694.H3H52

Birds of the Hawaiian Islands; being a co
 

 

. BIRDS OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS |
COMPLETE LIST

OFTHE °°
THE >,

 

[Birds of the Hawaiian Possessions |

 
 

WITH NOTES: ON THEIR HABITS
een BY
H. W. HENSHAW.

 

 

PRICE, $1.00

 

HONOLULU, H, T.
. THOS. G. THRUM, PUBLISHER.
a ; 1902

 

 

 

 

|
BIRDS OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

BEING A
COMPLETE LIST

OF THE

Birds of the Hawaiian Possessions

WITH eee THEIR HABITS

a BY

H. WY HENSHAW.

HONOLULU, H. T.
THOS. G. THRUM, PUBLISHER.
& 1902
CoPYRIGHT, 1902,
BY
THos. G. THRUM,
INTRODUCTION.

Of recent years the study of nature has become popular and
widespread in America. Not only is Nature Study taught in
many of the schools, but the publications relating thereto have
become very numerous. Unfortunately these various treatises
apply wholly or in large part to the birds, insects, animals and
plants of the mainland, few or none of which are found in the
Hawaiian Islands. Such publications are hence of comparatively
little use to island teachers and pupils or to the Islanders generally.

There being at present no popular work upon Hawaiian birds,
the present little volume has been prepared with the view of break-
‘ing ground in this department, and with the hope that it may
prove of assistance to those who are already bird-lovers and, as
well, may stimulate others to become such.

For superbly illustrated volumes upon Hawaiian birds the read-
er is referred to the fine works issued by Mr. Walter Rothschild
and by Mr. Scott B. Wilson.

Since the first part of the present treatise was published, the
Bishop Museum has issued a “Key to the Birds of the Hawaiian
Group” by W. A. Bryan. This valuable work supplies a ready
means for the identification of all the birds thus far found upon
the islands, and should prove a welcome and efficient aid to a
knowledge of the subject. Much of the preliminary field-work in.
relation to the island plants, insects, shells and fishes has already
been done by private investigators or by public institutions, and
the results have been published. (N ote the extensive and valuable
memoirs on various branches of biology issued conjointly by the
Royal Society of London, British Association for the Advance-
ment of Science and the Bishop Museum under title of “Fauna
Hawaiiaensis”). Investigations of a similar character are now
4 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

being carried on by our own Government and by the Bishop
Museum.

The description of new species and general field investigations
are but the preliminary work which must precede publication in
the form of popular treatises, and it is to be hoped that such may
be issued on all the various departments of island biology as well,
as upon its ethnolgy and archaeology. _

Much as has been done in the past in island biology, vastly more
remains to be accomplished in the future, and the study of island
natural history will offer an attractive field for investigation and
for discovery for many years to come. The work is vast, the
laborers few, and it is to be hoped that the scientific interest and
value of this work may appeal to those who are island born not
less than to students from abroad.

The Hawaiian Islands, more remote from the continents than
any others, have developed fauna and flora peculiar to themselves,
and though the broad principles of biology apply here as well as
elsewhere, the specific facts are different and possess a significance
of their own which is yet to be fully interpreted. The forms that
“have been developed here, not only of birds but of plants, insects
and mollusca, are very extraordinary and interesting, and the
manner of their evolution and the causes leading thereto offer an
inviting field of research hardly to be equalled elsewhere.

Hitherto little or no interest has been manifested by Hawaiians
themselves in the subject of Hawaiian birds, and perhaps chiefly
because of such indifference the needed protective legislation has
not been enacted for the benefit of the latter. Even the inadequate
protection intended by present statutory law has not been secured
to them, since the laws have not been generally enforced and have
been practically disregarded.

The remoteness of the forest which Hawaiian birds inhabit and
the extreme dislike of the latter for any innovating changes such
as attend civilization are doubtless chiefly responsible for the gen-
eral ignorance respecting the very existence of most of the native
birds, to say nothing of their songs and habits. Unlike many
European and American birds, which flourish in the garden and
orchard and find comfort and safety in man’s protection, none of
INTRODUCTION. 5

the island species seem to desire to be on neighborly terms with
man, or to be capable of adapting themselves to the changes which
follow in his wake. For a time tney are content to fly over his
clearings and to feed in the forest hard by; but to nest by his door
and profit by his bounty seem to be foreign to their wild natures
and presently, unable to reconcile themselves to his unwarranted
intrusion into their ancient fastnesses, they retreat to the unvexed
and virgin forest.

That certain Hawaiian birds are dying out there is only too
much reason to believe, but the necessity for the preservation of
large forest tracts for the retention and preservation of rain has
recently become so manifest that effective legislation in this direc-
tion is sure to follow soon, with the important secondary effort of
affording safe shelter for the birds. The preservation of the for-
est in large tracts will in all probability insure the perpetuity of a
greater or less number of species of the latter; so that opportunity
will be afforded for an acquaintance with and a study of the birds
for an indefinite number of years to come.
BIRDS

OF THE

Hawaiian Possessions

WITH NOTES ON THEIR HABITS.

PART I—SCOPE OF THE PRESENT LIST.

With the exception of a limited knowledge of Oahu and a
short visit to the slopes of Haleakala on Maui, the author’s own
field experience is restricted to the Island of Hawaii, the largest
and most extensively forested of the group,.and mostly to its
windward side. Within this limited area he has enjoyed un-
usual opportunities to observe the habits of certain species.

