Gill, Douglas

19m

May 24

Part I

After packing in a rush all morning and early afternoon, John,

Sandy, - Marly drove me over to the airport. I had to buy my ticket
there since the Travel Service was not open Sundays. After such
complication, and picture taking, the plane left at 5:45. I sat next
to a fellow Marlettan a Lamda Chi, and 4s it turned out a Puerto Rican.

I was really bushed and slept part of the way. The plane landed in
Pittsburgh around 4:50, and I waited for the next flight to leave
around 5:10. I slept again before we landed in Harrisburg and again
before Newark. I sat next to a 20-year old fellow who had been in the
Navy for a year and quite talkative. Upon landing in Newark (5-10
minutes early) I claimed my bags and them met Dad coming in. Mom
i pipked us up on a circular drive. We did some talking about recent
events. We saw Helen and Iva drive by on the turnpike in the opposite
direction. I was tired and punchy and quite giddy. So I kept the family
agitated during the evening. Later I called up Mrs. Zabrausky and still

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later Irv. Black. Then I unpacked stuff that -I was to leave at the house.
Then I hit the sack.
thy 25

I got up at 7 and started to organize my stuff. While eating I felt
uncomfortable and didn't finish. I said good-bye to Robbie and Chris and
continued organizing my stuff. Finally at 8:50 we were ready so I said
good-bye to Nanna and Poppa, and Dad. Mom drove me to Newark via the
turnpike. We arrived 10 minutes early so 1 kissed Momgoody-bye and

ran in with my thrse-Jaage-. — 1 wg^ tgSTa^e^to" get them checked so took

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them aboard myself. I was tired and slept most of the way. At the

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Washington airport I grabbed a taxi and went to the Museum. I first
went to the wrong wing but finally got orientated and found the Bird
Division. I passed Dr. Phil Humphrey and said "hi". He recognized
me and directed me to Mrs. Smellow'B office. I was greeted, given packs
of information. We all then went over to eat at the Museum of Arts
and Technology (?) and I was gradually introduced to everyone on the way
over. That afternoon we spent moving furniture in the Bird Division,
because they were tiling the floor. Paul Woodward (a hulking graduate
of Michigan) and I followed Bob Standen to his fraternity house to get
a room. After dump - our stuff into his room, we went out to eat

in a cafeteria which had real good food. We went back to the rocsn

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and relaxed for that evening. Finally at 10 Paul and I moved into a

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room a&foss from Bob's and hit the sack.

/i / Up at 7, shower and shave. Breakfast at a small greasy spoon

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drynk where I had good raffles. The walke to the Smithsonian is about

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minutes. Our great white leader Fred Sibley arrived and greeted us

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/ mewcomers . I spent most of the morning reviewing the birds of the

? M^rth Central Pacific. We got along well, I think. For lunch I went

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/ dcnm with Roger Clalp to the lunch vending machines, a frequent source

for* lunch. We ate lunch in the library with most of the expedition

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people and had a good bull session. The early afternoon was spent

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purrhasing field clothes and equipment. Paul, Peter Marshall, and I

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werie the purchasing agents. The late afternoon was spent cutting bright

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oraimge streamers for field observation of banded Sooty To* ns. It was a

rO-Hng slits in a couple thousand of them. Finally at

tedlious job not

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dill. Powetot

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5:15 we finished and headed for the frat house. I debated going to
Annapolis and decided not to. After eating supper at a steakhouse
cafetera. Again it was a meal. We returned to the house got
cleaned up, then went out to see a movie "Prom Russia with Love"
a movie involving the "fabulous" James Bond. It was really funny (not
intentionally) because of the stupid rediculous situations he got into
continuously. At 10 we went back to the house and read some of my
literature then hit the sack.

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May 27

Awoke at 7 » showered and shaved. We went down to the same greasy

spoon diner for breakfast as yesterday, except I had eggs today. There

wer e three flags up everywhere : one U.S., one green, white, and- orange,

and one with two red stripes in between three white stripes and three

red stripe on top. As it turned out the former was the Irish flag,

and the latter was that of the District cf Columbia. They had some of the

Irish flags turned around backwards and therefore were actually the
flags of the Ivory Coast. We diddled around until ten o* clock when we
moved some of the furniture, cases, shelves, etf'. back since the floors
had been tiled. We ate lunch in the- same cafeteria we did the first
day. After moving more stuff, Pete, Paul, and I went down to the
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Health Unit to get shots. The doctor was such a fool that I .just

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rediculed him something awful, much to the other's glee. My colera

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serum hadn f t been on ice for several days and was therefore no good,
so I got one shot with new stuff. Trie others had three shots each. We

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then went shopping to complete our purchases. I carried some of them

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back while the other two went to another store. After modifying some

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forms for the project, Fred (Sibley) leader, of our trip, Roger Clapp,

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Pete and I went to Fred*s House for dinner. We first played badminton,

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then ate, discussed school and teaching, then saw slides of the past

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Pacific trip. I helped Mrs. Sibley with the dishes, then Fred drove us home

Gill, D ouglas

19 ^

Ife y 26 — Up at 7:15 , shower, and shave. Since service was so slow at
our greasy spoon, we went to another cafeteria (where we ate dinner the
first night ) for a more swanky breakfast. We all left the museum

expeditioning

Army

for tolureiaia . I slept most of the way. Three nurses were very
efficient and we were all out of there in 10 minutes. We all ate
lunch at a Howard Johnson. Just before Washington Bill Wirtz, a

mamma logist, and I went to a bank; he to cancel a checking account under
both his and his wife’s name (because she left him) and I to cash a
check for 100 dollars from AMNH. At 2 Bob returned the call I tried to
reach him in the morning and I made arrangements to meet him at Annapolis
this evening. I spent of the afternoon modifying those forms, and with
the others, received plane tickets, expense money, supplies, etc.

Finally at 5:15 I bade farewell to all the beautiful secretaries

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because tomorrow was to be a day off fear them, and we leave tomorrow.

“ s trouble getting where I wanted in the mob at the Greyhound

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and finally arrived at the gate to meet Bob at 7:15* I ate

of lobster tail (he had already eaten). We talked and walked

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and talked some more. We walked to the bus station and I bade him
(a great guy) farewell at 10:35.

(--Arose at 7:15 showered , shoved end packed. Finally left at 8 a.m.

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Bsul BX& X were going in today • Both our breakfast place were
crowded, so we carried our luggage most of the way to S.I. We ate
breakfast at a nice restaurant called Halloway Cafeteria. Paul and I

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packed our stuff ready for the trip and waited for Fred and Peter to

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do the same.

Humphrey

there so I talked to him about grad school, and he heartily recommended
University of Michigan head and shoulders over everywhere else. We

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were to catch the limousine to the airport (Friendship airport serving

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Baltimore) at 10:50, and Fete and Fred still had showed by 10:15.

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It 10:25 they came and we hurriedly threw there things to a ether

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The£ elevator operator would carry our stuff ("she wouldn't carry

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guard

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Finally ve got outside, I hailed a cab, the others returned the carts

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we had carried our stuff on. The driwer didn't know where Friendship

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airport was, so I had to go asking people how to get there. We loaded

our stuff in and headed out to the airport directly because it was too

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late to catch the limousine. On the w gy out the cab ran out of oil.

So we unloaded our stuff beside the highway. Fred ran over to a
shopping center and got a new cab. We raced out to the airport, but
^arrived at 12:05. Our plane had left. The United People got new \

tickets the Honolulu via TWA and Ran Am. We ate a quick lunch of

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hot dogs boarded oir Jet andtook off. The Jet is really cool: it
cruised at 35,000 feet. We paid a dollar to se< an in-flight movie.

The Pink Panther," staring David Hiven, Peter Sellers, and others. It

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was really stupid. We flew over the Grand Canyon which was neat. ' We*

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landed in Los Angeles at 5 EDT, or 8 PUT. After stnolling around tlie

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airport for birds, we left on Ran Am two hours later and flew for five'.

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hours . I slept most of the way. Coming over Honolulu at night was a

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beautiful sight. We landed and were greeted by the commercial greeters

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but vyt shunned then. Doug ffiaCkman and Dr. Ely met us at the airport

6

Gill, Dour la a

and took us to our hotel, the Hawaiian King. We net the infamous Larry
Huber, the handsome Doug Whitman, and Bob Sundell. We talked until

at

midnight (6 a.m. EOT) while listening the Mozart * b Requiem and reading
Mad. Doug Whitman has a great interest in music as I do, and is a big

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bird bander from Syracuse.. We then hit the aack.

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May 30 - -What a dayl

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After a restless night’s sleep, we (Paul and I) %/ere rudely

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at ( : j50 a.m. by Fred and Pete • We dressed and ate breakfast
at a nearby restaurant. Then we wandered around the block checking
off such new species as Indian Mynah, Brazilian Cardinal, Chinese
Spotted Dove, Barred Dove, English Sparrow, and House Finch. We
relaxed in our room for a short while when Peter Marshall came over and
inquired whether we wanted to wander around town to see the sights. So
off we vnet to the famouse Honolulu Zoo and Aquarium. It was very
interesting some of the birds they had. The aquarium was arranged
from a scientific standpoint and was very well done. On the way bade

I spotted a Japanese White-eye in a palm and checked another bird off
my list. Oh, going to the Zoo we saw immature Great Frigatebird. We
bought a Papaya with lines. Fred suggested we all go birding. So I donned
my khaki uniform. We drove way out past Pearl Harbor up to the mountains.

driving through sugar cane and pineapple fields. Once on top of the

mountain, we walked along the dirt road on which we had been driving,
looking for the endemic species. After looking at an Elepaio, Ricebird
Japanese White-eye, and Pel in Robin car Red -billed Lei at hr lx, we

Gill , Dougl as

19oT

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finally found the Apapane, or Red Hawaiian Honeycreeper which are a
rare and fascinating group of birds on Hawaii. While the others ran on
ahead, I decided to sit and learn the birds we had just seen. So I
spent half an hour learning the a calls and identification of
Apapane, Leiothrix, White-eye, Elepalo, and Ricebird . The others return©

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having seen nothing. We returned to the car and drove bade to Pearl
Harbor to dry and find strawberry finches, Mandrlns , Stilts, and anything
else. The others saw a Manakin fly by but I didn’t see it. We returned

having not seen any of the above. I was exhausted, as was Pete and
the others. We had a quick supper of sandwich remains. Then Pete,

Paul and I joined Larry Huber to band shearwaters and petrels on an
offhhore island. We paddled a rubber raft out l/2 mile to an ilsand .

We then spent 3 to four hours catching shearwaters, which were sitting
oh the coral. They bite viciously and scratch awfully. Besides we
were being out up something awfully on the sharp coral. Pete and Larry
both had done this before and knew the technique, whereas Paul and I
were really cut up. After we had banded 100 shearwater, we searched for
Bulwer’s Petrels which were down in impossibly small holes in the coral.
The shearwater give a ghostly moan, whereas the petrels, give a rhythmic
cooing. Finally, we quit at 11; JO rowed back and drove home. I was so

tired and acking. I could barely stand up. Am X out of shape.

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May 31 — X barely taade it. to bed this morning. I was so sore. My

bo elf and neck ached and my wrists were scratched something awful and
my legs were bruised, cut, and tender. I slept like a log until around

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9 when I was awakened by the phone. I went back to sleep and was again
awakened when Pete came in. I got up and felt woozy, weak and ac^ed

considerably.

