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3S4 V'lS,•ER, of La),san Island. FL AukOct.

NOTES ON THE BIRDS PECULIAR TO ISLAND, HAWAIIAN GROUP. 1

BY WALTER K. FISHER.

•ølates x_,r_,r-x

WE DOnot naturally associateland birds with tiny atolls in tropicalseas. It is thereforea strangefact that sucha diminu- tive island as Laysan, and one so remote from continentalshores, should harbor no less than five peculiar species: the Laysan (]klespiza cantans) and Honey-eater (I-Iima•ione freethi), both • drepanidid' birds, the Miller (.4crocefihalusfamiliaris), the LaysanRail (?orzanulapalmeri),and lastly the LaysanTeal (•tnas laysanensis).I usethe term ' land birds' loosely,in con- tradistinctionto sea-fowl,multitudes of which breed here through- out the year. The presenceof these speciesis all the more remarkablebecause none appear on neighboringislands, more or less distant, someof which are very similar to Laysan in structure and flora. Reachingout towardJapan from the main Hawaiian group is a long chainof volcanicrocks, atolls,sand-bars• and sunkenreefs, all insignificantin size and widely separated. The last islet is fully two thousandmiles from and about half-way to Yokohama. Beginningat the east,the more importantmembers of this chain are: Bird Island and Necker (tall volcanicrocks), , Gardner Rock, Laysan, Lisiansky, Mid- way, Cure, and Motell. Laysanis eighthundred northwest- by-westfrom Honolulu,and is perhapsbest knownas beingthe home of countless . We sightedthe island early one morningin May, lying low on the horizon,with a great cloud of sea-birdshovering over it. On all sides the air was lively with , albatrosses,and ,

•These notes were made during a visit of the Commissionsteamer ' ' to Laysan, May 17 to 23, 19o2, and are abridged from a more extendedreport on the avifauna of the i•land• to appearin the Bulletin of the U.S. Fish Commission. Vol.x9o3xxq -I rIS•,•, z•irdsofz,ysa,, zsza,•d. 385

and we began to gain some notion of what a pandemoniumthe distant swarmwas raising. We landed on the west side, where there is a narrow passagethrough the breakers,which curl with beautiful hueson the coral reef, and then sweepshoreward with flying foam. Mr. Max Schlemmer, the superintendent,his two assistants, and a couple of dozen Japaneselaborers constitutethe human population. The phosphaterock is very valuable for manufac- turing fertilizer, and is worked assiduouslyduring the summer months. To Mr. Schlemmerthe expedition owed much, for his unfailing courtesyand substantialaid very materially promoted the success of our week's visit. Laysan is a slightly elevated atoll, rudely quadrilateralin contour, and suggestsa shallowbasin or platter. It is three mileslong by one and onehalf broad. In the centeris a wholly enclosedlagoon, cove?ing perhaps one hundred acres. This is surroundedby a broad, level plain, that part nearest the very saline watersof the lagoon being destitute of any vegetablelife. From this plain the land risesas a gentle sandy slope to a low divide or rim (about twenty-fivefeet above the water) near the sea beach. Not a tree breaks the monotonousexpanse, but instead are low bushes (Cheno_PoaZiumsanaZwicheum, San/alum freycine/ianum,Scevo/a •veni•i) and broad areasof high, tu$socky grass. On the narrow seaward slope the turf is short and wiry, and a broad band betweenthe bare shoresof the lagoon and the beginningof the bush-grassis coveredmostly with matted beds of succulent 2øortu/aca/urea, and reddish-floweredSesuvium ;•ortu- lavastrum. Beautifulmorning-glories, yellow 2"ribu/us(reminding one of ?olen/il/a), showy CaniSaris,and numerousother flowers add a bit of color to the landscape. Laysan is a bird paradise. Albatrosses(Diomedea immuta•ilis and Z). n•k•rCes)by the thousandsrear their young here each year, free from fear of molestationor injury. More 'numerous even are the Sooty Terns (Sterna fuli•¾nosa),while the Gray- back (S. lunata), (Gy•is alba kiltlitzi), Noio (Micranous hawaiiensis), and Noddy (•tnous s/olid•s) are all abundant. Attractive and interesting birds are the boobies, of which two species,S•la cyanopsand Sula piscator are on the 386 FISHER,Zlt'rds of Zaysan ]sland. I_Oct.[-Auk islandin large numbers. The droll Frigate Bird (•re•a•a aquila) is here in all the glory of his bright red gular 'balloon,' and the splendidRed-tailed Tropic Bird (]>ha•?honvubvicaudus) in satiny plumageof the palestrose pink, is a familiar memberof the com- munity; as he nervouslyflits by in the tropical sunshinehis feathersglisten with the lustre of burnished metal. Among the Procellariida•,the Bonin Petrels (•Eslrela•a hy•Poleuca)may be mentionedas exceedingeven the LaysanAlbatross in numbers,but as they live in deep burrowsone would hardly think it. Next comethe Wedge-tailedand ChristmasIsland (J'uffnus cunealusand J'. nalivilalis)• which are abundant, and the rare Sooty Petrel (Oceanodromafuli•inosa) nests in some numbers during the winter months. We were at once impressedby two striking facts: the great numbersof birds and their surprisingtameness. Especiallytrue is this of the sea-fowl. They seemedlittle put out by our pres- enceand pursuedtheir ordinary dutiesas if we were an essential part of the landscape. Even the land birds were fearless. While we sat working, not infrequentlythe little warbler, or Miller Bird, would perch on our table or chair backs, and the LaysanRail and Finch would scurryabout our ,feet in unobtru- sive searchfor fliesand bits of meat. Each day at meal-timethe crimson Honey-eater flew into the room and hunted for millers. As we strolled over the island the Rails scamperedhither and thitherlike tiny barnyardfowls, but soonreturned, craning their necksto discoverwhy they had sofoolishly retreated. As for the sea-birdsthere was scarcelya speciesthat seriouslyobjected to our closeapproach, or at any rate departedwhen we attempted to photograph them. In fact the albatrosseswere astonishingly fearless,and would sometimeswalk up and examinesome portion of our belongings,as if they had known us always. It is far from my intentionto speakof the sea-birdsin detail but merelyto sketchhastily, though perhaps inadequately, the con- ditions and creaturesamid which the five peculiar land birds have presumablybeen evolved. THE AUK, VOL. XX. PLATE XII.

