A. Anderson 1964 HOWLAND I. 10 October 1964, (cont.) After dark three of us banded sooties and the others, sooty terns. Practically all the nesting birds on the island have been banded already, while about 2/10 of those roosting in clubs along the beach have bands. We found three major clubs of several hundred birds each, working one success- fully and totalling over 350 banded blu-faced in several hours. A few brown boobs were caught with several returns. One noddv was banded. Later observed morays, fishes, crabs, cowries, cucumbers etc. in action at 2 AM along a rock projection on the E side of Howland. 11 October 1964 Bounded up at and went banding lesser frigate chicks in the large colony on S end of island. We did 500 and collected 10 adults, five for skins and five for skeletons. Spent most of the day preparing these. Ship's captain and crew came in after lunch to get sunburned and kindly brought us some lucky lager, ice cold. Another gray-back tern nest with two eggs has been found toward center of island in Tribulus. At five went after immature sooty terns and did 600 while seven adults were collected and blood samples were taken from adult and nesting frigates, blue-faced boobies and sooty terns. Observed the mysterious sooty behavior in which they fly out into the breakers, dip down, and take up water in their bill. It is uncertain whether they simply swallow it or take it back to the young; they seem to make for shore night after doing this. About 10 terns were doing this in any given hundred yds. One adult blue-faced sooty was collected. Turned in at 8. 12 October Up at 2 AM. We agin split the party in half for banding boobies and sooty terns. 3100 sooties were banded by daybreak. At first light in the east, about 5:30 AM, the birds became imperceptibly more restless and flew more readily when about to be banded. By 5:50 AM most of those incubating were no longer sitting on their eggs but standing beside them and quite restless. Lines of 3-8 birds formed randomly in the nesting colony as birds stood side by side ready to take off. By 6 AM the birds were taking off in considerable numbers and were extremely difficult to catch. They flew about over the colony, not taking off to fish at once; the majority were still circling half an hour later. At 0615 made an activity study from the top of the lighthouse to find about 2,000 lesser frigates stacked up over the SW corner of the island to nearly 1,000 ft. and another 4,000 hovering within 100 of the resting colony at the S end. Most of the sooties in sight flew directly over the colony (est. 40,000 nests), but some were leaving the island westward and a few doz./ minute trickled off in other directions. At 7:15 AM most of us went banding lesser frigate chicks, totalling 900 by 9:30. Three birds were found to have decurved or laterally twisted bills,