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Gill, Doug lee
T9oT —

Piaul and Pete had sandwiches, but then Paul and I went down to the

Bsntly Restaurant (where we ate breakfast yesterday) for a big breakfast

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had a lunch of beans and sard Ins at 1:50 when I got up. My head still

ached* We laicusscd evolution wnile eating* Per niost of the afternoon

I filled out banding forms. I went out for a walk at five to exercise
■ 'fco ray sojre neck and legs • I bought a few things then relaxed until

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'<• At that time five of us went over to St. Andrews Episcopal Church
for an organ recital by Swanson, organist at Riverside. It was good
with a great deal of modern material. We then had dinner. I had
Maui raahi, a good fish of this area. On the way bask we listened to
Mozart. Fred breifed the members ot‘ our expedition on rules and
regulations of our trip. The thing is highly Involved in security and
tight lip is the word. I finally hit the sack at 12:45.

J fflg 1- -Fred roused rae at 7 a. in. and told me to pack ray stuff. I was
moving pretty slow but got most of it packed. After checking out,

Fred, Pete, and I drove out to Pearl Harbor, We got our gate passes
then went to our ship. We spent the rest of the morning (until 11 a.ra. )
packing stuff in our amo boxes: personal gear, banding equipment,

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cooking equipment , etc. We also sanded some shelves so that the

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. drsveres would fit. It was hard hot work on an empty storaaah. I was

soon dehydrated. Finally we quit at 11 and drove over to a shopping

to eat. We all had a huge lunch of a cOTblnatlon Chinese food
T y lots to drink until to TOre bloated# We then dice last minute

/ ! efi opping of clothes and letters 9 etc. Then drove back to the motel to

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f I and mail letters, then out to the ship. ¥e helped load some of the big

Gill, Douglas

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equipment, and stowed our gear. Larry Huber and X are in the

crew's

quarters, Pete and Doug Hackman are In the Chief’s quaters, and Fred
and Bob Long, the botanist are in the officers quarter.* . We waited
around for toe ship to leave at 10OO hours. Wives and girl freends -■
were visiting on board before the men folic left for thiB 60 day cruise.
Finally we left, saying good bye to Dr. Ely, Hawaiian coordinator.
Getting; the boat out of its mooring was quite a project, involving at
least one, tug. We were on our way, finally. WE looked fear birds on
Cwr wy out of the harbor and out into the sea . I* saw Black-necked
Stilts, Koddy Terns, Sooty Terns, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters . It
was a beautiful evening and a very calm sea with a minimum of rolling.
The captain came up. to talk to as a bit about the boat and the trip.

Bob became woozy and went below but the rest of us were in fine sliape.
After everyone else left I had a long talk about the trip and ray past
birding and banding experiences with Doug Hackman. He is a real neat
fellow, for whom I haven't found good adjectives. . Finally I hit

the sack and had a relatively restless night's sleep.

Jime_2— I have to conserve paper since I don't have that much left,
novel lie woke us up at 7 o'clock. I dressed and joined the others in
the wardroom for breakfast. The wardroom is a small room with a cloth
taolec lathed table in the center with six cha irs . around . Only officers
set here and it feels real exclusive. We broke our fast with the captain
this morning , for example. Alter that we went up to the flying bridge,

which is the highest deck above the ship for at sea observation. Agdin

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it's an extremely calm day and the magnitude of lurching is maximal .

Sooty Terns and Wedge- tall Shearwaters were flying by. Finally a

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couple of Bulver’s Petrels flew by. Later on In the morning a couple
of frigate! irds and a white-tailed troplcbird flew by. And late in
the morning a Fairy Tern flew by. We had a big lunch (really a dinner

of chicken and vegetables) and continued the watch for sea birds.

%•

Occasionally we would go to the lab to help organize stuff, or to pack
our own personal box. Late in the mrrning we also had two Newell’s
(Manx) Shearwaters 30 by. Late in the afternoon around 17 00, we had
two odd shearwater -petrel type things go by which were first tentatively-
identified as New Zealand Shearwaters , but later suspected io be
Cookes

were small (around Bulwer’s size) fast flyers.

with white on the head and upper wing. We ate dinner with some unknown
officer. Metre watche after supper. Bob Long spent the whole afternoon
and evening frightfully seasick on the flying bridge. We (Pete and i)

had a talk with the "doc" of the ship about travel and guns, etc.

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Then I showered, wrote this, and hit the sack at 2100.

June 3 — I slept through Reveille, somehow I Just didn’t hear it. So

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I awoke at 10 to 8 ran up to the wardroom and found I couldn’t get

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anything to eat. So I went up to the flying bridge to stand watch. W

ft

saw some odd black and white shearwaters go by fehick we (Doug and I)
concluded were Newell's Shearwaters, a local race of the Manx. Before

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I had gotten up there Fred and Doug had seen white then called White-

necked Petrels . Some more of these flew by and after searching the

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/books we concluded that they were Kermadec Petrels. We were having

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an awful time Identifying these pelagics which none of us knew.

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Finally we got the shot guns out to collect these. Larry got all

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0111, Douglas E.

19oT

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upset because we only got one shotgun out and didn’t have sawdust and

cotton. He is so dense it is very difficult to convince of anything

that he has made up his mind over. Well, finally lunch (really another

dinner) came which made my stomach happy. In the afternoon a Russian

traveler heavily ladened with radio, sonar, and radar equipment went by.

Just before it went by Fred collected a medium sized Petrel, grey back,

white forehead, and black-bordered white underwing. We had been seeing

and

several of these / 'had no idea what they were. It turned out that they
are a/ New Zealand race of the Bonin Island Petrel. Some of the others

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saw a couple of Hare ourt's Storm Petrels, but I missed them. Later in
/the afternoon a Jaeger flew over which Fred collected. This is apparently

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a first record for a Parasitic in the North Central Pacific. Around

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five fifteen ve closed down watch and ate dinner. I got another dose
of sun today which makes my face, ears, neck, and arms bright red and
sore. After dinna r we bulled until dark. Bob Long came up briefly but
didn’t stay long. After looking at stars, I watched Perry Mason then hit
the sack at

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June j+- - Reveille woke me up at 7* It was drizzling outside but the

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rolling of the ship wasn't too bad. I ate breakfast with our gang then

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vehit to get laundry done. Then I wrote this for a while

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Gill. Douglas E

1955

Honolulu, Hawaii

112

John was there strumming away on his guitar. I wasted the entire

evening setting around, bulling, and writing this. Finally around

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2206 I started writing many overdue letters. I finally got Larry to
have his radio on the one good station and enjoyed Bruch's Violin
Concdrto No. 1. I had given up writing letters and wrote my Journal*

I then titled all ay pages properly and was real, giddy and tired when
I finished around midnight. They had a Mozart Program on for the past
two hours and it was a struggle to let Larry keep it on. At midnight
Pete and John returned from, carousing so I accompanied them as Pete

4

drove him home in the rented car. I don't think he should have been
allowed to drive it since he is underaged and I think there should be
stricter regulations who uses the rental cars. He dropped me off by a
restaurant on Waikiki. X had a late supper and returned and hit the
sack around 1:JD.

August 2 — I slept late (we all did) but finally got up ot 9:30. I vent
to the Coffee Shop to get a light breakfast. Paul Woodward accompanied
me and we discussed what we had been seeing and I deliberately chose
a very conservative position, because I really was confused about what
we had been seeing. He was real sure and proceeded to lecture me on the
field identification of oceanic birds. A rather precocious attitude
I shoul say. I returned with him to his room and continued to discuss
with Ken and him. Around noon I went down to Waikiki and had an
enjoyable Turkey Dinner. I wrote letters in the early afternoon but
was too tired to really concentrate so I hit the sack. Warren woke me

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up around 1600 and Doug, Warrne, Larry, Phul DuMont, Dale and I Just

went out to see the Townsend Cromwell, Warren's At-Sea ship, but it was

113

Gill, Douglas E.

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I9S4

locked up bo we drove over to Dr. Ely's. We looked at the skin from the
At-Sea cruise and they were really poor, even I could do better than most
of them. We then went up to Coconut Crater to see if we could find
the small colony of breeding Fairy Terns. We went down a steep cinder
grade out to the sliff over the ocean. There we saw a few Wedgetails,
Noddies, Frigates, and Brown Boobies, then a pair of "Trans ve*t it® "

Terns came in and floated overhead. Warren mentioned to me that two of
the crew on the Townsend Cromwell were on the Anton Bun when Frank was.

In the stand of trees where the Fairy Terns had nested, Warren and I
chased an odd scolding and finally concluded it was probably a young
Mynah. We returned to the hold after dark and decided to go to tte movies.
Turning on the readio I discoverd Mabler’s Fourth and I was ecstatic.
Apparently everyone was waiting for me while I was enjoying my Mahler.

In a friendly wrestle with Larry over the radio we were pushed into the
pool by the others, much to the mirth of many of the guests. After
changing Larry and I Joined Warren and Dick at the Colonian House
Cafeteria for dinner then stood in line at the movie house for 10 minutes.
The

Gill, Douglas E.
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Honolulu, Hawaii

movie, A Shot In the Dark , with Peter Sellers was a riot. When we got back
at the hotel we met Ken and Paul W. going to do wash so Dick and I joined
theta. We returned around one and we hit the sack.

2 August, 196k

Dr. Ely came knocking chi the door at 0645 so I woke Pete up. He got
ready and soon he and Doug left. I called the car rental for Doug then went
back to sleep. I got up at 0950 and cooked some eggs and bacon Pete had
left. I then straightened tilings up as Larry packed hie backpack. Warren
came in right after Doug came back and took Larry out to Dr. Ely's. He had
wanted to go so sat and talked about the potential of this project birdvise. I

showed him ay Carpodacus paper. I think very highly of Warren as one of the

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most wonderfully worthwhile birders on this project. He is a philosophy graduate
from Williams College. Cameron Keppler, a grad student under Dilges came by
and joined us. He is a magnificently mature. Interesting person and I was
attracted to him immediately. He knew Doug Futuyma. At noon we (Paul DuMont,
Cameron and I) went to the Colonial House for lunch. I described the initiation

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of a polliwog to a shellback to their anguish. I spent the entire afternoon \
writing a letter and journal. Dr. Ely came over around 1800 after Fred and wife
had been here for awhile. Warren came over with the 4 Dark-rumped Petrels and
1 White -necked that they collected. Much to other hotel guests' curiosity,

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we examined the birds. Both species were amazingly close morphologically,

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and Palmer's lumping the two seems reasonable. We discussed the situation of
possible allopatry and lack of information regarding isolating mechanises.

I changed into some good clothes but wasn't invited to join the Ely's, Sibley's,

/AT

and Hackman for dinner. I had been admiring this young girl by the poolside all
afternoon and was quite infatuated over her. She (her name is Ann, as I
overheard) probably is no more than 14, but has a real cute face and figure and
appeared to be lonesome. After getting up my courage I went over and asked her
if she would join me for dinner. She apologized that -she already had eaten and
didn't think she ought to join me. I couldn't persuade her and was disappointed.
I imagine I must look pretty fearsome. So I wandered alone into the Market
Place, watched the entertainment center for a while, then walked along
Waikiki looking for a place to eat. I ehose the Royal Lanai and decided to
have a steak and some red wine, just for experimental sake. I was sitting in
a small booth and opposite sat two beautiful girls, one blonde, the other
black, with outlandish coiffures. They noticed me, asked me why I was alone, and
asked me to join them. I nearly fell out of my chair but kept an air of
confidence and proceeded to move my meal over to their small table, but the
manager told me three couldn't eat at the table for two. So I premised I
would join them as soon as I finished my meal. I was shaking as I ate my
steak and sipped my wine. Cta.ce or twice during the meal, they again commented
on my loneliness. By this time I had finished, they had to leave, so another
opportunity to associate with women was lost. I sipped the last of my wine and
revelled in my popularity. I walked back to the hotel feeling the effects of
the wine. I cheerfully told Larry and Doug of my aborted opportunities and
of course was made sport of. I packed most of my stuff for Maui, showered,
started a letter to Mo® and Dad and finally hit the sack after midnight, having
enjoyed some more Mozart.

