birds were observed nesting in the Morinda trees while the south half of the island with a predominant cover of Tournefortia was supporting a high population of sooty terns which were nesting in open areas as well as under the rather dense Tournefortia vegetation. No Scaevola taccada was observed on the atoll. The niche usually occupied by this species appears to be occupied solely by Tournefortia. Windward Islets. A small Cordia grove appears on most of these small islets on the east side of the atoll. Brothers Islet has a few Cocos trees. Suriana which is not found on the islets and larger islands on the north side of the atoll is found to 3 meters high on the islet between South Island and Arundel Islet. This seems to form a very dense stand with Tournefortia. Tourne- fortia is also an important component on the other windward islets. Leeward Islets. The vegetation of these islands is much more sparse than those of the windward side of the atoll. Pandanus occurs on the three small islets south of Nake Island. Further south lies an islet with a few Cocos trees and Pisonia. The other islets to the south have Cordia and Tournefortia with Lepturus, Fleurya and Heliotropium. The Fleurya occupies small sand filled niches in the coral rubble often fully exposed to the elements while the Heliotropium is found in sand on the lagoon side of the islets. Scattered individuals of Pisonia grandis now occur on South Island and Long Island. An occasional tree appears elsewhere but never forming a dense stand. These may represent remnant stands of this common species which may play an important role in the lay- ing down of a phosphatic hardpan on atolls (Fosberg, 1957). This phenomenon was observed on Vostok and Washington Islands and on Palmyra Atoll where a phosphatic hardpan invariably occurs under dense stands of Pisonia. This seems the probable source of the guano mining carried out on many of the central Pacific Islands and appears also to explain the initial flourishing condition of