Many of the birds that inhabit the Island of Hawaii recur
upon the other islands. While the change of food and climate,
in other words, of environment, has been sufficient to transform
many of them into specifically distinct forms, yet the habits of
the related forms usually differ but little on the several islands
and the songs still less. Hence, observations of habits made
upon one island in the main apply to the allied birds of the other
islands. In the case of species which have not fallen under the
observation of the author, he has been aided by the published
accounts of Wilson, Rothschild and Perkins.

It has been thought desirable to describe every species oc-
HAWAIIAN BIRDS, 7

curring on the islands. Sometimes the descriptions are brief,
but it is believed that in all cases they will suffice for the identi-
fication of the birds. Those who may desire fuller descriptions
are referred to the works of Rothschild and Wilson, or to the
Key to Hawaiian Birds recently issued by the Bishop Museum.
The descriptive material in the two former works has been
freely drawn upon by the author in the case of many species not
contained in his own collection. In the case of American species
occurring in Hawaii, similar aid has been derived from Ridgway’s
excellent “Manual of North American Birds.”

HAWAII AS AN ORNITHOLOGICAL FIELD,

Owing chiefly to their isolation, there are few land areas in
the world possessed of greater interest for the ornithologist than
the Hawaiian Islands, and, until recently, there were few of
which the avian inhabitants were so little known. Of late years,
chiefly owing to the labors of English ornithologists, our knowl-
edge of Hawaiian birds has greatly increased. Many new
species have been discovered by Wilson, Palmer and Perkins,
and so thoroughly have the investigations of these naturalists
been conducted that we may feel sure that the number of
endemic land birds now known to inhabit the islands will never
be materially increased.

The insular waters, however, have received comparatively
little attention, and it is probable that a few species of water-
birds remain to be added to the list, even if no new species are
discovered. ‘

There is no doubt, too, that the present list of Hawaiian birds
will be materially increased by additional records of American
species. There are certain birds, like the golden plover, turn-
stone, wandering tatler, bristle-thighed curlew and shoveller
duck, which annually winter in the islands, and the habit is of
long standing. As successive flocks of these birds leave the
American coast for Hawaii, a greater or less number of indi-
viduals belonging to species of kindred habits mingle with the
adventurous travelers, and by them are led to the unknown (to
them) tropic islands. Every season some of these strangers
8 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

visit these shores, but the number of observers is so small that,
for the most part, the visitors escape detection. Examples of
this class are the black-bellied plover, sanderling, red phalarope,
red-breasted merganser and red-backed sandpiper, most of
which are recorded for the first time as Hawaiian birds in this
list.

Some of these species, like the sanderling, are probably even
now forming the habit of annual migration to the islands, while
others are to be regarded, so far as our present knowledge goes,
as purely casual visitors.

The writer feels sure that the list of these stragglers will con-
tinually increase, as observers multiply, until it includes practi-
cally all the American west coast migratory species that are suf-
ficiently strong of wing to endure the protracted and laborious
flight over the ocean.

OBSTACLES TO ORNITHOLOGICAL STUDIES IN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS,

Prior to the investigations of the above-named naturalists,
next to nothing was known of the habits of Hawaiian birds.
Their labors, particularly those of Mr. Perkins, have done much
to enlighten us upon this subject. The difficulties, however, in
this branch of the study, though not insuperable, are very great.
So that, notwithstanding the important contributions of the
English naturalists, there is still offered an inviting field for fu-
ture study and investigation.

The chief obstacles in the way of field studies in the islands
are the dense forest, the steep mountain ridges beset with dense
vegetation, and the extreme rainfall. The woods are so dense
that progress in them is all but impossible except by cutting
trails, and, as the tangled growth restricts vision upon all sides,
birds are very difficult to watch and keep in sight. In this re-
spect, however, a new era is dawning, at least upon the Island
of Hawaii. Good roads and passable trails not only permit, but
invite, the steps of the nature-lover into the heart of the forest
which before was a terra incognita to all but the most hardy and
the most enthusiastic. Opportunities to study Hawaiian birds
are thus offered not only to the professional ornithologist, but
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 9

to every nature-lover as well. The field is so broad and even,
yet so little worked, that the intelligent observer cannot fail to
discover facts of interest to himself and of positive value to
science.

Of the nests and eggs of Hawaiian birds we know next to
nothing. In fact it may be said that of only one bird, the Elepaio,
have we an adequate knowledge of its life history, and even this
statement must be qualified by adding that even of it there re-
mains much to be learned.

DESTRUCTION OF HAWAIIAN FORESTS.

While the forest recesses upon the Island of Hawaii are being
rendered more accessible all the time, it is not to be overlooked
that the forest upon this and the other islands is being rapidly
destroyed. Large areas are now falling before the axe prepara-
tory to cultivation, and the birds that once inhabited them are
being hemmed irito tracts of constantly diminishing size, even if
the birds themselves are not destroyed with the forests.

The deforestation of Hawaii is much accelerated by the work
of cattle, which are ever increasing in numbers under the con-
stantly increasing demand for beef. They browse upon the ten-
der shrubs, vines and undergrowth, thus not only destroying the
young trees and preventing their natural increase, but robbing
the large forest trees of their natural protection. The trunks,
accustomed to a heavy covering of mosses, lichens, ferns and
vines, by which they are protected from the sun and wind and
are ever kept moist, succumb to the new conditions, when the
sun and wind have free access to them, and sooner or later die.
Thus ohias, koas and other large forest trees are destroyed by
cattle, though actually untouched by them. ,

Another source of danger to the forests is a span-worm, which
has been identified by Mr. Perkins as the Scotorhythra idolias,
which has done great damage to the koa of Maui and is now
engaged in the same destructive work in Hawaii. Twice the
present year (1901) the koa woods of Kaiwiki have been stipped
by the larvae of this little moth, which exists in great numbers
10 HAWAIIAN BIRDS,

wherever the koa grows, and occasionally increase to countless
myriads, when it stips every koa tree in its district.

