Figure L Male AucklandIsland flightless teal, withreduced wings and dull color-

ation.:

b \i; •. '

most, of the collections will furnish one or moreduplicates and sets will be distributed to various taxo-nomic centers, in addition to the deposition of primarymaterial in North America (Smithsonian Institution,Michigan State University, University of Alberta) andNew Zealand (Dominion Museum, Wellington; BotanyDivision, Department of Scientific and Industrial Re-search, Christchurch).

The material collected will be studied by the col-lectors and a cryptogamic flora of the island prepared,partly as an inventory of the flora so far as known, butmore importantly to provide data on the variabilityof the island populations, their habitat preferences, andtheir relationships to other austral islands, as well asto New Zealand and southernmost America.

This work, including partial payment for the ship time,was supported by National Science Foundation grantGV-2661 5.2.

References

Godley, E. J . 1965. Notes on the vegetation of the AucklandIslands. Proceedings of the New Zealand Ecological Society,12: 57-63.

Hooker, J . D. 1847. Flora Antarctica. Vol. 1. London, ReeveBros.

Imshaug, H. A. 1972. Need for the conservation of terrestrialvegetation in the subantarctic. In: Con cervation Problems inAntarctica (B. C. Parker, ed.). Lawrence, Kansas. AllenPress, Inc. p. 229-238.

Taylor, R. H. 1968. Introduced mammals and islands: prioritiesfor conservation and research. Proceedings of the New Zea-land Ecological Society, 15: 61-67.

Waterfowl in the Auckland IslandsMILTON W. WELLER

Department of Zoology and Entomologyiowa State University

As a member of the joint U. S.-New Zealand Auck-land Islands Expedition, 1972-1973, I spent 6 weeksstudying the endemic Auckland Island flightless teal(Aizas a. aucklandica) (fig. 1). Observations also weremade of the sparse populations of the New Zealandgrey duck (Anai poecilorhyncha superciliosa) and themallard (Anas platyrhynchos), which has pioneeredon the island from stock introduced in New Zealand.A search also was made for the Auckland Island mer-ganser (Mergus australis) last seen in 1902.

Major objectives of the study were to determine thebiology, behavior, and adaptations of the flightless tealunique to these rugged, wooded islands. Intensivestudy was made on teal populations on Ewing Island,located at the northeastern part of the archipelago.This island is dominated by olearia (Olearia lyalli)and rata (Metrosideros unbellata) forest. The shore-line is abrupt to clifflike except for a few shelteredbays. Several small unwooded areas along the coastare dominated by tussock (Poa litorosa) and Mac-quarie cabbage (Stilbocarpa polaris). Observationsalso were made on nearby Enderby, Rose, Ocean, andFrench islands, on Adams Island—the most southerlyof the group—and on the main Auckland Island.

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Figure 2, Auckland Islandflightless teal in a freshwaterpool along the coast of Ewing

Island.

I

Methods of study included regular censuses accord-ing to habitat and various social groupings. Food usewas appraised by observation and collection of a fewsurplus drakes. Behavior was recorded photographically,and calls were taped.

Results

The Auckland Island flightless teal occurs on an butthe main island where it is either rare or absent. Greyand mallard ducks were uncommon, but several breed-ing records were obtained by members of the expedi-tion. Because of hybridization, few pure grey duckswere seen, and other observers suggested that mal-lards have increased significantly in the past 6 years.The Auckland Island merganser was not seen despiteintensive search in the rocky streams of Adams Islandand southern Auckland Island. This merganser presum-ably fed on native trout (Galaxias balloiisi), which arestill abundant in the streams.

Auckland Island flightless teal have strong pair bondsand defend territories along seashores, where most in-dividuals live. Excess males group in favored feedingareas. Unpaired females also occur in these groups, butwhether they are nonbreeding yearlings or unsuccessfulbreeders is not clear. Some teal occur at stream mouthsor in freshwater near the sea (fig. 2). They also occurinland in soggy tussock fields, but their relative abun-dance, breeding status, and permanence in such areasis uncertain. Most individuals are coastal residents anddepend on the sea for their food.

Teal were broadly adapted to a great variety of foods.

Some individuals fed at low tide on the marine algae,Porphyra, sp. Occasionally they dived in shallow waterfor sea lettuce (Ulz'a sp.) or fed on wind-rowed sealettuce. When marine plankton accumulated in shel-tered bays, teal strainer-fed on minute crustaceans. Atlow tide they fed by dabbing in marine algae forcrustaceans and mollusks. At any tide level, teal probedin damp, wind-rowed kelp (4facrocystis sp.) for gam-marids and isopods. Some teal also fed in freshwaterponds and puddles, presumably for minute crustaceans,but such feeding was rare.

Teal are well adapted to terrestrial existence, andthere are no native land predators to prevent such be-havior. At night, teal pairs wander through the forest,probing in loose and damp soil---apparently for ter-restrial invertebrates. Teal can he found in the forestany time of the day, but none was collected there.

