits, living Communications are to be addressed to Mr. Louis time to its young. It carries' the fish crosswise in its but for a day, opening with the sun and dropping their Mann, commercial judge, Berlin, W. Meinecke Strasse 4. bill, and sometimes returns from its excursions with petals when the sun goes down. The leaves are long • • • no less than four fish thus carried. It was easy enough and wide and grow in clusters of three. The vines Actinium is a metal whose radio-active properties to understand how it captured the first fish, but the are very olean and attractive and would be decidedly rival those of radium. As yet little, if anything, has naturalists were unable to comprehend how the bird' ornamental in any summer garden for either fence or been done with the substance in this country. Dr. managed to retain it while securing additional one'S. trellis covering. The beans ate best for eating when George F. Kunz, Tiffany's diamond expert, is the lucky Its ability to hold three fish in its bill and stilI cap about twenty inches long. In flavor they excel that of recipient of a minute specimen, which is to be used ture a fourth was particularly puzzling. This bird is the ordinary string bean. for therapeutical purposes.