This wholesale destruction of forest will soon materially dimin-
ish the number of Hawaiian birds—nay, already has done so—
and in a few years the opportunity to study the habits of some of
the unique bird forms which have been developed upon these
islands will be lost forever.

ENVIROMENTAL CHANGES DISASTROUS TO HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

In connection with the disappearance of Hawaiian birds in past
times, it should not be forgotten that, like all insular forms of
life among which competition is slight or altogether wanting,
they suffer much from slight adverse conditions, and even be-
come extinct when the causes seem wholly inadequate. In the
Island of Hawaii, the thinning out of a forest tract, nay, the cut-
ting down of a certain portion on the edges of a large forest, is
almost sure to be followed, sooner or later, by the almost com-
plete abandonment of the tract by all its avian inhabitants. So,
too, the making of a road through a forest, with the limited
passing traffic, seems to have a disturbing influence upon Ha-
waiian birds absurdly out of proportion to the cause.

The author has lived in Hawaii only six years, but within
this time large areas of forest, which are yet scarcely touched by
the axe save on the edges and except for a few trails, have be-
come almost absolute solitude. One may spend hours in them
and not hear the note of a single native bird. Yet a few years ago
these same areas were abundantly supplied with native birds, and
the notes of the oo, amakihi, iiwi, akakani, omao, elepaio and
others might have been heard on all sides. The ohia blossoms
as freely as it used to and secretes abundant nectar for the iiwi,
akakani and amakihi. The ieie still fruits, and offers its crimson
spika of seeds, as of old, to the ou. So far as human eye can
see, their old home offers to the birds practically all that it used
to, but the birds themselves are no longer there.

It is more reasonable to conclude that the former inhabitants
of such tracts have abandoned them for the more profound soli-
tudes higher up than that they have perished from such slight
HAWAITAN BIRDS, 11

causes. However, even the abandonment of forest tracts under
such circumstances seems inexplicable, and the writer can recall
no similar phenomenon among American birds.

It cannot be doubted that the crowding together of the native
birds, as the direct effect of deforestation, will sooner or.later
have a disastrous effect upon their welfare and numbers. As the
forest diminishes the food supply of the birds (insects, berries
and nectar) will diminish with it, and in time prove inadequate
to the demand.

It is evident to all who have considered the subject that one
or more conditions of existence in the past have proved unfa-
vorable to the increase and spread of certain Hawaiian birds,
and have caused the extinction of others. The necessity of con-
tinuous inbreeding has been suggested as adequate to explain
the apparent inability of certain species to hold their own in the
struggle for existence, and, in the absence of other and more
tangible causes, certain facts relative thereto may be presented.

It is apparent that the birds that are least numerous and that
live in much restricted habitats are the ones most subject to in-
breeding. Of such island species, Viridonia offers, perhaps, the
most marked instance, since it is confined to an area of but a
few square miles in extent, within which narrow belt of wood-
land the bird is by no means common.

In such a case it would appear by no means improbable that
inbreeding has been a potent factor in the failure of the bird to
become numerous, and to extend its range into neighboring
districts, especially when to all appearances the latter are precisely
similar as regards their avian attractions and resources.

It would appear that forms like Viridonia differentiated from
the parent stock and succeeded in maintaining themselves up
to a certain point and for a certain time, and then either re-
mained stationary, in respect of numbers, or entered upon a
retrograde movement, tending perhaps, to ultimate extinction.

No doubt there are many cases where it would be difficult to
determine whether a given rare and local form is at the begin-
ning of development or nearing the end of its career; but not so
in cases like Viridonia. A bird so very different from its allies
12 : HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

can hardly be held to be at the commencement of its existence
as a separate race, but, on the contrary, must be held to have
reached its present stage of distinctness only after a very long
period of time. It would seem to be much more probable that
a bird so completely differentiated, if weak in numbers and oc-
cupying but a small area, is nearing the final stages of its career
than that the species is in its incipiency.

The rarity and extreme degree of localization of such birds as
Viridonia are the more remarkable and the more. difficult to ex-
plain, unless upon some such theory as inbreeding, inasmuch
as the environment of the bird up to within two or three years
(its home is now being invaded by the axe) appears to have
been peculiarly favorable, and is evidently markedly so for other
Drepanine forms, such as Heterorhynchus, Chlorodrepanis, Ore-
omyza and Loxops, as is evidenced by their numbers.

In respect to its small numbers and the limited extent of
country occupied, Viridonia is, perhaps, an extreme case among
Hawaiian birds, but there are others scarcely less remarkable.
Pseudonestor and Palmeria of Maui, and Chloridops and Rhoda-
canthis of Hawaii are closely parallel, though not so extreme,
cases. These birds, except Palmeria, which occurs also on Molo-
kai, are confined to single islands and to a comparatively small
part thereof.

If inbreeding be accepted as a true and sufficient cause of the
present insecure footing of Viridonia under environmental con-
ditions of its own choosing, the same theory seems applicable
in the case of the other species.

To the same list may also be added the extinct, or nearly
extinct, Ciridops, and the extinct Meliphagine form Chetoptila.
None of the above birds appear to have suffered from enforced
conditions or external agencies, except as regards compulsory in-
breeding.

The two latter species, indeed, were both extinct, or practi-
cally so, long before their forest haunts had been interfered with
by man in the slightest degree. Whether or not inbreeding
played any part in the tragedy, their extinction must, at any
_rate, be assumed to be due to what may be termed natural
HAWAIIAN BIRDS, 18

‘causes, since neither bird appears to have ever been the object
of pursuit by the natives.