LAYSAN FINCH AND NEST. vol•9o3xx] .-I F•s.ER, m,'ds o/ Z•ys•,,, Z•Za,,d. 387

L•¾S•N FINCH. cantans I/Filson. The Laysan ' Finch' is a stocky, independent creature about the size of a Black-headedGrosbeak, and its appearancestrongly suggestsone of the big-billed . The fully adult bird is a light rich yellow, greenishon the back, and a deep brownish on the wings and tail, the coverts and secondariesedged with yel- lowish,and this plumage is not assumeduntil the individual is over a year old, or perhaps not before the second season. The female is like the male but a trifle duller in tone. Both illustra- tions of Plate XII show the species in the subadult,brownish, streaked feathering, which it will be seen is worn through the first nesting season. Telesfiza and the next species considered, ffimatione freethi, are placedin the Drepanididze,a family peculiarto the . The differencesbetween these two birds seein great, and in fact about the only commoncharacter uniting the many diverse speciesinto the compositefamily is the peculiar disa- greeable musky scent said to emanate from birds in the flesh. I detectedno suchodor on either of the Laysan species,but it may have escapedme. The origin of the Drepanididm remains still a sealed book, but their affinities seem to be American. We much enjoyedthe companyof the . He is a sociable,saucy and fearlessfellow, and captivatesone by his nonchalant,independent air. We could not walk anywhere with- out encounteringthem singly and in little companies-- the latter being mostly males--diligently searchingfor food among the bushes or frolicking, toward the center of the island, in open stretchescovered with portulaca and a pinkish flowered sesuvium. When disturbedthey eye the intruder in an inquisitive,half- doubting manner, and utter their mellow, linnet-like call. If pursuedthey do not fly far, but escapeby running along the ground, or suddenly crouching under a grass tussock. Not infrequently they hopped about the piazza where we were pre- paringspecimens,and soughtfor food beneath the chairs. One day when I was aloneand quite still, a handsomemale alighted on a table at my elbow and proceededto explorea large heap of loosepapers. He was soon lost in the rustling pile, which he demolishedwith .great energy in his searchfor novelties. 388 ]•'ISHER,tIt'rds of LaysanZ•land. hV AukOct.