4 Augu r t

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Fred c me in real early 4; 30 or 5 and got Doug to drive him and his wife to
the airport. They were going to spend a couple of days vacationing in Hawaii.

Gill, Douglas E.

l'904

He came back at 0600 and woke Larry and I up. We made last packing arrange-

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ments, paid our room bill and with Paul DuMont and Cameron we all drove

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out to the airport. We got our tickets and waited half an hour for the?
plane . We left on a Hawaiian Airline plane at 7:55* The stewardess f\

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described the sights for tourists as we flew over Oahu. We landed on Maui

35 minutes later, got our bug gage and rented a Chevy II from National Car

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Rentals and drove into town* Ve bought some food to last us four days and \

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drove up to Kaleakala Crater. As we gained altitude the scenery became

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increasingly beautiful. Confers of various sorts became evident as well

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as roily grasslands on the slopes. A short-eared owl sailed over head
and later we saw another. Up around 4000 Lat. we saw a group of Skylarks.

The road was one car wide although they had a cents strip. We drove up
into Haleakala National Park and stopped at the Ranger Station. We had
already called the Superintendent and informed him of our plans so here
we made final agreements. We obtained a permit to collect one Dark-rump.
Just before the ranger station we had stopped at a picnic area to eat and
get our stuff ready. There were several buses around and I regretted not

H :

having brought binoculars . Afteryii siting the superintendent we drove up

jppi ; >

to the top of the crater to the lookout. It was a sea of clouds but that
is typical. We drove back to the Halemauu Tract, changed into field clothes
and started out on the trail. After a short while (l/k to 1/2 mile) we

r i

/ •»

struck off to the right and climed right to the top of the crater.'

■ ' ’ , i V

Amazingly we were at just the spot Larry wanted at the old Hawaiian Trail,

which switch backs down into the crater - Larry described the burrows we

Gill, Douglas E.

if W' . .. ; ; -!‘ s ' ->•••■•• - •

were looking for. He worked left, I worked right. Ridges are best, rather
than the rubble slopes - Burrows are found at the very base of abrupt
outcroppings in cavities there. They vary in depth and distance they extend
back: some wee so far back one can’t see the end. I found several and tried
to memorize where they were in this confer mass of rock. The slope is
incredibly steep and one has to be very careful not to slip or it may be
very difficult to stop rolling down the rough volcanic rock. I felt very
sleepy and often dizzy, undoubtedly due to the altitude and lack of sleep
the night before, so X sat down and dozed twice for a few minutes. Once I
was rudely awakened by a clattering of noise to my right and a human like
honking. I realized It was goat. Numerous coveys of Chub an keep exploding
and calling about the rocks. Their claim call is a "which you n repeated
over and over as they sail across the crater, I found around a dozen
burrows one of which appeared to be real, recently used, droppings at its
entrance and a distinct petrel smell. X met Larry and we discussed our
findings and coverage. We must have started at nearly noon and it was now
1600. We had found no back in the burrows, but Larry had found two dead
birds in pretty sad condition. We decided to work further off to the right
and found seven burrows at the base. We worked our way over to toe ridge
that separated our canyon from the rest. The clouds come rolling in and
out, but up to this time it had been nearly continually misty. YisihjiXAtiJf

Is chopped way down* By toe time we got to the ridge the clouds had

* t\ ,

cleared so the view of the entire crater was spectacular. It was. so huge

• . , ‘ T

/, , - . \

the cliffs and all that it was overpowering, hard to conceive. My sence of

v \ \

\

balance was really not good and I just didn't have much confidence moving

,< ** 1

% \
t

across the cliffs, as Larry did. He was very much a mountain goat. We \

Gill, Dougifis E.

—

worked our way back but got separated. X got back to our out croppy
first and saw Larry way back. Apparently be was still searching the
higher cliffs. The sun was setting and it became increasingly cold, tfy
the layers were just not enough and I was shivering. Besides I had only
brought a can of pineapple and I was in no mood to eat that. Larry teturned
and we waited as dusk settled in. When it became dark we heard our first
Dark-rump over in the canyon we had gotten to the edge of (Canyon No. 2).

We heard another bit, there weren't many. One came into our canyon to the
left where Larry had worked and another came into the right, near my one
good burrow. We put on our head lamps, Larry went to his burrow and I went
to mine. Everything looked quite different at night and I couldn't find mine.
When I was in the right area (I thought) the clouds came in and the mist
blocked out my land marks. Larry came over having found his burrow empty
and he waited for me to find mine. Finally I gave up, because I was so
turned around I wasn't sure I was on the right ridge anymore. We were both
pretty discouraged because: (l) Although we had found about 50 burrows this
afternoon" we hadn't found any birds in them, (2) We were having an impossible
time trying to locate the burrows we had found, and (5) We hadn't heard
more than 6 birds in the entire crater. We decided to go over to Canyon No.

2 where we had heard the most birds. It was still misting and we were slowly
getting soaked, contrary to Larry's previous statements liking this to a
desert. We finally got to the separating ridge (which I didn't recognize
but Larry did) and started working the other side. I wasn't at all enthus-
iastic because I just didn't like the idea of working these treacherous
slopes and cliffs at night in a mist. I wasn't working very hard and I knew

Gill, Douglas E.

—

Larry was discouraged. We worked dorm the slope into the next canyon

and were confronted with a high abrupt cliff. Larry wanted to work around

•/

the base of it arount the other side so I agreed to meet him on top after
working this side. It was an ideal cliff and I found several recent good
looking burrows. My enthusiasm increased as I found a fairly good carvass
of a dark rump outside one burrow. I worked eagerly up the base of the
ridge to the top. Instead of working the bridge "separating" ridge I decided
to contact and wait for Larry. I called and found that he was way below,
probably just working around the point. He called back that it was the
wrong canyon and something else I didn't catch. I waited for him to come
up but after about 15 minutes I still saw no sign: no noise or light. I

called and got no answer. After continually calling for another l/2 hour

■ • ' - ’ ■ ,

I still got no response. I was sure he had to be in one of the two aides

of this bridge on top of which I was and he must be able to hear me, I
was quite worried that I still got no response so after much deciding,
decided to go back to camp, just in case he had headed back, I was
frantically moving quickly along the slope, and was startled twice by
exploding chukar s . Oh while I was on top a couple of Dark-rumps kept
flying by and calling, so I suspected we were in a good spot, I called
again and got an answer below - Larry and yelled before that he was going
back to camp and that is what I hadn’t heard. I was relieved and laughed
somewhat at my unnecessary worry. But it would be so easy to get lost
or hurt on these slopes. We met and got back to our out-cropping. Since
we were coming back tomarrow Larry decided to leave his pack here, but
I thought it best to take mine. He was tired - discouraged that our

/2. <5

Gill, Douglas E .

I9&

first night had been a failure and hopes for future nights weren't
much better. We hiked quickly up the old Hawaiian Trail (me puffy) then
out on the new trail. We were tired and soaked. We drove down to the
picnic area just below the ranger station, changed, got a fire going and
cooked some canned dinner. (I had mixed vegetables and beef stew) the
first substantial meal of the day. We finally hit the sack in the car
around 0100 with a beautiful sky above.

August 196 k

Sleeping in the car wasn't the most comfortable in thw world and we
both kept waking up in the morning. It was raining outside which kept us
both in until 09j>0. We decided we had to get going so we put all our stuff
in the car and drove up to the overlook at 9000 feet and found it still
raining. We ate some stuff then we drove down to the Halemauu Trail.

It was still raining so we decided to write our journals and hope it
would clear. Neither of us wanted to work the treacherous slopes when the
rocks were slick. A cowboy and two horsemen came out and reported it was
wet. Larry decided to go in and get his pack and we would go looking for
Newell’s Shearwater on the other side of the island and return here in one
or two days* We stopped by the Ranger Station to advise them of our plans
and drove down to Highway 377 • We were out of the rain this low. We then
drove east, stopped for gasoline and ice cream, then continued on Route 37*
We turned onto 31 which became a dirt road through very dry desert like
country. We passed the house where Warren King’s parents had been married.
Cactus and Century plants are frequent out in this dry rocky (lava) desert
with sparse vegetation. We stopped at one place where we saw White-tailed

Gill, Douglas E.

W

Tropicbirds. They apparently were nesting in crevices on the sheer lava
drop down to the pounding surf. Larry ’’took" pictures of the Tropicbirds
and also of four Hawaiian Noddies sitting on ledges. These Hawaiian Noddies
looked much different than those we had worked with on the Southern Islands:
the white cap extended further back the neck was light grey contrasting with
dark brown back, the tail was a conspicuous light grey, and the legs on at
least two were a bright yellow. The birds on the southern island were a
uniform sooty with a gleaming white cap, and I don't remember bright legs,

. and they certainly didn’t have a conspicuous light grey tail. I wonder if a
racial difference has been described. We continued on until the road went
across a couple of deep chasms or draws which extended as canyons up on
the side of the crater. We decided that one of us should stay below and
listen for Newell's Shearwaters as they go up the canyons and to nesting
burrows on the slopes of the crater, while the other go up the slope to
listen for them, even perhaps a colony. Larry wanted to hike, so did I,
but I decided to let him go up the slope. After he left, I drove the car
several miles further up the road just to pass the time and returned and
parked the car facing the ocean in one of the draws. It was a nice after-
noon so I sat out by the ocean writing my journal and synopsis. Two cattle
trucks drove by and one stopped but I signalled that all was OK. I wasn't
sure whether I was on private property or not, I returned to the car as
I was really bored for there wasn't anything I could really do. At length
duck settled across this waste land so I began watching and listening. I
saw two medium sized black and white shearwaters come in just off the surf

Gill, Douglas E .

193T

l

but they moved to the left (east ). The roar of the surf made listening

*• * t

difficult, but I was sure I would hear anything which flew up the draw.

When it became real dark I turned on the car's headlights in hopes of
attracting anything that comes in. Nothing happened for a long while so

i

I turned on the radio to find out what time it was. It was 2110 and I had
agreed to meet Jerry 1-1/2 hours after dark which I figured would be 2100,

So I drove down the road and picked up Larry, as he was walking towards me.
We parked, ate our meal of the day and hit the sack. I listened to Saint
Saen's Symphony No. 3 which was really great to hear and an aria from
Samson and Dehllah.

«

- 4

6 August 1964 : The sun had been up for a while when we finally decided to
get up. Larry had slept in the back seat and I outside in the sleeping bag.
After eating quickly we decided to go back to the Crater since we struck out
on Newells, Larry had discovered last night that he hadn’t had film in his
camera when he took all those pictures of the Noddies and Tropichirds, so
we stopped by the same spot but found no birds. We stopped for more gas and
continued on discovering it was only 9:30. We heard some real corny adver-

tinements on the radio which humored us. It was s brilliantly clear day and

/ *

our hopes and enthusiasm were high. We stopped off at the picnic area below
the Banger Station to fill up on water and eat. We drove up to Halemauu
'Trail and packed our backpacks. Since we wanted to work Canyon No. 2 we
decided we would probably get really close to it if we just flipped over
the rim above the parking area. This we did and we came out right above
Canyon !fo. 2. We worked the top cliffs then went over to the large ridge.

Gill, Douglas E.

