-25-
ine plants, other than the coconuts, differ only slightly
,
one another and from the slopes of the soll decay curves
| average slope being -1.25 (-1.05 to -1.36).
This indicates
it in these plants little or no differential uptake of fission
hduet material has been taking place.
In coconuts, however,
been abBaion products mixtures with longer half-lives have
bed into the meat and milk fractions.
Decay curve slopes
--.96 and -.54 for the coconut meat and -.24 from the cocomilk indicate a different isotope mixture from that found in
542 collected in the same area.
rds
Birds were collected at four islands of the atoll.
Speci-
ns from the northern islands of Gejen, Kabelle and Labaredj
live considered to be from the same area and were collected
on
[2 four dates, while those from the southern island of Ronge-
P were taken only on January 26, 1955.
The birds are of two types as based on feeding habits and
Rgratory characteristics.
These are:
(1)
the noddy,
crested
ad fairy terns, which tend to stay in the vicinity of a few
jlands within the atoll and feed principally on small fish, and
) the migratory shore birds, which are transients and feed
inly on crustaceans along the beaches.
The latter group in-
des the plovers, curlews, turnstones, and tattlers.
)
The terns,
because of their limited tendency for migration,
re more representative than are the shore birds.with regard to
aronic uptake of radioactive mate
rial.