7'elesfiizais not particularas to its food,but is fond of the soft parts of grass stems,tender shootsof bushes,seeds, and espe- cially of sea-fowleggs. I once frighteneda tern off her 'nest,' and almostimmediately a pair of Finches flew to the . One of them cracked a neat hole in the shell with a few strokes of its powerfulbeak• and began to feed,although I was hastily adjusting a camera only a yard or two away. Nor did the removal of some rocks which obscured the view bother them greatly,for they merelyhopped a few feet awayand watchedme calmly,resutning their repastas soon as I had finished. (Plate XIII, Fig. •.) But suddenlya rushedout of the grass,and with erect made for the Finches in such a determined manner that the pair flew away and left a•orza•t•/a sole possessor. The latter lost no time in finishingthe egg. (Plate XIII, Fig. 2.) Undoubtedlythe finches eat a goodly number of in the courseof the season,for this was not the only caseobserved. Their favoritenesting site is in the middle of a big tussockof grass, somewhat nearer the ground than %œimatloneand .4cro- cephaIususually build. Chenopodiumbushes are also frequently used for we found nests here, as well as in grassclumps bordering the open near the lagoon--a location very popular with all the land birds. In each instance, in the latter case, the nest was wedgedin the centerof a tussock,well hiddenby tall grassstems. It is constructedof handy materials, such as rootlets, twigs, and coarse grass, and the whole is rather loosely put together. The shallowcup, %a inches in diameter,is lined with shreddedgrass. The position and character of the nest is shown in Plate XII. There are three eggsin a completeset, althoughwe found some nestswith only two. A fairly typical specimenis bluntlyovate, of lustrelesswhite, with small blotches and spotsof light sepia and lilac gray, crowdedtoward the larger end, and very sparingly present on the acute half. Sometimes the spotting is distributed evenly over the whole surface. There is much variation in size and color. A typicalexample measures 2 4 by •8 millimeters. The fincheswere so unsuspiciousthat I had little difficultyin securing photographsof them at the nest. The reader must remember that none of the various precautions usual in bird photographywere here taken. The camera was within a few feet AUK, VOL. XX. PLATE XII•.

• • , P •,:.., ,• . .• • '.iI' •'•. -:; ;'•' ,.• • ß • ' ,'-•..•."•

•- ., ,

F•. •. LAYSAN FINCH EATING TERN'S EGG.

LAYSAN RAIl. EATING TERN'S EGG, Vol.XX] F•suER,Bt'rds of•Laysan œsland. 389 of the nest, in plain sight,and the operatorwas seated beside it waiting his chance. The bird in the pictures spent nmchof its time scratching sand, just behind the grass tussock,and would occasionallyhop onto the edge of the nest to see what was happening.

L.a¾s^• Ho•¾-z•. Himatione freethi Rel•sc•ild.

The LaysanHoney-eater is a brilliantlittle bird, about the size of a warbler,and very attractivewhen seenflitting here and there in the soft green of chenopodiumbushes. Its plumage is of a lustrousscarlet vermilion, brightest on the croxvn,with wings,tail, and abdomen a dull sepia. They are mostabundant in. the interior of the island near the openplain borderingthe lagoon. Here on the extensivebeds of succulentportulaca they may be seen throughoutthe day, busily walking about like pipits, either gathering or drinking honey from the numeroushalf-blown buds. The brush-like tongueof thesecreatures renders the gatheringof honey,and such tiny insectsas may infest the interior of corollas,an easytask. In fact it xvasno uncommonoccurrence to see one go from flower to flower, and insert its bill betweenthe petals of a nearly opened bud, xvitha certain precisionand rapidity which suggesteda hum- mingbird,except of coursethat the Himatione was on its feet. I alsoobserved them catching green caterpillarsfrom C•enope- di•m sandwiche•mbushes, the leaves of which resemblethose of its well-knowncongener--our garden pig-weed. The Honey- eatersare partialto smallbrownish-gray or ' millers' which aboundon the island. While we were at lunch, nearly every day a Himatione flew in and extracted these creatures from cracks betweenboards. It then graspedthe miller with one foot, after the manner of a bird of prey, clinging with the other to the rough board wall, and ate the soft parts of its quarry. After a few momentsthe still fluttering victim was released,and the destruc- tive search resumed. It became evident that the millers, relieved of important parts of their anatomy,did not thrive after such treatment. We heartily wishedthe little bird goodluck, for the 39¸ FISHER,Birds of Laysan Island. [-AukLOct.