19Sk

As it turned out we were on the ridge Larry had tried to go around the other
night and we were Just 50 feet about where I had been standing. We decided
to leave our packs here and work this one ridge to the floor of the crater.
Larry, Warren, and Dave Bratley had worked this ridge two months earlier
and had determined that this was the center of the Dark-rumped population.

I went down the right side of No, 2 (see map opposite) to gat a sheleton I
had left there the other night. X should mention that the map opposite is
a view from the center of the crater looking at the side we worked. After
I got back to can®, I worked down the base of the left side and Larry the
right of No. 2. He then worked No. 3 as I worked through No. 7 . A well
used goat trail circled the outcropping of No. 7 and there were no burrows
at all. As I worked the rocks on the grassy slope of No. 4 Larry discovered
a chick in a burrow at No. 5. Success' I Joined him and we revelled in our
discovery. Larry banded it and now holds the first record of a banded
Hawaiian Dark Bumped Petrel chick. (A dubious honor). I worked down the
left side of No. 6 while Larry continued to work the upper ledges. He got
high strung and had to back track to rreet me down at the base. We then went
down to the floor of the crater and looked for a burrow Larry had found two
months ago but we couldn't find it. We decided to go over to Holua Cabin
since it was so near, so we got on a trail which took us over the small ridge.
We drank from the horse trough and decided not to go into the cabin since
people were there. I wonder what the people thought when they saw these two
tramps come out of nowhere, drink from the horse trough, and then quickly
disappear. We went over the ridge without following the trail and started
our ascent. It was real steep and I chose a slow steady pace which put me

' IQH

Gill, Douglas E.

w? — —

ahead of Larry’s shot hurst of speed and frequent rests. We relaxed at our
camp after the hour plus climb and I ate a relatively hearty meal of corn
and beef stew. We warmed ourselves in the last of the sunlight on our ridge
and quickly put on all that we had as the shade was cold, I brought an
extra shirt which gave me four layers which was a vast improvement over the
other night. We soon decided to go down to the chick burrow and wait for
the adult to return. Working down the slope warmed us up but sitting on top
of the ridge by the burrow was cold. The last of the sunlight finally faded
from the last high peak and It got colder. We threw stones at a flat rock
just to be active and warm up. Finally dusk settled and the first of the
Dark-rumps came in. I caught one glimpse of it, but I was amazed I couldn’t
see it in the twilight. Soon a few more came in and all seemed to be con-
centrating their activity around a ridge to the right of Ho. 5» Several
times their calling remained in one spot for a long enough time, that I
thought they were sitting on the ledge. Either that or a male in a burrow
was answering. One or two birds flew around the rock ledges below Ho, 5
but none came up the left canyon or anywhere near the chick’s burrow. We
were both cold and were trying to decide what to do. It must have been
nearly 1-1/2 hours after dark and the total number of birds in this area was
4 or 5 and the adult of the chick still hadn’t come in. Off in the distance
we could hear several more and I estimated the total number of birds for
the craters may have been 15; that is the birds we were hearing nay have been
as high as 15 but, the total birds for the crater we agreed might be safely
25. We decided to check some of the good burrows Larry had found on the
ledges below Ho. 5. We had difficulty finding some and found no birds. We

WJ

Do uglas E, Qill
■ r

>. ... - r -v; , SLfc - '

returned to the chick and took 5 photographs of it. lie then decided to work
up towards camp checking his burrows as he went. I decided to work ray rocks
(No. 4) then up the left side of No. 2 and agreed to raeet him in about an
hour. Just as I started to go across the grassy slope into the rocks I
slipped on a loose boulder and bounced twice. I banged ray left shin but
thought I only bruised it. My nerves were shattered for a while so I con-
tinued checking burrows. Ify leg hurt some and I was still shaken a bit so
I decided to work back to camp, since 1 had lost ay enthusiasm. X was
checking burrows on the way up when I noticed blood splattered on ray pant
leg and sneaker. X rolled up ray pant leg and found a deep gash 2 inches
long with blood pouring out and being soaked up by raj- sock. I worked up s

t

to carap not c he citing the burrows very carefully. I reached carap and tried

to keep raoving to raake sure ray leg didn't stiffen up before we got out of

the crater. After about 20 minutes waiting for Larry I heard him calling

me from below. I was reluctant to go down but decided that if he were

either hurt or had an adult bird X wanted to be there. So X decended

gingerly and finally reached him at the base of Ho. 2. He had a beautiful

adult Bark rump which he had saved for me to band. It ms a uniform sooty

black above from crown to tail sharply defined from the white below. The

black neck was broad and strikingly different from Warren's skins in Honolulu.

Furthermore the dark stripe batmen the mist and shoulder was broad and

distinct as opposed to the white lining of Warren* s birds. We worked it

over for molt and found none. The plumage ms goed and only slightly worn.

I banded it and released it and we headed back up to C€a3 ^ # We Sphered our
stuff and wnt up the rocky ridge and up and over the rim. J$y* leg was

Gill, Douglas E.

beginning to stiffen and hurt when walking as we wend down the side (wlxich
was a relatively gradual slope). We finally got to the car, and Larry drove
me down to the main town. We found the Maul Memorial Hospital (it was now
midnight) and went to the emergency room. A nurse washed ny filthy leg and
a doctor in casual clothes came in. He gave the wound a few shots of IJovacaine
cleaned it out and proceeded to suture itj three catgut sutures inside, three
silk outside. Then a shot of Tetanus Taxoid. We left and found a KtaniJ
greasy spoon Japane ae- Arner lean restaurant, Hie waitress discouraged me

V ' ; T

from having Japanese food so I settled for meat loaf. I must have looked
quite a sight: sad cap, beard, filthy shirt, one legged pants, and a limp;
also mismatched shoes. We then went down to the airport, found it closed,
parked the car, packed most of our gear then hit the sack in the car around
0200 .

August

feeling that well and spent time in the John, Larry checking departure
times found all the planes filled up until noon except for one seat on the
O850 flight. We put our names on standby and sat down and waited. Our
car got a flat so Larry and the Car Rental man changed it in good time. A

place

Larry

really so:
> 0 . Larry-

called Hr. Ely to pick us up. Wfe waited for about half an hour before they
(wife and son) came. After running two errands, and leaving Hr. Ely at one,
Janice drove us to the Hotel. We were informed that five of us would be in

O']

Gill, Douglas E .

19ST

one room. I hobbled down to Bentley's for a meal then showered even t tough
the doctor told me not to get the wound wet, I recked with filth and needed
a shower. I then sacked out and only vaguely heard Larry calling packing
houses for excelsior. He woke me around 1500 and to went out to rent a car
me hobbling along behind tarry. Be found one had to be 25 years old to rent
a car. On the way back, I stopped off at a Medical Building to have my
would checked. He was upset that it was wet but assured me it wasn’t in-
fected yet. Be put on a new bandage, told me to come back Monday and
charged me $5. I returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon
writing my Journal. I bought some cereal and milk for breakfast for the
next few days, ate some supper, and continued writing my Journal. We bulled
for a while, then I finally decided to read Evolution of the Vertebrates,

by Edwin Colbert, but I fell asleep soon. I vaguely heard Warren and Cameron

«•

come in from the Hawaii. I woke up soon after they vent to bed, talked to
them a little then hit the sack again.

8 August. 1964 : We all woke up late. Warren, Cam and Dayle went out to
rent a car then went on out to Ala Moana stopping center for most of the
morning. I wasted the entire morning sitting and doing nothing, oh except *

I did read the first four chapters of Colbert's text. Soon after they
returned Warren, Gam, and I drove out to Ely's to spend the afternoon. Cam
was telling us all kinds of eery exciting examples of cotaaercialism in
nature, which intrigued both Warren and me. We stopped at a luncheonette
in a bowling alley and discussed conservation measures, especially here in
Hawaii. Out at Ely's we nil got some paper work done but not very deligently.
Warren was preparing a report of hisKhuai trip, Com was making final packing

MIX* Douglas E .

arrangement s for Sand Island, and Dr. Ely was typing letters. I was f illing
out forms for SI and recording expenses. We got involved in a political
discussion. As the afternoon wore on Dr. Ely and I discussed blrding and
banding techniques back on the mainland. Privately Dr. Ely conferred with
me about the contents of my Journal. It seems some sections are more of
personal interest rather than appropriate for publication and he was offering
me the opportunity to delete what I wanted to before it ms typed up and
published. I tentatively decided to let it go as is, pending further
consultation. Our conversation about ray past experience and bird problems
in general ms exhiliorating. We finally decided to go and we three cheer-
fully sang ewie kleine Nacbtraisid on the my hack. Cam and Warren went surfing
soon after getting back, while I relaxed. Then Warren, Cam, Dayle and I
went to the Viking Restaurant, an expensive but wonderful Norwegian or
Swedish restaurant in another part of Honolulu. It was a gay evening as
Warren, Cara, and I eagerly discussed our respective interests and discoveries
in music. What a Joy these two guys are. They are so incredibly fascinating,
interesting, interested in so many things humanities, Shakespeare, music,
philosophy, psychology, science. It has been a perfectly thrilling and
warming esrpexience to talk to them today - a breath of fresh air after two
months of stifling. The menu ms exciting, and the waitress ms a most
friendly helpful German. I enjoyed the meal thoroughly. I wish I had met
these two guys earlier and widh they both weren’t leaving tomorrow: Cam
for Sand Island for two months and Warren for a two month vacation. We
returned and Cam went out for a date. Warren and I were humored by a
drunk Huber, read his Journal (which is a riot) and enjoyed a couple of hours

Gill, Douglas E.

— —

of good music. Warren knows lots about music and in a very similar interest
as I do. We had great fun identifying and enjoying the works on K.A.M. ,
the only good music station in Honolulu. Tbs program had Baroque material
and Schubert une Winter raise . Around 0030 we finally hit the sack, but I
couldn't sleep because I was thinking about Cam’s and Warren’s encouraging
me to stay with the project to the end. This would mean postponing ray last
year at Marietta which would delay getting my degree by one year. However
this wight provide an opportunity to transfer to Michigan and complete my
degree there. Besides I would earn nearly or over $5000 which would set me
on my feet financially. I was so excited by the prospect of the opportunity
I didn’t get to sleep for a couple of hours.

9 August, 1964- : We all got up late this morning. Cam left early around
0530 and so I didn't get an opportunity to Bay so long to one of the
greatest people I've ever net. I spent this Sunday morning doing a cross-
word puzzle as well as listen to Schubert's 3rd and some difficult material
by Charles Ives. Around noon we decided to go over to the zoo. So we spent
the early afternoon going through and enjoying the animals especially the
monkeys and birds. When we came back I wrote my journal and finished the
crossword puzzle over Beethoven’s 4. While Warren and Larry went surfing
I went down by the pool to write. Warren and Lorry returned, and demonstrated
exceptional diving ability in the hotel pool. We all freshened up a bit and
had dinner at the Royal Lanai. The steaks were good. After returning, I
dozed while the others relaxed. At 2130 Warren, Dayle, and I drove Warren

Gill, Pouglas-iE .

19ok

to the airport and hid a great fellow a fond farewell. I’ll miss both Cam
and him since they were so interesting and enlightening. Coming hack I
found that Dayle was a rather poor diver. On the radio we heard the Kyrie

of Beethoven's Miasa Soleanis a nd then his Symphony No. 9 with Joan Sutherland

1

Ciraet Ansermet. The first movement was good, the middle two average and
the last rather poor. Finally at midnight I hit the sack.