All the above birds differ so much inter se as to be separable
generically, and must have started upon their independent paths
ages ago. Like Viridonia, they are more likely to be nearing the
close of their respective careers than to be just entering upon
them.

If in the past, when their forest homes were untouched, island
birds have suffered from the disastrous effects of inbreeding,
how much more marked is likely to be its effect as the available
habitat of the birds is more and more restricted by deforesta-
tion.

In this connection it is to be remarked that the species that
rove most widely and are most widely distributed in each island
and over the islands generally are, with one exception, the ones
that are the most numerous and that appear to be the most
hardy. In the consideration of such facts it is always easy to
confound cause and effect, but here it is clear, at least, that
these species are the ones that are least subjected to the penal-
ties of inbreeding, be those penalties what they may. Their rov-
ing habits, even though these are by no means so marked as in
the birds of other lands, afford opportunity for the mating of
birds reared at a distance from each other, even though upon
the same island, and under somewhat different conditions of
food and climate.

Still more important to the birds of this class is the possibility
of the infusion of fresh blood from the other islands. No one
who has studied the habits of the island birds can doubt that
the passage of individuals from one island to another is very in-
frequent. Still, such instances must occasionally occur, and
doubtless tend to strengthen and invigorate the avian stocks
concerned.

Such species as the iiwi, akakani, amakihi and ou are the
best examples of the birds of this class, and they doubtless will
survive so long as any forests remain. The three former move
about to some extent with the change of the seasons, but more
1 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

in pursuit of the flowering trees. The ou seeks the fruit of the
ieie vine wherever he can find it.

That at least one of these species possesses unusual powers of
adaptation to new and strange conditions is attested by the fact
that the akakani, in somewhat changed form (Himatione
freethii), exists upon the rather inhospitable island of Laysan.
This island is some 600 miles to the northwest of the main
group, and the transferrance of the bird thither was, no doubt,
due to accident, as a heavy wind storm. In Laysan its environ-
ment is markedly different from that which surrounded it on the
islands of the main chain. Yet the bird, though said to be the
rarest of the Laysan land birds, exists in some numbers and
seems to thrive fairly well, despite the necessity of continuous
inbreeding. The entire lack of competition may, however, make
partial amends for this disadvantage.

The several species of 0-0, living and extinct, and probably
also the extinet mamo, are to be classed with the above species
having comparatively wide range, and there is no reason to be-
lieve that these latter birds would not still abound in the Ha-
waiian forests if they had not-been pursued to the death for the
sake of their ‘feathers. ‘

In connection with the probable future of Hawaiian birds,
and aside from the question of inbreeding, it may be added that
as new and less favorable conditions prevail, the more highly
specialized forms will naturally be the ones to suffer first and
most, since they will be the least able to adapt themselves to
changes, more particularly those involving the food supply.

The probable extinction of the koa forests, for example, at no
distant day is likely to be followed, even if all other conditions
should remain unchanged, by the extinction of such birds as
Pseudonestor and Rhodacanthis, because of the extreme de-
pendence of these species for food upon this tree.

Such birds as Chasiempis, the several forms of Chlorodrepanis
and Pheornis are much more likely to survive new conditions
indefinitely, if for no other reason than that less specialized habits
endow them with larger resources in the way of food and also
with greater adaptability. Even the honey-eaters, the most
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 15

prominent of which are the iiwi and akakani, will long survive,
since they are to no small extent insectivorous already, and
could doubtless become exclusively so without injury. In a
sharp struggle for existence, their chance for survival as against
some of the more specialized forms would be excellent.

At least one Hawaiian bird is intensely local in disposition,
but, despite its fondness for one locality, it has become very
numerous, and is widely dispersed on several islands. This is
the omao (Pheornis). This bird has adopted food habits
which have subjected it to little or no competition. A confirmed
berry-eater, it finds food everywhere abundant in the dense
forest and in great variety.

If, as the result of localization, inbreeding produces any ill
effects upon the vitality of Pheornis, they would seem to be
more than counterbalanced by abundant food and the absence
of competition. It is to be remarked, however, as having an
evident bearing upon its probable future fate, that Pheorms de-
clines to live in any but dense and undisturbed forest tracts, and
many years ago became extinct upon the island of Oahu.

Allusion has been made above to the possibility of an inter-
change of avian strains by the passage of birds from one island
to the other, and a few words on the subject may be added.

It is.a surprising and remarkable fact that channels varying
from only ten to thirty miles in width should prove all but im-
passible barriers even to small-birds, to say nothing of those
the size and stength of a large hawk. It is at once evident that
if such channels actually prove barriers to the passage of birds,
the cause lies in the disposition of the birds and not in the
physical obstacles.

That these narrow inter-island channels have not always
proved impassible to birds is conclusively shown by the fact that
several of the genera are represented on all the islands of the main
group by the same species (Vestiaria and Himatione), and that
several others are represented by such nearly related species
that the latter could have originated only from a common
stock.

Having once entered and become established on an island,
16 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Mes tomer

however, the several species have readily adapted themselves
to the new conditions which, though apparently differing but
slightly, have yet proved sufficiently distinct to impress ‘a num-
ber of the birds with new and, in some cases, markedly different
specific or varietal characters.

The intense spirit of localization which restrains birds within
the limits of a single-island resulted, no doubt, primarily from
the absence of competition. Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai and
Oahu under ordinary conditions are each visible in turn from
the other, and the short distance and prevailing calm weather
would seem to invite the birds to inter-island visits. No doubt
anything like severe competition would compel them to longer
or shorter excursions to other islands, and thus, among other
effects, would tend to break down the extreme specific and generic
differences which now prevail and which make the islands so
interesting an ornithological field.

