Hickson, O.D. 1967 Field Notes March 28 Green D., Kune Atoll Which usually manages to stay just out of your grasp as you keep getting hung up in the vegetation, may consume almost as much time or more. Once you have the bird checked for a bed and she looked at the nest site the battle is only half over - you still have to get back out of the Scacole. She may take three or four minutes of circling around. It's all very frustrating and tiring. The same procedure must be followed in order to check Red-footed Booby or Great Frigate nests, or to attempt to capture these two species. At night, as you flounder around in vegetation that is over your head, trying to figure out where in the hell you are, every bird within 100 yards in all directions is fully alerted and ready to flee. It's a word anyone manages to capture any Red-foot at all on this island because they all seem to be in the densest portions of the Scacole where there are no trails. Saw several Christmas D. Shearwaters flying around late the afternoon but still have not found any on the ground at night. They aren't terribly common here to begin with and I haven't been able to discover their favorite haunts as yet. The fellows here tell me that a large roost of Hawaiian Nody Tern (White-capped) can be found near the end of the runway (880 feet east). Several early evening trips up that way have failed to turn them up. Returned to barracks + worked on field notes + today's heading returns. Looked at my watch + promptly cackled out when I realized it was 2:30 am. Time flies! No wonder I felt tired! March 29 Green D., Kune Atall Up at 7 a.m. Spent all morning making a census of Tayan Albatross chicks in the area not encrusted by chloroform during this February visit. It takes three or four days to census each area because of the dense Scacole. While counting I checked band numbers on both species of albatross and marked the birds with red + blue spray paint. Made roost counts of Red-footed Booby + Great Frigate in both roosting areas. Returned to barracks area + explored sand more shea-wots burrows but still could not find any chicks or eggs. Spent the rest of the morning chasing down Layson Albatross + checking numbers. Spent a hour after lunch making a survey of island vegetation and found many introductions - several that were quite a surprise. I didn't go to far from the barracks because it was threatening again (as did rain between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. as I did some paperwork). After the rain stopped I spent another hour and a half chasing birds on the other side of the runway. Vegetation here is thick + lush, probably because of the frequency of rain showers (2-3 per day). Verbascum sp. has almost completely taken over the NW sectors of the antenna field where it grows to a height of 1½ to 2½ feet in a thick mass. The species is also beginning to appear in the south Antenna field in a few areas. In the interim, about 150 feet island from the radar reflector, forming a right angle with the reflector and the main antenna mast I found a patch of mint. Square stemmed, white flowered, about 1½ feet high. There were two main clumps and many sprouts over an area of about 10 feet in diameter. The plant did not have a pleasant odor so some might do. An incomplete plant survey Thursday: 1) Scacole - common + dwarf covers about ⅓ of island in dense, almost impenetrable thickets. Not flowering or fruiting. 2) Verbascum sp. - has high through large segments of the south antenna field. Spreading into other areas. In full bloom. 3) Cupharia sp. - small plants scattered in barracks lawn - an introduction? 4) Crocostis sp. - the large native species, here and there in other areas. 5) Thistle sp. (Son thistle?) - scattered around in cleared areas near barracks (common?) - also occurs along runways. 6) Cyperus sp. - in barracks lawn + in cleared area 7) Phlox - two - scattered in barracks lawn - introduction? 8) Indigo fistulae - in full bloom, scattered around island in clearing a basic nest material for boobies + frigatebirds.