millers left unpleasant•nemories, and likewisethe imprint of their fuzz on many of my negatives. The nest, like that of Teles•iza,is built in grass tussocks,about two feet from the ground. The structureis looselymade, of fine grassa•,d rootlets,and the dainty bowl is lined with rootletsand brown down frotn young Albatrosses(½D/omecZea immutabilis). There are no large white feathers in the lining, at once making the nest distinguishablefrom that of .4croce,phalus f•milœarœs, which builds in neighboringtussocks. The completeset seems to be four. The ovate egg is pure lustrelesswhite, blotched and spottedat the large end with grayish vinaceous,and with fewer light and dark spotsof Prout's brown. A typical specimenmeas- ures i8 by I3.75 millimeters. ]]imatione freethi is closely related to the Apapane (Jr.. san- guinea)of 'the larger Hawaiian Islands. The derivationof the two Laysan Drepanididmis therefore rather plain, for although TeIespizais a monotypicgenus, it belongswith the large-billed generaChlorbtoiOs , ]qhoaZacanthis, and ZoxioiaZesof , ]•seuaZo- nestorof , and Y-'sittacirostraof , , , , and Hawaii.

MILLER ]BIRD. Acrocephalus familiaris (]qothschiI•t).

The sociable little Miller Bird is one of the Reed Warblers belonging to the Sylviidm,a characteristicOld World group, althougha certain American genus,]•ol/optila, is alsoincluded in the family. It is curiousthat nowhereelse in the wholeHawa- iian groupdoes any speciesof .4crocephalusoccur. The genusis a wide ranging one, extendingover the whole of the centraland southern Palmarctic Region,having also representativesin Aus- tralia and South Africa, while one division of the group is exclusivelyPolynesian. Many of the speciesare highly migra- tory, and winterin the tropicalregions of Asia and Africa, and in the islandsof the Malay Archipelago. But the subgenusTartare, or genusas someconsider it, to whichthe Laysanbird belongs,is a distinctlyPolynesian group. It is distributedover the islands between3 øo north latitude and 3ø0 south,and betweenlongitude THE AUK, VOL. XX. PLATE XIV.

FIG. I. ACROCEPHALUS FAMILIARIS AND NEST.

FzG, 2. NEST OF ACROCEPI•IALUS FAMILIARIS. Vol.x9o3XX'] .1 F•snv.R,tlirds of Laysan Island. 39i

I20 ø or I25 ø east and •2oø or I25 ø west. Oustalet• considers that this restrictedgroup, Tartare, which has only eight oceanic species shows perhaps closer affinities with •Serniera of Mada- gascar,than with the Europeanand Asiatic .4crocephah•s(l. •., p. 2xo). Tartare luscinia is found on and Saipan, iz• syrinx in the Catolines and on Pagan of the Mariana Islands, 2C.rehsei on PleasantIsland, 71.cefuinoclialis on Christmas Island, 2•.f•z'stor on the Fannings,• mendanaon the Marquesas,27. lon4ff- •'oslrz'sthrough the Soc)etyand Paumota Archipelagos, and finally 27.familiaris on Laysan. I am not aware with what speciesfam- iliarz• showsclosest kin, but • priori one would rather favor the idea that the first coloniststo Laysan camefrom the Catolines or the Ladrones (Mariana Islands) rather than from the south,for the reason.that the genus is not present in the main Hawaiian group. The Miller Bird is one of the most abundant of the species under considerationand is seento best advantageduring the cool of the morningor in late afternoon,for then it is very active, and at timesmusical. During the heatedportion of the day, after the custom of our wood warblers, it retires to remain in seclusion among •hady bushes,or tall tussocksof grass where its nest is made. Like most of the birds on the island ,4crocephalusis rather unsuspicious,though not by any means so tame as either the Finchesor Rails. I have read that its congenersin other parts of the world are quite shy, but many rules usualin bird manners seem here to be thrown aside. That the little creatures are far from nervous is demonstratedby the accompanyingillustration (Plate XIV, Fig. x). The camerawas planted about thirty inches from the nest, and when everything was arranged I crouched underthe instrument,and waited quietly for five minutestill the bird returned. Whenever in evidence,4crocephalus always appears busy. It feeds largely on mothsand other insects,and receivesits local name from a fondnessfor millers, which,as already intimated, aboundon the island. The little warblerdrags these insects from their secludedhiding placeswith muchskill. Its dull brownish-