10 August 1964- : The hotel rang us at seven. Larry drove Dayle and me over
to the University of Hawaii to meet Boh Long. We waited in Dean Hall for a
while. Larry came up after Impatiently waiting. Boh fi nal ly arrived, it
was good to see him again, even without his heard. He was pee o’d that Larry
hadn't collected any plants while we were on Maui. Bob agreed to call me
later in the day to invite me over for a while so we could talk about the ATF.
We left Dayle to do some work for Boh and Larry and I drove back to the
hotel, stopping to drop off some film. We then went to the Police Station to
get me a new set of fingerprints, then ve went to Ala Moans, to mail some
stuff, buy a hair dryer, and buy some food. On the way back to the hotel,
Larry dropped me off at the doctor's. He gave me the ACK put a fresh bandage
on, and told me he would take the stiches out Saturday and again I paid the
five dollar hill and then was picked up by Larry. We went out to Dr, ELyjs
and I discussed with him the possibility and advisability of staying on with
the Project. He couldn't advise me well because he doesn't know me well,
but did give me some food for thought. We left around noon and relaxed most
of the afternoon. Larry put up a few skins while I wrote up a first draft
of the dark rump paper, Larry picked up Dayle at five, and I cooked my own

Gill, Douglas, E .

196 *

supper of lamb chops and com. It was really good and I was proud of myself .
Just before supper I had a runaround with most of the children staying at
the hotel; shades of paper boy days. Larry and Dayle were enjoying rum drinks.

I enjoyed the Brahms program and finally hit the rack at midnight after re-

m

vising the dark rump paper.

II August 1964 } Around 0145 I heard a knocking at the door, I got up and
helped David Bratley in with all his gear and then hit the sack again.

Larry was a riot in his stupor of inebriation; he was stretched out on the
floor and would frequently produce a loud long drawn out morn or a torrent
of oratory. At 0700 or so Larry drove Dayle over to the University to help
Bob for the day. I got up around 0950 and broke my fast. We all went out

to Gasp-o, LID to buy some dry ice for the birds. Dave drove us out to Ely's
thereafter (he tends to hot rod). He discussed the latest news from Sand.

We left and Dr. Ely made no mention of new developments for me to stay on
other than a cryptic phrase that he had 25 people for 24 positions. Soon
after returning to the hotel, Dave and I went to the Colonial House Cafeteria
for lunch. We discussed my decision of staying on the project or not. We
squandered the afternoon, Larry putting up a few more skins, I revising the

dark rump paper, and Dave writing letters. The afternoon went by quickly.

\

After picking up Dayle Larry put on his lava lava suit and skinned another
bird. Dayle and Dave went out to eat and didn't come back: undoubtedly
philandering. I put up a fairy tern using an excelsior body. It didn't
come out especially well, but better than the last two. I read several
things out of boredom, while listening to several Variations on the radio.

Gill, Douglas E .

IjSSf

I hit the sack at midnight just as Dave and Dayle came back.

12 August 1964- : I got up late around 0930. Larry had already taken Dayle
to the University. Then Dave and Larry left for a shopping trip Just when
I was getting up. I went down to the pool and wrote my journal and the dark-
rumped petrel report. Dayle called around noon that he wanted to be picked
up but the other two hadn't come back yet. They did an hour later arid Larry
went to pick him up. Dayle wanted to go out to Ely's to ask him about Cam's
pair of binoculars. I decided to go along because I wanted to ask him about
a reprint of Richardson's paper in Condor 5 6, and our arrangements for the
Kauai trip. He didn't have a reprint and didn't want to give any final

details of the Kauai trip. It depended on how many birds we got done. I

*

was a little worried about this, because although Larry had done several
(maybe a dozen) and I had only done 1 Fairy Tern. When we got back I started
to skin right away. I took out a gray-backed Team but a small shorebird
fell out so I decided to do it. It looked like a Sanderling but was too
dark. It was in pretty bad shape, 2 huge holes in the head which I sewed
up. Two and l/2 hours later I finished just as Dr. Ely came in. It came
out well I thought in spite of an odd looking head, and some featherless
spots on the breast. Dave and I then identified it as a Red, Phalarope with
which Dr. Ely concurred. Dave and Dr. Ely went out for dinner and soon
Dayle and Larry cleaned up and hit the town. I decided to do another bird
before I ate, so I got out an adult Sooty and worked steadily on it from
6:30 to 10:00. It came out real well and I was proud of it. I used a cotton
body and all and was glad I could show Larry this method does work. I then

-133-

4

I

gilt, Douglas E,

196 *.

changed and went out just as Larry and Dayle came back. I ate at the Waikiki
Biltmore. When I got back I found Larry in a mosquito tent. We all hit
the sack around 1150.

15 August 1964 ; I got up at 0815 and had breakfast. I was about to start
a young Sooty Tern when Larry advised not to until the maid had cleaned up

the room. We decided to go out and buy some dry ice and X wanted to buy a

*

new scalpel. I couldn’t find any at Ala Moana so gave up and we went and
got 25 lbs of dry ice. We waited for the maid to finish when we got back
and finally started skinning around noon. X was mostly finished with a

V

%

young Sooty by 1545, went down and had lunch in the coffee shop, and finished
the bird by 1550. I started a second but realized I couldn't finish it by
1800 so I did everything but stuff it until 1745. Then Larry and I dressed
for dinner over at Bob Long's. Dave fortunately brought the car back at
six and off we went. I got a curious letter, a critique sheet of ray journal,
from Fred which I'm still trying to understand. Bob lives over on Makiki
Street in a new apartment building. Dennis somebody, a Botanist from the
University who just got his Masters, joined us. The conversation was en-
joyable and the lasagne was good. We saw a few slides of the ATF trip and
finally left around H50. Bob, Dennis, and his wife recommended that I get
my degree first and not postpone it. When we got back (hearing the last
movement of Sc human' s 5fd) I reread Fred's letter and hit the sack.

14 August 1964 : We got up late around 9 : 50. After breaking our fast I
finished up the young Sooty Tern I skinned out last night. The feathers
kept coming out I suppose because it had waited so long to be stuffed. He

Gill, Douglas E .

1964 .154.

didn't come out too well because he lost so many feathers. I did another
immature in about J-l/2 hours and it came out pretty well. Thus around
1600 I went out to eat and had two dinners at the Princess ?

on the main drag of Waikiki . Walking back past the Market Place, Larry ran
up and Joined me. We went to the Aloha Airlines to get Fred's thank-you
present for the Ely's. Then we went to the bank across the street where
Larry closed out his account. When we got back to the hotel it was lBOO

so we both started skinning a red-tailed Tropicbird. larry finished his

%

by 2030 and I only had to stuff it. We dressed and went to see Alfred
Hitchcock's movie "Mamie" which was very good. We got back at midnight.
Larry hit the sack but I stayed up until 0200 and finished the Tropicbird.

It came out and I was proud of it. I then sponged bathed (since I can't

*

get ray wound wet) ard finally hit the sack around 0230.

13 August 1964 : I got up at 1030 and got moving. After eating I went down
to Hr. Trsgler and had my would examined. It had become infected, so he
cleaned it up, redressed it, and gave me some antibiotics. We discussed
oral contraceptives and he supported them having prescribed them for 3 years
We discussed philosophy. When I got back I relaxed a bit as Larry put up
another bird. Then we drove out th Bernice Bishop Museum where I purchased
three of their publications. We then browsed through soma of their displays
especially the Honeycreepers mounts. The seabird mounts were very yellow
from old leakage (oil). I hope our skins don't become as awful. We drove
back past Gaspro but found that it was closed so we couldn't get dry ice for
the birds. I went to the Colonial House and bad a dinfcer-lunch of chop suey

gill, Douglas E ,

193T

Soon after returning to the hotel I started skinning a young Noddy. The
skin kept tearing, and after k hours I was practically tearing my hair out.

I •was nearly in a frenzy at the end and hurriedly finished the bird, I walked
around the block to cool off, and had a rum and soda when I got back. I
started another Noddy and was rapidly becoming impatient with that bird too.
When I found I had tied my wings with one wing twisted I exploded and smashed

the bird with try fist. It didn't hurt it fortunately so I corrected the
problem and finished at long last. It was pretty decent. I hit the sack
on edge.

16 August 1964 : I heard Larry straightening things up and repacking the
birds in the cooler with ice in the morning but was too tired to get up. I
finally did at 10J0 again. I spent the morning and early afternoon writing
a letter, a reply to Fred's letter. At 2:50 I started di inning young Sooties
I finished my first in just over two hours. I was careful and patient,
everything went well and it turned out to be a half decent skin. I had
dinner then at the Colonial House after fruitlessly looking for a new place
to eat on the main drag. A set of three French girls dressed in tight
sweaters sat at the next table and it was interesting to hear them converse
in French, When I returned I turned on the radio and recognized Mahler. So
I sat and listened to and enjoyed his Pas lied ban der Ecder . Iarry and I
argued about the impression we were making on other people, lie thought we
were being laughed at by all, and I thought things were ok. By 1900 we
started skinning again, and I finished another young Sooty in 1 hour 50
minutes. The next bird took 2 hours and about 30 minutes. Both came out

- 136 -
I was

Gill, Douglas E .

SjfiSf

well. For music I listened to sorae obscure works by Gabriel Fourd.
real restless at midnight so I wrote this and finally hit the sack.

17 August 1964 : Larry went out to Dr. Ely's to drop off some skins. I
woke up pretty late ate and decided to write some letters. Larry came back
and went swimming with Anne. Early in the afternoon I was going to turn the
Corvair in to get another car because the clutch was practically gone. But

I couldn't even get the transmission going because of the bad clutch. So I

/

cgot Larry and we pushed the car down the main streets to the Car Rental place*
We got a red Simea and we pushed the Corvair down to another parking lot.

When we got back X decided to go out for something to eat. I relaxed a while
when I got back. In the evening I skinned two young Sooty Terns which came
out pretty well. I finally hit the sack around 0100.

18 August 1964- : We got up relatively early (0930). We started skinning
since we wanted to do around a dozen birds today. Starting at 1030 I finished
my first one (a young Sooty) around 1:00. A young Noddy took me until 4:30.

Oh in the morning I drove over to Ely's to pick up some dowels, whirl paks
and large styrofoam freezer. After the Noddy I dressed to go out, just to
get out of the hotel room. I started driving and suddenly saw two tickets
under the windshield wiper. One was for parking out of my stall, and the
other was for not having the registration in view. For the former I had my
tail hanging over the white line, but recognized I was illegal because I was
the second car in a one car stall. The other mystified me because I didn't
know that, the registration had to.be out in the open. Besides, that was the
Car Rental's responsibility not mine. I drove up to the University Library

Gill, Douglas E,

19 ST -137-

to see if they had Condor 1 they did but I couldn’t get at them because it
was too late. I drove bade, finally parked the car in a good spot, then ate
over at the Colonial House. When I got back I discussed the tickets with
Larry and decided to put the registration on the visor. We then started
around 1930* I put up a young Sooty in Just over two hours. I then started
an adult Sooty. Around. 11:00 four nymphettes of the hotel who had been
eyeing us suspiciously came over and wanted to watch what we were doing.

Amid the squealing and nose holding we finally convinced them it was sensible
work and there was no need to feel queasy. They finally left and I felt good
about our public, relations success. Larry finished his fairly soon and hit
the sack before midnight. I finally finished mine at 1:30 and it came out
real well except for the blood of the gunshot wound. From 10 to 12 we

listened to Stravinsky, which is nc way to convince Larry of the real value

%

of serious music. Around 2:00 I finally hit the sack.

* \

19 August 1964 : Got up around 9:30 and got going. I gave Budget Car

’

Rental a call tc tell them about the ticket for the registration not in view.