FAUNAL ZONES.

The Hawaiian Islands are practically nothing but vast accre-
tions of lava-mountain masses, sloping on all sides more or less
abruptly to the encircling sea. Authorities are agreed that the
islands increase in age from east to west, Kauai thus being the
oldest island and Hawaii the youngest. The latter, with its
three great mountain masses, has: but one or two extensive
basin-like valleys, practically the only level land of much extent
being the Kohala plains. Both Oahu and Kauai contain valleys
of size, and, between the two lava mountains of Maui, is a broad
and level connecting isthmus. Molokai also has valleys of con-
siderable proportions. ,

As, however, the valleys have long been forestless, and prob-
ably never were forested in their lower extensions, the consider-
ation of faunal belts is practically limited to’ the mountain slopes.

The author’s own investigations are limited chiefly to the island
of Hawaii, which is not only more extensively forested than
any of the others but the forests, up to comparatively recent
times, have been but little disturbed. The following remarks
will be understood, then, as applying more particularly to that
HAWAIIAN BIRDS, 17

island. Nevertheless, the main geographical relations of the
fauna and the flora appear to be much the same upon all the
islands, though each island, no doubt, presents peculiarities due
to local conditions.

Present available data are all too insufficient for an accurate
definition of the ornithological life zones of the islands. Indeed,
owing to the general climatal sameness and the similarity of the
forest belts and the consequent wide range of the birds, it may
be doubted if such life zones can ever be defined with the pre-
cision attained elsewhere. A consideration of the subject, how-
ever, discloses some interesting facts which may here be briefly
set forth.

Low.anp Zone.—Hillebrand (Flora of the Hawaiian Islands)
found it possible to differentiate more or less sharply four zones
according to the plant. life. Of these, three only have much in-
terest for the ornithologist.

His first or lowland zone has but slight interest in the present
connection. It is the open country, grass-covered, with scat-
tered clumps of trees (chiefly ohia) and extending to a variable
but always slight elevation above’the sea. The rainfall in this
belt is considerable, probably nowhere falling below 100 inches
per annum, while the average temperature ranges between 70
and 80 degrees Farenheit.

Except casually and in small numbers, it is not probable that
this lower belt was ever occupied by any of the passerine spe-
cies. It probably always was, as it is to-day (save for the intro-.
duced mynah and rice birds) almost an avian desert, uninhab-
ited because no passerine birds adapted, or capable of adapting
themselves to such conditions ever chanced to find their way to
the islands. It may be remarked in passing that the short-
eared owl abounds in this zone, but extends its range into the
next one.

This belt of comparatively open country offers excellent op-
portunities for the introduction from America of ground-loving
species friendly to agricultural interests, although it cannot be
overlooked that all ground-building species must now contend
for existence against a formidable foe in the shape of the mon-

2-H B
18 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

goose. Yet the experiment upon a liberal scale is well worth
trial.

Lower Forest ZONE.—This zone may be defined as extend-
ing from about 500 feet to 1,500. It is well marked by its vege-
table productions, especially by the kukui (Aleurites moluccana),
lauhala (Pandanus odoratissimus), and by the hau (Paritium
tiliaceum), which do not pass beyond it, as also by the awapuhi
(Zinatber zerumpet), the ti (Cordyline terminalis) and the ohia ai
(Eugenia malaccensis). The ieie (Freycinetia arborea), import-
ant as furnishing the chief food of the ou, abounds, but extends
into the next zone. The ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha) consti-
tutes the bulk of the forest in this, as in the next zone, but does
not attain the proportions and vigorous growth characteristic of
the tree higher up. The same is true of the koa, which makes
its appearance here.

There are no birds that are characteristic of this zone. Chas-
iempis, Pheornis, Chlorodrepanis, Psittacirostra, Himatione,
Vestiaria and Buteo are ail present, in small numbers towards its
lower edge (or altogether wanting), but in increasing numbers
towards its upper confines.

There is evidence tending to show that the above species for-
merly extended somewhat lower down than they do now, and in
greater numbers, especially Chasiempis. In the past fifty years
the treeless area has been constantly creeping upwards as the
direct result of deforestation by the planter and indirectly by the
work of cattle, elsewhere alluded to, and this has considerably
affected the range of the birds.

The temperature is somewhat cooler than in the preceding
zone and the rainfall also is greater.

Mippte Forest Zone.—The middle forest region may be de-
fined as extending from about 1,500 feet to 6,000 feet. This
region is within the belt of greatest rainfall (130-180 inches),
and upon all the islands is by far the richest botanically, and in
all forms of animal life, including the birds.

The temperature varies much between the upper and the lower
confines, but the average summer temperature is not above 65
degrees and in winter falls considerably below that. At 6,000
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 19

feet altitude, or a little above, frosts are not unknown in summer
and are of common occurrence in winter.

The prevailing forest trees are first the ohia; second the koa
(Acacia koa), both trees being of prime importance in the do-
mestic economy of island bird life. Both. furnish food, shelter
and nesting sites to the greater number of island passerine birds.
Both trees extend above and below this zone, but here they attain
their greatest size and development. It is the home of all the
Rutaceae and most of the Araliaceae. Here are the alani, the
olapa, the kawau and many other berry-bearing trees and shrubs.
In this belt the ferns flourish in wildest luxuriance, and the giant
tree ferns attain their greatest size and abundance. Here occur
on all sides the tree lobelias, those remarkable endemic plant
forms, of interest to the ornithologist as furnishing more or less
nectar to several species of birds.