•M. E. Oustale•, Les Mammifares et les Oiseaux des Isles Mariannes NouvellesArchives du Museum,3rd series,VII, •895, 2 •2. 392 ' F•snER,Birtls o?];aysan fsland. l-AukL Oct. olive plumage renders it inconspicuous,and one scarcely takes notice when it flies about the verandas, or into the dark corners of a room, searchingfor its favorite food. We often saw this species with Himationesgleaning insects in the broad putslanebeds near the lagoon. The nest is built usuallyin the midst of a big tussockof g-rass, and the birds seem to congregate along with the Finches and Honey-eatersnear the openplain, severaltimes men•:ionedin fore- going pages. We were puzzled to find many nestsentirely com- pleted, but without eggs,and finally concludedthat the birds had not yet begunto lay in any numbers. Only two sets,one of three and the other (incomplete)of two, were taken. The nest is com- posed of dried grassstems and blades,fine rootlets,and is lined with rootlets,shredded grass and white albatross feathers,some of the last being woven into the coarser structure of the nest. These feathers are strictly characteristicof all the nestswe found, so that the Miller Birds probablybegan very long ago to make use of this convenient material. None of the other birds use the large white feathers,although as already stated the Himatione employssoft albatross down. The eggs vary in ground color from the palestolive buff through greenishwhite to almost pure white. The markings consist of olive blotchesand spotsof vari- ous intensities,crowded at the blunt end, and likewisevery tiny lines and specks,scattered over the whole egg. Sometimesthere are drab shell marks. One egg was as small as 19 by I4 milli- metersand anotheras large as •z by x5.

L^¾s^• RAIL. Porzanula palmeri )•rahawk.

The is a wide-awake,inquisitive little creaturewith a seemingly insatiable desirefor first-handknowledge. It is one of the most naive, unsophisticated,and wholly unsuspiciousbirds in the wholeavian catalogue. Usually it is confidingand familiar in its relationswith man, yet sometimesholds aloof with a showof reserve. It will occasionallyhide behind a bunch of grass,as if afraid, and then suddenlysaunter forth with entire change of demeanor,and examine the intruder with critical care. One can THE AuK, VOL. XX. PLATE XV.