I used the name Karrs a Bicknell without 'thinking about it, because that was
the name on the top of the car receipt. I told her I would pay the ticket
and bring the receipt for reimbursement. Lorry was real upset because X
hadn't used the name Warren King. Then he pointed out that the address under
Warren Bicknell was unknown that that name must be the name of the guy who
had given us the car. It locked like I had areally screwed up because we were
illegal to have the car. As we drove out to the Traffic Bureau we "discussed"
what we were going to do. While paying the fine I took out the car receipt

Gill* Douglas E,

19 * ’

- 153 -

again and suddenly realized that the address under Warren Bicknell was his
Cleveland address. So Warren Bicknell was Barren King after all, I was right
and all was ok. We found an electronics shop on Keeaundku Street (819) who
supposedly could fix Larry’s radio antenna. They couldn’t so we went to Ala
Moana center and took it to the Hobby shop there. All they could do is give
Larry a mailing address for parts. We went over to Sears and bought 200 feet
of mu nil 1 a rope for our Kauai trip. We drove back to the hotel then. I had
breakfast at 11 j 50 while Larry saam. After the maid left I started skinning
an adult Sooty Tern which took me most of the afternoon. It turned out real
well. Larry had gone out to the Ely's with some birds, and brought back a

Ifynah,

/

/

Larry

afternoon making a sling shot and tearing apart shot guns shells for the
shot. Early in the afternoon he made ticket arrangements for Kauai and bade
to the mainland. All planes were booked until Monday so we could only take

a flight to DC late Ifonday afternoon. Anyway, during dinner Larry taught me

\

* •

some French. After dinner we decided to play miniature golf. We played tiro
rounds and I beat him both times. Back at the hotel I discovered my billfold
was missing so I searched the room but couldn't find it. So I went back to

the golf course and inquired with no luck. I remember I had it near the end
of our gome and I'm sure I wasn't pickpocket ed. Well, that evening I skinned
the mynah. It was in heavy molt but it turned out pretty well anyway. Larry
put up 2 Sooty Terns. Then we hit the sack around midnight.

20 Afugust 1964- : We got up and started skinning. Here it is three days later
and. I can't remember much about the 20 of August. I know in the morning I

Gill, Douglas E ,

I9S4

- 139 -

I checked, the miniature golf place for my wallet hurt; no luck. During the
day I skinned an adult Sooty which came out real well. Larry swam in the
afternoon after doing one bird. For supper I found 2 cans of soup, so I
mixed them together (Tomato and Scotch Broth) and had a huge bowl of soup.

t * . ' -

After dinner I skinned another adult Sooty which came out real well. While
I was doing my third Sooty (an immature) I decided I was going to get drunk

so I went down and bought a small bottle of Bacardi Hum. (Larry came in

*

around now) and skinned 2 birds. A mixture of Schwepps lemon soda and the
rum was awful tasting but I could see how one could i_esm to like it. By
and by I became increasingly dissy to the extent I couldn't keep my balance.
I was almost finished with my Sooty but was having difficulty finishing it
because of my high state. Oh I had enjoyed Mendelssohn's Hetridz Overature
and Scotch Symphony, but vac so dizzy and uncoordinated during the Itallen
Symphony, I didn’t hear much of it. Fortunately Larry came in, and I asked
him to finish ray bird. I collapsed in a chair, laughing at everything, and
drinking more rum. Walking was nearly impossible as I stumbled about. I

• - -^z '

it 50 _

remember most of the evening well, my mind was fairly clear, hut oh was I

\

dizzy. Even though I tried to be serious at times to examine my drunken
self and what was happening to me, I couldn't. Anyway I finally hit the sack,
and with Larry's help stayed there.

21 August 1964 : I got up around 8:30 end still felt dizzy, although X was
perfectly normal. My stomach felt lousy and often times I felt nauseous.

I packed things up ready for our Kauai trip and the final departure home.
Larry made one early trip out to Ely's to take a pile of his stuff out for

G ill, Douglas E ,

w ■ in *m**Mmb mm mwmimimm

1935

- 140 -

storage. I drank some milk which made me feel good, immediately after hut
questionable soon after. I had this perpetual rotten taste in my mouth.

By the time Larry got back I had nearly finished organizing everything and
packing it. I discovered I had several items missing (flashlight, gloves,
etc) which I know I never took out of the room and don't know where they
disappeared to. Mrs. Ely didn't have a Western Peterson and authorized us
to go out and buy one. So we drove out to the Book Store at Ala Moana
and brought a Western Petersons. It was then that Larry mentioned to me
that in a telephone conversation with Dr. Ely this morning Mrs. Ely had
learned that there was a position for me for the rest of the project if I
wanted it. How the decision is up to me whether ! want to stay. When we
got back to the hotel, I ran over to the miniature golf place to inquire
once more about the billfold; no luck. I guess I'm out one billfold and
around $ 15 . I ran back to the hotel and with Larry loaded all the rest of
our stuff into the Simca, paid the hotel bill and drove out to the Ely's
VJe transferred everything to their car and then Mrs. Ely and David drove us
out to the airport. Janice is a perfectly marvellous, mature, and responsible
woman. What a wife.' While Dr. Ely is in Washington (until the 5th) she is
coordinator here in Hawaii and has to deal with the Wavy, etc. A big job but
I bet she can do it. We went to our mailbox at the airport and found no mail
for either Larry or me, very disappointing. Janice dropped Larry and me off
at Aloha Airlines and bid farewell until Monday. While Larry waited on the
long line for reservation confirmation, I started a letter to Marly. Finally
the plane left at 1315 and we were on our way to Kauai. I was in no

d to

Gill, Douglas E .

I 9 S 4 -141-

finish the letter so I put it away. The stewardess was a real cute blond.

We landed at Li hue Airport in just about 1/2 an hour. After picking up two
paekbacks, we got a car from national Rent-A-Car. The attendant was overly
helpful. In Linue we stopped at a grocery store. and bought three days' worth
of food. I drove our Chevrolet Chevelle out on route 50 just to Menehune (?)
Fishpond, by wrong turn, then out to Wainea. In a little town beyond Wainea
(Kekalis I think) we inquired directions for Wairaea Canyon. We found the
road and I drove up the windy twisting road. We drove to the Lookout and
tried to position ourselves with Warren King's map. We were confused and

started looking for good burrow places from our vantage point. We decided to

' ' ,

go down to a scenic ttail which would give us a view of the other side of an

interesting ridge. There were several good looking places so we decided to
go back to the lookout and hiked down from there. At the lookout we changed

f ' <

into field clothes and donned our packs: Larry carrying the 200 foot rope,
and I all miscellany. We hiked along the rim of the canyon a short ways
south of the Lookout then headed down along the ridge. It was real steep
with lots of loose dirt. The rock3 were real rotten and crumbled in your
hand. It was real treacherous and you had to watch your step, lest it
crumble and you are pitched into the chasm. Good one. As I&rry headed to
a lower set of our croppings, I left ny pack by a bunch of trees, and
started searching the grass slopes for burrows. I worked along the base of
a few small cliffs and found only one or two old tunnels. I saw a mouse
in one. Larry called me down to his level and when I got there I found his
rope tied around his pipe and the other end over the precipice. He called
out his purposes down the 15 0 foot cliff as I watched the rope with the
pipe on. I sat for around 1/2 an hour as Larry worked the base of that cliff

W -142-

He found nothing suspicious. I heard him call out once or twice but I could

not hear what he was saying. By and by he came down from above me. Apparently

he had worked all the way around the ridge, up and over. We hauled up the
rope and headed back up the ridge. I went back and got my backpack and
joined him at the top of the ridge. We went down to a lower level and sat on
a pinnacle as dusk closed in. Soon after we settled a short-eared owl flipped
over us. We heard one flicker like call down from us, and reasoned it was
a Barcourt's Storm Petrel (King 1964). But very else was heard, only
occasional squeals and calls which probably were Harcourt ' s but may have
been some land bird. Off to the left, towards the lookout. We heard three

; \

odd calls which seeraed to be moving and undoubtedly’ were Harcourts. They
were sneezing barks or squeaks and often not too unlike dark-ruHiped petrels.

We finally decided the hell with this noise and headed on up. No Newell * s

i

and no more than l/2 dozen Harcourts at the most. We had serious questions
of King’s numbers. We collected plants as we Scrambled up the ridge and

hooted and called cheerfully as we worked our way back along the rim. We

/

/

pressed the plants then drove up on route 55 looking for the restaurant for
which there was a sign back at the lookout. We drove on and on and never
found it as we came to KfLalaw Viewpoint at the end. We past a radar
Installation just before the end. On the way down I ate a cold supper (my
first substantial meal of the day of beef stew and peas and carrots). We
drove right on down to the ocean. I tried to sleep outside for a while but

gave up as I was being eaten alive, I finally sacked out in the car,

*

/

although outside was beautifuls full moon, black sand beach, pounding surf,

and palm trees behind me.

Gill, Douglas E .

19&T

Kauai

- 143 -

22 August 1964 ; We woke up around 0850 and drove back up the Wairaea Canyon
Road, flnri parked outside the Hokee Ranger Station and found that it was
locked. We wondered when it opened, and since it was already 0900 and it
was Saturday. Finally some people cane down from one of the back cabins
but they didn't know when the ranger showed up either. At their suggestion
we went over to the Museum and restaurant but found them closed. We saw a
maintenance truck pull up in front of the Ranger Station, so we went back and
asked them how to get to Alakai Swamp. The fellow was very helpful and
pointed the way out on a map. So, after filling our canteens, we drove just
a very short ways beyond the ranger station to a dirt road leading off to
the right and a sign indicating Mohih.1 was 6.4 miles down it. About ha l f a
mile above this cutoff on Route 55 there is another dirt road off to the
right with a sign indicating Mohihi 6.2 miles. They joined about a mile in.

He followed the signs (including one pointing to camp 10 ) until they were no
more. The last was 4.7 miles to Mohiki. We drove probably 2 miles beyond

. « 1

the last sign and finally came to a bend in the road where the stream
crossed it. It was shallow but we decided we better not try it, lest the
stream swell with rain or we slip while we were in it. So we parked the
car above it, and loaded our packbacks. Ivhile ve were doing that X bird
watched a bit a spotted a Lesser Amakihi, or Aonlsn3.au among the Japanese
White-eyes. Larry prepared his slingshot and off ve went. We walked slowly
along birdlng as ve went. Larry often shot at birds that came within range
but consistently missed. He finally got a Lesser Amakhii and later an
immature House Finch. Further on ve decided we better skin them, because they

gill, Douglas E. -144-

JgV}’ .

ICaual

might spoil In the heat (vhich was not oppressive but which was delightfully
cool). Larry did the Anianiau and X started on the House. We only had one
pair of small scissors between us. So it was new to try and skin birds with
a minimum of equipment. Larry finished the Amakihi in about half an hour.

bird was in pretty bad shape, one leg nearly ripped off by the shot and
both wings shattered. After skinning it out we decided it wasn’t worth the
effort or tine, so I threw it out. A couple of pig hunters went by, only
one of which had a freshly killed pig. We continued our slow pace, stopping
once for Larry to get a nest from a tall slender shrub. It apparently had a

* ' ■ • k -

hole in the side, was a bulky thing of coarse grass with a fine gross lining.
It had this tiny white eggs in. I suspect Elapaio but it may have been one
of the Honeycreepers . We finally came to the end of the road, after about a
2.5 mile hike and started off down the trail to Mohihi Stream. Larry shot
an Elepaio at the corner of the road and the trail after about three shots.
This trail decended rapidly and finally came to a small cabin in the clearing
between two streams, I presume forks of the Mohihi. The fishermen who had
their jeep parked at the end of the road were nowhere in sight. We continued
hiking up the trail to the right. It ascended until it reached the top of
the ridge. Larry was shooting birds along the way but continued to miss.