In addition to the birds enumerated as living in the next lower
belt and extending their range into the present one, several species:
are present in this zone that descend below only casually. Here.
belongs, or did belong, the extinct mamo; and here today are
found Moho, Hemignathus, Heterorhynchus, Oreomyza, Loxops,.
Chloridops, Pseudonestor, Palmeria, Ciridops, Loxioides, and!
Rhodacanthis. It is highly probable that it was in this belt that
Chetoptila lived its allotted span of life, though our knowledge
of the former haunts of this extinct species is too scanty for def-
inite statement. ie

Upper Forest Zone.—The upper forest zone of Hillebrand
extends from about 6,000 feet to 8,000 or 9,000 feet, and is char-
acterized, according to that author, by stunted mamani (Sophora
chrysophylia), Cyatheoides, the naeo (Myoporum), and othérs.
Here luxuriate shrubby Compositae, Raillardiae, Dubautia, Cam-
pylotheca and Artenusia. Here grow wild strawberries and ohelos
(Vaccinium) which also abound in the barren lava tracts of the
middle belt.

The chief interest this belt has for the ornithologist arises from
the fact that it offers a home most of the year to the Hawaiian
goose, which also inhabits the lava flows of the middle zone, and
20 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

in stummer temporarily visits the lowland belt for nesting pur-
poses.

This upper zone is inhabited scantily, if at all, by forest birds,
and then only on its lower edge, which is perhaps occasionally
visited by the finch-like forms Chloridops and Pseudonestor, as
also by the honey-eating species when the trees of the middle
region have ceased flowering.

It is doubtless neither the altitude nor the cool climate of this
upper zone that repels the birds, but the fact that above about
6,000 feet the large forest trees rapidly dwindle to scrubby and
depauperate forms that possesses no attractions for the birds,
since they afford neither shelter nor abundant insect or other food.

Between the upper limits of this zone and 11,000 feet, where
Hillebrand fixes the limit of vegetation on Mauna Kea, the veg-
etation grows ever scantier and scantier till there is little else but
bare lava rocks.

DISEASES OF HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

I am not aware that the birds of the Hawaiian Islands are
more subject to fatal diseases than those of other lands. Dead
birds are, however, found rather frequently in the woods on the
island of Hawaii, especially the iiwi and akakani.

There is no doubt that sudden and marked changes of tem-
perature affect Hawaiian birds unfavorably, especially the two
species just mentioned and, after heavy and prolonged storms,
many individuals of both species are driven into sheltered valleys
and even along the sea-shore far from their woodland haunts.
Under such circumstances scores of the above named species are
picked up dead or dying, and the mortality among other birds is,
perhaps, unusually great.

Every naturalist who has visited the islands has noticed the
presence of certain tumors or swellings on the feet of the birds.

The tumors are mostly, perhaps, wholly, confined to the woodland °°

birds. The writer has found them upon the feet of the iiwi, aka-
kani, omao, elepaio, amakihi, Oreomyza and the genera Hemigna-
thus and Heterorhynchus. They have not been present on any of
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 21

the many specimens of hawks he has examined, but Mr. W.
Newell tells me that he has seen hawks thus affected.

There are certain localities, as in Olaa, where in some seasons
a considerable percentage of the birds. collected show unmistake-
able tokens of this disease, past or present.

Sometimes the tumors are as large as peas, and it would seem
that their presence must seriously incommode the bird’s move-
ments if nothing more. Evidence, however, is not wanting to
show that frequently such tumors have serious consequences. The
writer has seen a number of birds that had lost one and even two,
toes from one foot, and he remembers one specimen in which the
ankle joint was so much involved that it seemed probable that
the whole foot would eventually have sloughed off. Often, how-
ever, the tumors slough away with little or no damage, save to
leave the integument rough and thickened.

Nor are the tumors confined exclusively to the feet of birds, for
several have been shot which had large tumors around the rictus
of the bill.

Dr. Nicholas Russel, of Olaa, has kindly examined under the
microscope slides made from two specimens, and he pronounces
the tumors to be of undoubted bacillic origin.

There is little doubt that the bacilli are derived from the wet
bark of trees. All the birds affected with the disease, which I
have thus far examined, have come from the ,windward side of
Hawaii, where the annual rainfall .is from 130 to 180 inches.
Upon this theory of origin it is easy to understand how the bacilli
occasionally infect the region of the mouth since the bird fre-
quently may be seen rubbing the bill and side of the mouth against
the branches to clean them; and ‘again in scratching the throat
and head the bacilli may readily be conveyed from the claws.

ORIGIN OF HAWAITAN BIRDS.

There is no more interesting question concerning Hawaiian
birds than that relating to their origin. With the exception of a
few species that are evidently comparatively recent comers from
America, like the night heron, gallinule, marsh hawk and the
short-eared owl, Hawaiian birds are quite unlike any others.
22 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

They fall naturally into a few groups of related species, and so
different are they from the birds of other lands that their relation-
ships are traceable only with great difficulty. Nor can all the
questions involved in the problem be considered settled.

Much valuable light has been thrown upon the subject by Dr.
Gadow, who has studied the anatomy of many of the species with
interesting and valuable results. These are set forth at length in
an Appendix to Wilson’s Birds of the Hawaiian Islands, to which
the reader is referred.

Dr. Gadow’s general conclusions may be summed up as fol-
lows: The bulk of the birds that are distinctively Hawaiian be-
long to a family to be called the Drepanidide, which, with little
doubt, are of American origin. They appear to be nearest related
to the present American family of the Cwrebide. The Drepani-
dide were probably the first avian inhabitants of the islands, and
have been here a very long time, as is evidenced by the remark-
able changes they have undergone and by the numerous related

- species they have differentiated into.

