88. 29 Dec. (cont) After marking the 5 Boobies, Dennis and I counted Boobies in the colony. There were 90 Blue-faced Boobies in the NAF, plus an Imm. (no. 56), and 26 in the SAF, only 117 in the colony, a considerable drop from Nov. 30 Dec. The activity study occupied all day, with fair weather. In the dawn minutes, there were several Red-foots that would fly over the colony one or two times, settling usually in the spot from which they left. As they flew, many others would Sky-call to them. This was continous from 0715 until 0800, with usually 10 to 12 birds in the air at any given time. Roost counts failed to disclose any green birds in the roos - all the painted birds had been painted in the roost, ie. - no discovered changeover. An ad. ♀ Frig. chased and caused another ad. ♀ to regurgitate a small fish on the beach, the booty being promptly recovered by the pursuing bird. Brown Boobies are acting as a flock, and at 0745 17 were feeding together off Sand Island. At 0815 they were all sitting on the Buoy outside the reef or the battered tug. Sand Island, having disappeared in the storm, is back, and at mid-day 48 seals were sitting there. At 1315 an adult and a yng. Brown Booby were feeding in very shallow water in the lagoon, and I could observe the bird underwater. The wings did not open, and after the strike into water in one instance not more than 3' deep, the bird would bounce almost completely out of the water - apparently due to its buoyancy. We painted 21 Red-foots or Frigates after dark, banding 17 of these new. Caught one Glaucus-winged Gull, collected innumerable ectoparasites, and banded him, and also caught the imm. Kittiwake. This bird has a bad but healed gash on the neck, such that the trachea is exposed for over an inch. The bird appears in fine health, much fatter than the Glaucus-winged Gull. All the Blue-faced Boobies painted last night are now back in their appropriate spots. The orange shows up very well, and is easily distinguished from the red.