On either side of us was a deep valley and forested ridges, nothing that
appeared like a lowland swamp. We hiked along and noticed the change in
birdlife: white-eyes decreased considerably and Apapane increased. I had
gotten the Apapane, Anakihi, Anianiau, Ahepa, Creeper down on the road and
wanted to see an Iwi very badly. Finally one flew across the trail which I

Gill, Douglas E.

19 &

Kauai

- 145 -

got a glimpse of, and later we saw one feeding closeby. Quite a spectacular
bird. It was getting late around 3; 30 and we decided to go just a short

t -

distance further. We went around a bend of the ridge and Larry decided to
skin the ELepaio while I vent on to see if I could see Ollhai swamp. I
discovered a group of Creepers (Larry had seen the latter 2 of the above
list) so I ran back and got Larry. He saw them and then succeeded in shooting
another Lesser Amakihi. He took them bade to where he was skinning the
Elepaio. I vent on ahead and I saw nothing but ridges and valleys all
around, nothing that looked like Alakai Swamp unless this entire area was
called Alakai Swamp. I vent back to where Larry was skinning and waited
until he finished. As a mist (rain?) rolled in a beautiful rainbow popped
up on the side of our ridge. Around 5:30 we finally headed back at a good
pace and arrived back at the cabin in a shorter time (around 20 minutes) than
I thought we would. Apparently we had not gone as far as I thought we had.

I was quite ahead of Larry as apparently he had stopped at every place we had
seen an KLapalo to see if he could shoot one. While I was waiting some
fellows came down the trail from the road calling. Apparently they were
looking for the rest of their party. Larry called me back aways and told
me he heard some ducks on the stream. We went down to the stream but
couldn't find them. They very likely were Hawaiian Ducks, after crossing
the stream we collected three little frogs on the opposite bank. We hiked
quickly back to the car as it started to rain again. It has been sprinkling
on and off all day and the road has become a very slick clay. We decided
■fee better get out of here as fast as possible before the roads became too

Gill, Douglas E .

1 9W

Kauai

- 146 -

slick. Larry driving, we slid about as we chugged back out. At one corner
we skidded unmercifully and couldn't get around. We tried the edges with
no luck. Finally with me pushing and covered with splattering mud, and the
wheels spinning at 4-5 MPH we got around and up that hell hole. We slipped

and slid all the way back but finally got out. We coiigratulated each other.

\

I was filthy but \re decided to go back to the Lookout and listened for the
shearwaters and petrels* It was cold sitting there and a mist came rolling

i

in. We gave up shortly and decided to go on down below and forget about our
shearwater problem since it indeed looked hopeless. So I changed into some
clean dry things, got some food, and sat in the Death Seat as Larry sped down
the mountain. The full moon was beautiful. We drove to the same spot on
the beach as last night around 9*30 Hi. Larry took the sleeping bag and
sacked out on the beach. I took out my (the second) anianiau and proceeded
to skin it out using ay headlamp and all essential tools. My neck, was
breaking but I kept at it and finished it around midnight. A cop drove up
wanted to know what we were doing, so X gave him the song and dance about
us being Smithsonian personnel and we 'were studying the birds of this area,
etc. He was duly impressed and left. ' Even though I was tired I wrote my
journal of the past 2 days before I completely forgot them. Finally around
1:30 I hit the sack.

I shall give a resume of the birds we saw, identifications, abundance,
breeding, activity, etc., in case it is of some importance to another birder
to Kauai. Let me start with the family Drepanididae .

Gill, Douglas E.

T$uf —

Kauai

- 147 -

Apapane : An infrequent bird along the road. Perhaps we saw only a dozen
there. However up on the ridge it was an abundant bird. Practically all
birds were the red plumage and I saw only 1 bird which appeared to be an
immature. Larry thinks he saw 2 immature s. This indicates that either the

4 » . rn ~ m i %

breeding season has long been over and the immature s have molted into the
red plumage, or the breeding season is just starting. I suspect the former
is more reasonable. The call of the Apapane is more variable than the others.
Besides a sharp chirp, it sings Bhort phrases and notes which resemble the
cowbird a great deal, but once in a while very meadowlark like. I should
note here that all the Honoycreepers tended to he quiet, giving only very
nondescript chirps or weak whistles. And the calls of all 6 species we had
were very close and very difficult to tell apart. The apapane was the only
one which gave sure.

Lesser Amakihi ; Certainly the most abundant Honeycreeper of our entire area.
Well X don't know: the abundant Apapane on the ridges may contest it, out
generally the Anlaniaw was more frequently seen in most areas. It was
readily distinguishable. Whether bright yellow all over or dull greenish,
the lack of a black local mark was diagnostic. I suspect the bright yellow
birds were adults and the dull greenish were immatures. That this may be
true is substantiated by the collection of 2 iirsaatures both dull greenish.

The bill is practically straight and the whole bird reminds one of a yellow
warbler (Dendrolca petechia ) . The call is a sharp not especially loud, in-
flected whistle squeek. Once learned one can identify their presence without

looking.

Gill, Douglas E .

w

Kauai

- 148 -

Amakihi : Resembled the Anianiaw but was slightly larger and always n dull
olive green as opposed to a yellow or yellowish green. The large beak gave
it a bull headed appearance and the dark local stripe gave a dark check look.
Tended to be less active than the Lesser Amakihi. Its call was a short weak
cheep or squeak, very nondescript and hardly distinguishable. We only saw a
few along the road and a couple on the ridge. Altogether perhaps 8 or 10
birds. We had no way of telling age and really didn't see enough of them

to offer any constructive description.

/

/

Creeper : We only saw four of these supposedly common birds. I had one on
the road and a group of three up on the ridge. The dingy, white below, dull
blah upper parts and light beak were easy to tell. All four birds crept along
dead limbs of dead trees nuthatch like and were noticable from this. I saw
no indication of a preference for low story growth as indicated by other
observers. Their call was a plain dull cheep or squeek which I thought was
huskier than the other calls.

Akepa : We tod only a. few of these and undoubtedly overlooked them at the

V

beginning. I'm sure I misidentif led two at the beginning as Amakihi but
realized my mistake when I observed one closely on the road. We didn't have
any on the ridge. The black oral patch immediately separates it from the
Amaniaw but not the Amakihi. Compared to the latter it is yellower on the
breast and crown, which does remind one of the Anianiaw. In other words it
looks like an Amaniaw with a black eye patch, or a yellow Amakihi. The finch
like beak with a whitish or light blue lower mandible stand out. I don't recall

Qill, Douglas E.
19 &

-lk9-

hearing it, yes I do. It was a loud high pitch squeak or cheep which was
very close to that of an Apapane. I couldn't tell the two apart by call un-
less the Apapane gave its variety. Ho age data were available.

Iiwi ; We only saw two of these both on the trail on the ridge (one was on a
slope going up). Both were in the full red plumage. They resembled Apapane
closely but were more Vermillion than scarlet. The large horny salmon
colored beak was obvious. Whereas the Apapane was a very rapid moving bird
while feeding (almost bouncing through the branches) the Iiwi was slower
moving. It did appear larger, especially with the huge beak. It didn't call
so I don't know what it sounds like.

Japanese White- eye ; a disgustingly abundant bird, outnumbering everything

else several fold. Ore soon learned to ignore its call which was a shiller

•• p % • •

or a soft chatter. Its great variety of squeals and whistles were often con-
fusing with the Honcycreepers . It was much more active than the Honey creepers

s. . -• *' • • ‘ — H

and anything that moved very rapidly through brushes was a White-eye, any-
thing that moved Warbler like was a Lesser Amakihi. It was very gregarious
and often travelled in flocks, a couple of birds often would work the same
branch together.

23 August 196k ; Larry was in the car when I woke up around 0830 since it
had rained last night. We slowly got organized (?) and decided to make
another attempt at Alakai since we had missed it by a great distance yesterday
After buying some supplies at a little general store at the base of Route 55
we drove up to the Ranger Station. While filling our canteens we got new

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Gill, Douglas E ,

1 9 &

Kauai

directions. We had gone too far on the road. On the crest of the hill
above where we had parked is a sign indicating some forest reserve (Noa
Poli-Kona ? ) and hunting seasons. We went to take the road to the left.

We cautiously drove down the M^hihi road since it was pretty slick from
last night's rain. We were only doing this because it was so crystal clear
that we were sure the road would dry up in a few hours. We couldn't get
up the grade beyond the first little bridge so we parked there and hiked up
to the sign which was only about l/2 mile. We followed the road to the
left which followed the powerline on the crest of the ridge. After about
l/2 mile the road ended and we took the trail continuation. The trail was
mostly a wet muddy puddled mess and we finally gave up trying to keep dry.

We came out to a flat area which iras open around us. We continued on the
trail which stopped down, across a stream (across which I traded) and up the
other side. The trail continued to be mostly mud holes. It climbed up a
ridge through some neat forests. Larry tried to collect another Elepaio but

l

failed. The trail finally came up to a broad, topped ridge which was really
a real soggy grassland with low thick wet bushes. This one common low grotring
shrub had ohia like blossoms, but had a very rounded leaf. The trail became
quite obscure but was really just a series of potholes and mudholes through
this soggy plain. This must be Alakai swamp but was on top of a ridge rather
than a lowland swamp. The potholes were often obscure with some short tundris
like grass and I felt up to my hips in one such trap. The entire place was
very tundris like, especially when it became very misty. There were frequent
slashes through the thick brush, the entire trail under water or wet mud.

Gill, Douglas E.

151

and the only way through was to work along the edge or jump from root
to root. We went a couple of miles of this still following the telephone
poles. We were expeeted to come upon a cabin as described by King and
were really amazed people would come through this God forsaken place.
There were practically no birds around and soon we were Just hiking to
find out where the telephone wires led. We found out. We came to an
abrupt precipice where the telephone line and poles just plunged over
down into the valley below. And way below was a dirt road. Well, we
had no intention of going down that Jung led slope and decided our
journey was at an end. It was cold and damp and I was lucky I had
brought my sweatshirt. After eating lunch we headed back collecting
plants for Bob Bongas we went. At one place over the trundra a
Short-eared Owl flew over. Several Apapane ■were about, but that’s
about all the birds there were. If this were Alakai Swamp, it's a lousy
place to go for anything, but plants. We worked our way back, and
going down to the stream Larry finally shot an Elapaio. We headed
swiftly back as we were really bored. Larry finally threw his homemade
slingshot away. When we got back to the car we were both thoroughly
filthy and grimy from sloshing through that swamp. Driving out, we
passed several people walking up in bathing suits. We inquired where the
swimming was and then turned around and went bakk down to go to the dam.

i

But when we had gotten down a short ways it started raining fairly hard
so we decided to get out before we got caught again. Once out on

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Route $5 I drove down to the base in much more a conservative manner than

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Larry. We stopped by the canal where we had seen the Cinese Thrush

152

Gill, Douglas E.
19oT“

two days ago. While Larry pressed our plants, I skinned out the Elepaio.
He finished way ahead of me of course and saw I agreed to try and finish
ih the car as he drove to the Kilanec Lighthouse. While .we were sitting
in road working we heard a loud song which was very much like an oriole.

and which I had heard about a dozen in the high county. Larry got a

good look at it and identified it as a Chinese Thrush. Immediately

after that two Shama Thrushes sat In the huhh beside the car. Wat

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luck! I struggled with the Elepaio In the shaking car as Larry sped
along Route 50 and frequently turned off at a variety of ponds looking
for Hawaiian Ducks. He found the Menehune Fishpond by a backroad,
the flaoe we went the first day. I finally finished my Elepaio when
we passed through Kapaa, after Lihue. We turned off to th3 right in
the middle of Kilauea and miraculously were on the road to Kilauea
Lighthouse. As we drove towards the Lighthouse past the keepers house
we saw a Short -eared Owl sitting on a low palm frond. And as we were
driving out to the lighthouse we suddenly saw a Wedgetail sitting
beside the road . We got out and discovered a large colony of Red -footed
Boobies nesting in the bushes to the right only a few feet away. And
behind the guard wall under those bushes were more Wedge-tails. What
a place. Larry decided to band Wedgetalls with the string of Ho. 4*s he
had. So we started catching Wedgetalls. I only had a right handed
glove so only caught them but didn*t try to band them* worked along

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the grass slope around the Lighthouse . It was steep and dropped quickly
off down to the sea several hundred feet below. It was riddled with

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Gill, Douglas E.

burrows , most of which had real cute light grey chick in them.