Later a second infusion of avian stocks occurred, this time
from the continent of Australia, of which the elepaio and the
several species of o-o are living examples, and the Chaetoptila
an extinct one.

ORNITHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE OF HAWAIIAN NATIVES.

The impression seems to be general that in olden times the
natives were extensively acquainted with Hawaiian birds, which
is true, and that even the present day natives are very well posted
on the subject; the latter is by no means the case.

We may gain some idea of the extent of the bird lore of the
natives by their methods of naming and classifying the birds.
Wherever it was possible the native name for a bird is imitative
of its note or cry, and the Hawaiians, aided no doubt by their
flexible, vocalic language, appear to have been very skillful in
coining these imitative names. Elepaio, io, uuau, aukuu and
many other bird names might be cited as evidence of this inita-
tive faculty. By means of the proper accent and pitch such words
may be made to give an almost exact idea of the bird’s call.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 23

Of nice scientific discriminations of form and structure the
natives knew little and cared less and, according to modern ideas,
their classification was decidedly crude.

The birds that found place in their myths and legends, like the
elepzio and pueo, and those that were important in their domes-
tic economy, like the duck and plover, which they ate, and the
mamo, oo and iiwi, whose feathers were valued for decoration,
they naturally knew well and had distinctive names for. Indeed
for some species, like the iiwi, they had several names, the pre-
cise meaning and application of which we do not now know.
They even called the iiwi in its first or speckled plumage iiwi
popolo, though they must have been well aware of its relationship
to the adult bird.

Closely allied species, as we now know them to be, they fre-
quently called by the same name, either not noting the difference
or, as is perhaps more likely, not thinking the differences im-
portant enough to be worth naming. The several species of ama-
kihi are examples. Soo, too, upon the island of Hawaii, amakihi
is applied to both the Chlorodrepanis virens and the Oreomyza
mana.

A few birds appear to have been so rare and so local that they
were quite unknown to the natives; at all events they seem not
to have been named by them. The Viridonia, which is confined
to a very small area of dense forest on either side of the Wailuku
river, Hawaii, is a conspicuous example of this kind. The writer
has shown skins of this bird to a number of natives reputed to
be well acquainted with Hawaiian birds—one of whom was born
within Viridonia’s territory—but none of them had ever seen it
alive or could give it a name. One of the old men, indeed, main-
tained its identity with the amakihi, although it is nearly twice
the size of that bird and by no means of the same color.

But in ancient times, no doubt, as above stated, the knowledge
of birds was far more widely spread among the Hawaiians and
more accurate than it is today. Indeed the younger generation
are almost absolutely ignorant even of the names of the birds, and
are quite ignorant of their habits.

In the olden days when it was an important part of their duty
24 _HAWALIAN BIRDS.

for the priests to watch the motions of certain birds and listen to
their songs that by this means they might learn the will of the
Gods, and when the bird-catcher plied his calling that the feather
tribute might not be wanting to pay the taxes imposed by the
chiefs, then we may be sure bird-lore was well-nigh universal.

The bird-catchers, especially, must have been thoroughly famil-
iar not only with the haunts of all the feathered kind, but with
their songs and their habits.

But taxes are no longer payable in feathers; no longer does the
bird-catcher ply his calling; the priest no more reads auguries
from the songs of birds; the old days have gone forever, and with
the old days and the old conditions have gone the greater part of
Hawaiian bird-lore.

HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN THE ISLANDS.

The history of ornithological investigations in the Islands is on
the whole a brief one, and a-few words devoted to the subject
may be of interest. An admirable resume of the subject by Prof.
Alfred Newton was published in Nature for 1892 and is quoted
in the introduction to Wilson’s Birds of the Hawaiian Islands
above referred to, from which the following notes are chiefly

. culled.

As is well known the Islands were discovered by Cook in
1779. The natural history specimens obtained by Cook came
from the islands of Kauai, Niihau and Hawaii. The first knowl-
edge of the Islands’ avian inhabitants based upon the Cook col-
lections, reached the world in 1781-85 through Lathams’ General
Synopsis of Birds. Most of the actual specimens collected by
Cook’s ships, probably not very many in number, have been [ost.
The loss is the more unfortunate as Latham’s original descrip-
tions, as well as Gmelin’s, which were based upon those of the
former, leave much to be desired, both in respect to precision and
sufficiency. Moreover the early collectors took little pains in
labelling specimens, and either did not label them at all or indi-
cated their source as “Sandwich Islands,” leaving the particular
island to be guessed; for the great differences now known to
exist between the birds of the several islands, were not suspected
HAWAIIAN BIRDS, 25

by the early investigators. It seems probable that the Island of
Hawaii supplied the larger number of specimens to Cook’s col-
lectors, but in the case of any given species there can be no cer-
tainty. Owing chiefly to this doubt as to the exact point of
origin, some of the species described by Gmelin have proved
stumbling blocks to ornithologists ever since the descriptions ap-
peared.

The quarter of a century that followed the discovery of the
Islands is a blank, so far as their ornithological history is con-
cerned; they were frequently visited by ships but not by nat-
uralists. ,

In 1816-17 Chamisso and Eschscholtz accompanied Kotzebue
in his visit to the islands, but these naturalists seem to have paid
no attention whatever to the island birds.