Few nests of the species have been reported, andonly one was found during this study. A clutch offour eggs was insulated with abundant gray down ina short fern (Blechnurn sp.). The female was intenselybroody, flushing only when someone was within 2 feetof the nest, and returning to the nest in spite of thepresence of man.

The major predator appears to be the brown skua(Ca/haracta skua), and remains of several adult tealwere found at skua nest sites. No direct attacks onteal were seen, but teal obviously feared skuas andwere alert constantly to their activities. Teal sought pro-tection by running either into petrel burrows or towater, where they remained as long as a skua wasperched nearby. Teal rarely slept in the open and

July-August 1973 189

then did so only when perched on, rocks standing inwater. Teal rested in grass and torbs or went intocaves or petrel or rabbit burrows during the day. Theyremained in the open only when feeding actively and,where possible, fed under a canopy of trees.

Only two broods were seen—both in tussock areas.One downy young was in a small freshwater pool withonly a male nearby. Two young were seen with afemale in dry tussock, but a male was about 40 feetaway. Of four other broods reported by expeditionmembers, three were in wet tussock and forbs or tussock-rimmed pools, and one was in a tidal pool. Youngobviously are very secretive, presumably in response tothe pressure of skuas.

The Auckland Island flightless teal is an inconspicu-ous bird. Except when feeding at sea, teal can beabundant but hidden from view in grass and forbs.Whether they feed actively at sea at night is unknown.The status of the species seems secure presently be-cause of its wide distribution on all but the main island.However, the absence of the species there where it onceoccurred suggests that the presence of introduced catsand pigs may be a factor in their disappearance. It is,therefore, vital to prevent further spread of these twointroduced mammals on the outlying islands if theAuckland Island flightless teal is to survive.

This work was supported by National Science Foun-dation grant GV-21491.

Pollutants in the Auckland Islands

PETER G. CONNORS

Bodega Marine LaboratoryUniversity of California

Evidence has been accumulating that agriculturaland industrial organochiorine compounds, notably DDTcompounds and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), havebecome widespread pollutants found throughout theglobal ecosystem (Sladen et al., 1966; George andFrear, 1966; Tatton and Ruzicka, 1967; Risebroughet al., 1968; Risebrough and Carmignani, 1972). Sev-eral of the studies that have indicated this have beenconducted as part of the United States Antarctic Re-search Program. Atmospheric fallout is probably theprincipal means of dispersal of these compounds toareas as remote from pollution sources as the antarcticcontinent, with some contribution from movement inocean waters and, to a minor extent, in wildlife. Directtransport by man's activities also may contribute insome areas.

Studies of wildlife samples from the almost unin-habited subantarctic regions north of the antarctic con-

vergence would provide additional information concern-ing the distribution and movement of organochlorinecompounds in the southern hemisphere. The New Zea-land Department of Lands and Survey and the WildlifeBranch, Department of Internal Affairs, with the as-sistance of the U.S. National Science Foundation, con-ducted a 3-month expedition to the Auckland Islandsduring the austral summer, 1972-1973, to investigatethe distribution, population, and behavior of the floraand fauna of these subantarctic lands. In all, 27 scien-tists took part, with five Americans participating fromDecember 8, 1972, to January 14, 1973. I accom-panied the expedition to obtain wildlife samples forpollutant analysis.

The Auckland Islands group, centered at 50040'S.166°05'E., consists of two large islands (AucklandIsland and Adams Island) and several smaller islands.The terrain is rugged and the climate inhospitable, withstrong winds and frequent rain. The vegetation, lushat low elevations, varies from dense rata forest (Metro-sideros umbellata) at sea level to tussock grass (Chi-onochia sp.) and fell field at high elevations. Theislands have been inhabited by man only briefly, butintroduced animals are apparent and have had a markedeffect on the vegetation and nesting birds on some ofthe islands in the group. Nevertheless, the Aucklandsconstitute a major seabird breeding ground, with 17species of albatrosses and petrels recorded as nestingthere.

The large variety of seabirds permits a choice ofspecies for sampling pollutant levels, considering dif -ferences in feeding habits and in distribution. TheAuckland Island shag (Phalacrocorax colensoi) andthe redbilled gull (Lai-us scopulinus), for example, arerelatively sedentary, remaining near their nesting areasand therefore indicating levels of pollutants in theirfood species near the Aucklands. The wandering alba-tross (Diomedea exulans), on the other hand, is ap-parently circumpolar at these latitudes in its annualmovements, and the sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus)ranges as far north as Japan and the western UnitedStates during its winter migration (Alexander, 1955).

I collected groups of four to six eggs from as manynests of five species: Auckland Island shag, redbilledgull, rockhopper penguin (Eudyptes crestatus), ant-arctic tern (Sterna vilt ala) and wandering albatross.Six adult sooty shearwaters also were taken, and oneaddled egg of a New Zealand falcon (Falco novae-zelandiae) was collected from a nest from which oneyoung falcon had already fledged. (This constituted thefirst nesting record for this species in the AucklandIslands.) All samples were frozen immediately onboard RV Acheron, the expedition's ship, awaiting re-turn to New Zealand.

Solvent extraction of the lipid fractions of each ofthese samples was performed at the University of Can-

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