-

F•½. •. LAYSAN RAiL ON

,.. _...•'•••••_. ß

Fro-. 2. NEST OF LAYSAN RAIL. never tell just how he will be receivedby the next Rail. Often they scurryaway as if pursued by a )•'e •w/r, but an will stop th•m in their mad career, and, having promptly disposedof this interruption, they seem to forget their former fright and walk about stretching their necks'in a highly inquisitive manner. It is evident that they are incapable of pursuing any train of thought for more than an instant. Their ideas seem to flash by in kaleidoscopicsuccession, and within a minute they make as many false starts as a monkey. One can scarcelyimagine more foolish and amusinglittle birds than these. .Parzan•/a fia/meri is a very distinct form, and whence the originalcolonists came is rather difficult to conjecture. Just why these first birds never left the island, as the Gold,en Plovers do now, is also hard to say; unless,driven by strong windsthey were so completelyworn out and lost that they never dared to abandon the welcom.e land. The fact remainsthat they did not leave, and we now find a bird resembling.Porz•r,a in most respects,but with wings wofullyuseless and short. The .P•rza•zatype of coloring is presentin a much lighter and bleachedform. The Rails are everywhereon the island in great numbers. There is scarcelya bunch of grassbut harborsa pair. They probablyhave no seriousenemies, so that the only check to their increaseis spaceand food supply. It is possibleMan-o'-war Birds may pick one up now and then, especiallythe chicks,but I saw nothing to substantiatethis. Yet the Rails like to slink about in the shadeof grasstussocks or bushes,much in the sa•neway that a chipmunk seeks the shadowof a log in preference to crossing a bright sunny space. This trait suggestedthe idea that they might have winged enemies. However if necessityor even incli- nation calls, the Crakes show no aversion to coming out into the sunshine,especially for food, so that perhaps it is the hot sun which causesthem to retire to cooler by-ways. They spend a large part of their time creeping,mouse-like, in and out of nooksand crannies,as if trying to satisfytheir genius for exploration. Old petrel burrows fallen in, low-bendingbushes and grasstufts are searchedwith careand precisionin this unend- ing quest. As they walk their headsare thrust forward from side to side, the •ery picturesof inquisitiveinterest. They usedsome- 394 F•s., iS'fretst•Laysan Island. LF Oct. Auk times to comeup and peer at my shoes,with one foot poised in air. Scarcelya thing escapestheir beadyred eyes. The smallest spider or beetle is snappedup with as much avidity as a more conspicuousseed. We caughtall our specimensin an ordinarydip-net. Usually it was only necessaryto placethe net on the ground edgewisewhen presentlya rail would make its appearanceand proceedto examine the 'new phenomenon'at close range. Often they would fairly walk into the net, and Prof. J. O. Snyderobtained a photograph illustratingthis amusingincident. In strolling through the brushwe couldhear the Crakes calling here and there. Their song is a plaintivehigh-keyed little rattle which resemblesremotely an alarm clock with a muffled bell, or pebblesricocheting on a glass roof. I have observedthem stand- ing underbushes in the shaderattling away in this manner,with swollenthroats and bills slightlyopened. I oncesaw two approach one another, with feathers erect and heads lowered, and begin rattling in each others face. Then they suddenly ceased and slunk away in oppositedirections. At the house the little Rails walked about the veranda in search of foodwith far lessfear than the ,and whileProf. Snyder and I were preparing specimens,not infrequentlya Rail or two would be walking under our chairs, searchingfor morselsof meat. They took no notice of Albatrossesand other sea birds. I saw two in a lively serpentinechase about a young Gony's legs,the big creature appearing like an uncouth mammothabove the trim little Rails. They do not seemto exhibitany desireto fly, probablyhaving learned from experiencethat their wings are no longer to be relied upon. I have only seen them spreadtheir wingswhen hopping up to a perch, or when running fast. I often chased themto seeif they couldrise from the ground,but they would not even try. Their food consistsof small insects,seeds, green material,and sea-birds' eggs. Their beaks are rather weak, and I doubt if they break any eggs except the thinner shelled ones of the terns. I did not myself see the Rail actuallypuncture an egg,but in Rothschild's"Avifauna of Laysan," the followingnote from Henry Palmer'sdiary is of interest. Yol.t9o3XX-[ Fts•tE•,Birds of Laysan rs/and. 395

"While out this morningboth my assistantand I saw a little Rail break and eat an egg. We had disturbed from its nest a Noddy (); immediatelythe Rail ran up and began to strike at the egg shell with its bill, but the egg being large and hard, he wasquite a long time before making a hole. The Rail would jump high into the air, and come down with all its force on the egg, until it accomplishedthe task, which once done the egg was soon emptied. By this time the Tern came back and gavechase, but in vain." (Z. c., pt. I, p. x.) Porzanulas lurk about the outskirts of tern colonies all the time, and I once had to frighten a Crake from the nest of a Tropic Bird, while attemptingto photographthe egg. I also saw a Rail rush at someTelespizas and drive them from a tern's egg, upon which they werefeeding, as related in the accountof the Finch. The Rail then set to and finishedthe repast,dragging the embryo about in an ineffectual attempt to swallow it. With such habits it is dif•cult to see how thesecreatures can ever seriouslybe at a loss to find food. The followingepisode illustrates, I think, very forciblythe fear- lessnessof these Rails. While photographinga nest, I propped back the mass of sedge stems which obscured it. The camera was only a few feet away, and during the adjusting of apparatus, the Rail crept onto the eggsand energeticallybegan to cover her- self with the soft lining. After photographingher severaltimes, I lifted her off, and moved the camera still closer, but almost at once she slipped back again, and settled down contentedly. Then, with the focusing cloth I persuaded her to retire to the tall grass,near at hand. I ran back to the camera,but on turn- ing perceivedmy rail skippingacross the flattenedgrasses in hot pursuit, and I was able to make only a hasty inspection of the ground-glassbefore she had settled on the nest again. It was under these circumstancesthat Plate XV, figure 2, was secured. Figure x of the sameplate showsthe Rail. The Rails make their nests either in the midst of thick tussocks of tall grass,near the ground,or else in close-mattedclumps of a juncus-likesedge, which growsin a narrowband along the outer- mostedge of the lagoon-plain,just wherethe areaof bushygrass and brushbegins. We had only to walk over the tangledbeds of 396 F•s.ER,Bt'rds of LaysaJx Island. I_Oct.['Auk