153

So most of our banding was on '.hicks . Larry worked down the face of the

cliff 1 looking for Bulwer's but found no indication they were there. I
went back to the car, ate supper, and got ray pliers going with a few
gobs of spit. How we both could band and finished off the string of
95 in an hour or two. We were really exhilasated 8y our sudden success

with seabirds. It was fin to get back banding again. We left ahppy

,

and sped back to the fish pond where we decided we were going to sack
out. /Stopping only for a ice cream, we hit the sack at 11:30, me
inside and Larry out in the sleeping bag. The mosquitoes were pretty

//

by/d. Apparently it sprinkled again and Larry got wet and crawled under

/

'the car caterpiggle style.

AugUB t 24- .Hawaii

figured

two hours hunting for Hawaiian duck about an hour to clean up the car and

/

an hour wait for the plane. We got organized and ate some stuff then
drove down the hill to get to the road that goes out on the dike in the
the middle of the pond. Chinese thrushes were common along the road which
became private. So Larry found three more ponds on the map and so we
headed towards them. Vfe got a flat on a road which was one of many
wrong turns. We finilly got out towards the three ponds which were
in the middle of a beautiful grassland which was ranched. A Western
Meadowlark flew up while we looked ot a coot in one pond. The
road we were on was lined with a single row of these beautiful tall
spine conifers. The area was essentially under the base of Queen

Gill, Doug las E .

19<& 154

Victorian profile. We couldn't find any Koloa (Hawaiian duck) so we
drove lack to Lihoe and back towards the airport. There was the large
muddy man made lake in hhe middle of the cane field so wa decided to
make a last ditch effort here. Driving around the bank on a dirt
construction road. Suddenly out of the grass on the other side there
Kolou flew out. Then two more, and then four more swam out, a total
of nine'. What luck l As we drove on around a molting (?) Golden Plover
flew by and then aRuddy Turnstone. We congratulated each other on our
luck. We parked in a distant corner of the parking lot of the airport
and spent the next hour cleaning it out. We were still

covered with mud from Alahai Swamp and were Just filthy. We put on "clean
clothes which covered up some of the filth. We turned in the car and
our overly helpful attendant tried to wait mi us hand and foot.

We waited for about an hour before our plane left. A religious group

was giving a big send off of two good looking young people. I ate a Jar
of peanut butter far my breakfast. Our Aloha Plane finally took off and

face and figure, neatly dressed, and college aged) sit next to me. We

discussed our trip and the religions of Hawaii and enjoyed the
c on ver station. She couldn’t get over how brave we were to entire the
mountains without knowing where we were going. We landed in Honolulu
and were met by Dayle Husted. After picking up some dry ice we drove

back to the Hotel and showered in Dayle* s room. We dressed up (for us)

and repacked our stuff. Then drove back out to the airport. We passed

customs easily but found we were 100 pounds overweight. He only charged
us for 20 and off we went. W e left Honolulu at 4:50 p.m. BET and arrived

Gill, Douglas SE

1534 '

at Lob Angeles at 9:10 p.m. HST or 12:10 a.m. PUT. I ate a huge

155

expensive hamburger at a coffee and sanck bar and was amused at an

incredibly ugly foreigner with a huge beatle haircut and outlandish

suit. We left Los Angeles around 1:10 POT and arrived at Chicago at
o:20 COT. ter watting for an hour and debating whether I should

call Helen or no we finally left on TWA No. 500 and prop plane. We

•*

got a breakfast from the rude stewardesses and had a boring flight.

We landed at Friendship Airport in Washington, D. C. at 11:15 EOT.

We took a taxi to the Vivian Hotel and got a room in this flea-bitten
Hotel. We tuen we.l'-.ed to S. I. and melted from the oppressive humidity.
Wr were gradually qp-eeted by one and all.

Gill, Douglas E .

19o4

Synopsis of ATF June 1964

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♦ - <

Here I’ . shall present tay impressions of ATF trip June-July 1964,
criticisms and recommendations thereof.

FOOS: Although the ethers frequently complained about the food on
bohi*di I have no complaints whatsoever. It was far better than I

i

expected, the reals often large and including several courses. It is
unfortunate such items, as mi 11c and eggs cannot be stored for longer
periods of time, but it was not difficult to adjust to compensatory
items. The meals were balanced and there was always enough to feed me.

Fresh fruit from the mess deck was frequent and a welcome snack.

Adjustment to relatively strict meal hours was expected and was not

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difficult to adjust thereto.

Food on the islands was basically C-ration meals, pluB any extras
such as canned fruit, fresh fruit, fresh bread, peanut butter and
preserves, that could easily be brought in. Keedeless to say the nutritious
value of such meals was low, concentrating heavily on carbohydrates.

There were no regular meals, but rather we ate when and what tine allowed.
Often this was little and sporadic. At first I didn't mind eating C-rations

at all but towards the end I longed for a substantial, well-balanced

only

out of necessity. One time that was noticeable lacking in the C-rations

was vegetables J potatoes, lima beans, and baked beans were the closest

&

they came. '* • * •

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Gill, Douglas E

I901 r

I do feel that some improvement could be trade with respect to food
on the islands. Time should be allowed for adequate preparation of a
substantial meal. Meats and vegetables almost certainly could be brought
in from the ship in a cooler and kept for a day or two. Conned vegetables
certainly could. An improved diet I'm sure would greatly improve our
strength and efficiency. I pm chased a bottle of multiple vitamin
pills in Pago Fago to supplement what little I ate with a
certain amount of nutrition. Although offered to the others, they were
invariably refused. I'm convinced that this ATF trip is not enough
unlike other camping expedition I've been on (fish SCP) that better food

A "

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'If

arrangements couldn't be made. In fact that we also have a freezer on
ship nearly and in easy reach (always accessible is an advantage rarely

available on most camping trips. As a conservative, I was aghast when

%

left over unopened C-rations were thrown away after each island, but I
recognize that they are of little value and not really worth saving.
CLOTHING: I was advised to bring a~fev changes of cheap casual wear fa-
dr ess mi ship, that tennis shoes were not allowed (approved of) in the

wardroom, and that all other clothing, especially for the field would

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be kprovided. Consequently I brought three pairs of cheap wash ' n wear

trousers , three cheap short ; sleeve shirts, one pair of cheap buck

/ ’

loafers, and a dozen ociwes. I had been advised that sciwies would

,be

ncrtTpr ovided . Upon arrival at Washington I was sent out with Peter

4

Marshall and Paul Woodward to purchase our field clothing. Since Paul

/

and I were novices, and Peter was the only one who had bens with the

1 '

t

J , . • . s

Project before, Peter was the only one who had any even if vague what
to pruchase . (what was necessary) for the ensuing months . This was

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Dougl as E. Gill

19 *

distressing to say the least, for selection of essential gear by such
incompetents could easily lea- 1 ' to disaster during the field trip.
Fortunately there vas nothing too seriously forgotten in our purchases,
and we survived the two-month expedition without too much unnecessary
discomfort. I would strongly recommend that in future planning clothing
sizes for the personnel should be obtained among the many farms that had
to be fills (tout after acceptance of position, and that orders of the
necessary clothing could be placed with the frequented shops prior to
said personnel arrival at Washington. Let experienced people (leaders,
etc.) make the decision of what gear is essential and which is not,
not inexperienced incompetents .

Two caps with adequate brims are recommended. Khaki "fatigue"
caps were excellent, for they withstood a great deal of wear. The
six long- sleeve work shirts (Khaki) and six pairs of Khaki trousers

-‘s' ' " ■. ' . ' . >

were adequate. The same number and style of previous pruehases are
recommended . Apocket on each side c£ the shirt is helpful and preferred*
The foot long front pockets of the trousers were advantageous. Twelve

jPk

pairs of woolen socks were adequate, but I wonder if cotton socks might

,-y / - j ’ ' . .

be mare comfortable. There was no real discomfort due to heat or any-
thing else by the woolens and indeed they showed little wear. It is
possible cotton socks would wear too fast under such arduous conditone.
Theee pairs of tennis shoes is recommended; although the tennis shoes of

J

some of the tohers were totally dilapidated at the end of the trip. My

two pair (inever used my third) were In fairly good condlton by the end.

'

Shoe laces go quickly in the salt water and all ee *. s ( 2 par h apB )

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of long shoelaces for high tennis shoes is recommended. I definitely

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Gill, Douglas E.

19 ST“~ k

preferred high cut tennis shoes over low cuts. The Air Force thin leather ,
-fingered, long sleeve gloves p\ar chased for everyone last trip were
excellent and prevented may serous injury from bird bites and scratches.

One pair survived the entire trip but were useless at the end; so two
pairs are recommended. The vest is an optional item. I used it
withgratitude when banding Red-footed Boobies on Palmyra but never
broke it out thereafter. Its numerous pockets are convenletn for

r r

carrying the array of items (pliers, bands, band openers, notebook,
spray paint, etc.) when banding Boobies, I’m sure it would have been
useful banding Blue-faced Boobies on these latter islands, but I did
get along without it. It may be hot running after Boobies.

CAMP GEAR: The gear used for camping I would say on the whole was
excellent. The ammo boxes were convenient and of adequat size. Furthermore
they and the drums provided excellent seats under the tent fly. The three
man tents we used were excellent. Although they were hot in midday and

sleeping therein during the day was uncomfortable, they were roomy and
kept the rain out. Also they were sturdy and easy to erect. The tent
fly is of course a very necessary item. Itwas of adequate size and a
small bundle to carry. Setting it up took a while and a few people, it
would be nearly impossible fear one person to set it up. The oblique
or "W guy lines de entry under the tent fly uncomfortable, always

requiring a over while underneath and I often thought it would

be more comfortable if It were raised Just above our beads. The only

disadvantage of this would be that there would be less shade under

f

> 1

the tent fly during the early morning and late afternoon . But shade

isn't nearly as important during those hours. The two-pieee slide

Sill, Douglas E.

JJ0T V 5

poles that we used frequently collapsed, resulting in a wild tent fly witch
flapped in one's face. They rarely collapeBed around the tents; but the
wind on tent fly was their downfall. They just don't work in wind. I
don't know what alternatives are available on the market today. The
cots are cettainly the only practical sleeping gear. Not only did they
leep one off the ground, but they were cool with use of the double
bed sheet. They were light weight and easy to assemble, that is the
aluminum fold outs. T e ones with the wooden slide togethers and head
rest were difficult to put together; although they were more comfortable

than the other type. The time wasted setting them up was not compensatory.

■

I never did learn how to work the sterno (stove) correctly, and rather

>'* /
j i

than attempt to wrestle with the damn thing trying to get it going, I

f

often was content with cold C-rations. For our purposes however, it was

■' - . z f- ' * ' ■■ '*• T - - Tr'V’

adequate fear cooking mare complex meals as I suggested above.