this sedge,and watch where the Rails ran out, when a nest could easily be found. It is placed on the ground at the end of a little tunnel, about five or six inches long, and is a roundish cavity, lined above and on all sides,except the little entranceway, with soft dried stems. The eggs are deposited in a little bowl-shaped hollowabout four inchesin diameter(P1. XV, Fig. 2). We found 'several sets of threes and a few incompletesets of twos. The eggs are large in proportionto the bird, a typical speci•nen measuring3 x by 2 • millimeters,and in contour they are bluntly ovate or elliptical ovate. The ground color is a pale olive buff, closely and rather evenly spotted with pale clay color,or raxv sienna,and faint lilac gray. The clay color is brightestand pre- dominates. All the eggscollected were fresh. The young appar- ently begin to hatch about the middleof June.

LAYSANTEAL. Arias laysanensis Rez',•sc,•z'/a•.

That an islet, scarcelythree miles in its longestdimension and fully threethousand miles fromcontinental shores, should harbor a peculiarspecies of thegenus •t•as, is,to saythe least,surprising. The birds the•nselvesare scarcelyless peculiar than their distri- bution. Most of us picture ducks as among the warlestof wild- fowl, but the Laysan Teal, though not exactly tame, are at any rate quite unsophisticated. I have little to recordconcerning their habits. They congregate about a small sedge-bordered,brackish-water pond near the south end of the lagoon. Here we saw theln eachday, sunningthem- selves,and preening their feathers on a little heap of rocksnear the center of the pond. We saw them also waddlingabout in other parts of the island,but not commonly. Near the house there wasa pair whichprobably had a nestin the vicinity,for one of them used to come up to the house after nightfall, and walk aboutlike a barn-yardfowl. Mr. Schlemmersaid it wassearching for millers. Although these ducks can fly perfectly well, they ordinarilydid not take wing until approachedwithin a few rods, and then never went far. They much preferred to walk about, which they did in twosand threes,gleaning their food as they •'HE AUK, VOL. XX.

_ •F•½;.•. NEST OF LAYSAN TEAL.

,•N.'f/'t"."•,' ' ':.•",.':.!.t.-•-•':,:;'•,•"' ....•', ":',.

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Fxc,, :. YOUNG OF LAYSAN TEAL, Vo.X9o3xx-1 / 397 proceeded. The stomach of a male collected near the pond was gorged with sinall flies, resemblingthe common house-fly. We did not observe any Teal near the oceanand it is probablethey never voluntarilytake to salt water. We discovered one nest within a couple of rods of the pond, placed under a thick chenopodiumbush. Six eggsof the palest green--almost white--rested in a shallow bowl constructedof long dry sedges. I wished if possibleto securea pictureof the female,so I photographedthe eggs(P1. XVI, Fig. i) and left theIn till the followingmorning. But when I returnedto the nest,three of the eggshad hatched,one youngwas half out, and anotheregg picked. In taking the accompanyingphotograph (PI. XVI, Fig. 2), one of the ducklings had to be removedin order to showthe others. The type egg was preservedin alcohol. It lneasures55 by 38 millilneters,and in contouris a blunt ovate. A few days later Prof. Snyder saw three old birds with broods, one of which took to the pond. I also saw a baby swimming about,the rest of the family being stonewherein the sedgetangle. These young resemblethose of Mallards. The Teal is the least commonof the five speciesjust considered, and although I had no accurate Inethod of estimating I would place the total numberof ducksconsiderably below olne hundred. It will be an ill day for all the birdson Laysan, if a cat, pig, or mon- gooseis ever allowedto land. Any or all of thesecreatures would make short work of eggs and young birds, and could break up what is probably the most interestingcommunity of sea-fowlin the world.