In 1824 H. M. S. “Blonde” visited the islands having on board
Mr. Andrew Bloxam, “who was something of a naturalist,” and
it was intended that the published account of the voyage should
contain a proper appendix on the natural history of the islands.
Of the natural history report of this voyage Mr. Newton says:
“An appendix there indeed is, but one utterly unworthy of its
reputed author, for the book was edited by a lady who had noth-
ing but a few of his notes to guide her, and though assisted, as it
is stated, by ‘the gentleman connected with that department in
the British Museum’ the Appendix is a disgrace to all concerned,
since, so far from advancing the knowledge of the subject, it in-
troduced so much confusion as to mislead many subsequent
writers.” :

Having had access to the original notes of Mr. Bloxam, Mr.
Wilson is able to supplement the meager contents of the Appen-
dix with the statement that the bird collection contained “twenty-
five specimens of land birds—one of them bearing the M. S. name
of Turdus Woahensis.” Thus we learn the interesting fact that
the Island of Oahu once possessed a form of the Hawaiian Thrush
(Pheornis) long since extinct.

The Blonde bird collection has shared the fate of so many of
the early collections, and no discoverable trace of it remains.

In 1835 the American naturalist, Townsend, and the equally
26 HAWAUAN BIRDS,

well known naturalist, Nuttall, visited the Islands of Oahu and
Kauai of the group, and spent three months. At the end of the
year Townsend returned and, with Deppe, the Prussian natural-
ist, spent some time in natural history pursuits, visiting most of
the windward islands before finally leaving, which he did in
March, 1837.

Our gain in knowledge of the avifauna of the islands resulting
from the visits of these three investigators was comparatively
little. Nothing was published by the investigators themselves
though their collections contained several new species of birds.
Nuttall was an exceedingly good observer, and notes from him on
the habits, and especially upon the songs, which he had a happy
knack of describing, of any of the birds he must have seen upon
Oahu and Kauai would have been of great value. Again any-
thing like a thorough collection of the birds then existing upon
the islands would now be of inestimable worth since it must have
contained representatives of certain species, not only now extinct
but of which not a single specimen is in existence.

One of Townsend’s observations made in the Island of Kauai is
so interesting, referring as it does to a long forgotten practice of
the natives, that I cannot refrain from quoting it here entire from
Wilson’s Introduction :

“We made here several long excursions over the hills and
through the deep valleys, without much success. The birds are
the same as those we found and collected at Oahu, but are not
so numerous. They are principally creepers .(Certhia) and
honey-suckers (Nectarinia) ; feed chiefly upon flowers, and the
sweet juice of the banana, and some species are very abundant.
The native boys here have adopted a singular mode of catching
the honey-sucking birds. They lay themselves flat upon their
backs upon the ground, and cover their whole bodies with bushes,
and the campanulate flowers of which the birds are in search.
One of these flowers is then held by the lower portion of the tube —
between the fingers and the thumb; the little bird inserts his long,
curved bill to the base of the flower, when it is immediately seized
by the fingers of the boy, and the little flutterer disappears be-

: *
HAWAITAN BIRDS. 27

neath the mass of bushes. In this way dozens of beautiful birds
are taken, and they are brought to us living and uninjured.”

Much of ornithological interest was to have been expected from
the Wilkes’ expedition of the year 1840 from the zeal and ability
of its well known naturalists, Pickering and Peale. During their
six months’ stay considerable collections were made, but nearly
all of them were lost in the wreck of one of the ships, the Pea-
cock. Of the original report upon the mammals and birds by
Peale, nearly all the copies were destroyed by fire, a new edition
being brought forth by Cassin in 1858.

In 1852 Fr. Hartlaub published an extract of the results of the
Wilkes’ expedition, and in his summary of the birds inhabiting the
islands he includes thirty species, though two of them are marked
as doubtful. Commenting upon Hartlaub’s list, Prof. Newton re-
marks that “one of them is now known to be rightly included, but
the other must be struck out, as well as, for one reason or an-
other, four more—leaving a total of twenty-five, only sixteen of
which are land-birds and only fourteen passeres.”

So stood our knowledge of Hawaiian birds till 1869 when a
“Synopsis of the Birds hitherto described from the Hawaiian
Islands” was communicated to the Boston Society of Natural
History by Mr. Sanford B. Dole, and was published in the pro-
ceedings of the Society for that year. This list proved a notable
advance on our previous knowledge, and included 48 species, the
author stating his belief that this number “probably comprises
but little more than half the avifauna of the group’—a very ac-
curate estimate as it proved. A revision of this list, in which
some of its errors were corrected, appeared in the Hawaiian An-
nual for 1879.

About the year 1887 Mr. Valdemar Knudsen made many valu-
able and interesting collections of natural history upon the island
of Kauai, and much of his material was sent to the National
Museum. The birds were studied by Dr. Stejneger, and the re-
sults were published in the proceedings of that institution for
1887. By Mr. Knudsen’s efforts several new species of birds
were discovered, all of them on the island of Kauai.

The year 1887 marked a new era in the history of Hawatian
28 HAWAITAN BIRDS,

ornithology, since that year witnessed the inception of the labors
of Mr. Wilson, an enterprising young Englishman, whose work
in the Islands, completed:in 1890, was crowned with most grat-
ifying success. His collection of island birds was the most ex-
tensive made up to that time, containing no fewer than fourteen
new species of Passeres, including two new genera. In addition
Mr. Wilson was able to place in the hands of Dr. Gadow speci-
mens of the most important avian types still existing in the
islands, and this material formed the basis of most important con-
clusions as regards the systematic position of Hawaiian birds and
of their derivation. The beautifully illustrated quarto which em-
bodied the results of Mr. Wilson’s labors, published in parts, was
issued in complete form in 1899.

The years of 1890-92 were years. of renewed activity in the
study of Hawaiian birds. Two collectors were sent to the islands
by Mr. Rothschild, and very large and important collections were
made by them. These collections were sent to the Tring Museum,
England, and formed the basis of many important contributions
by Mr. Rothschild to English scientific journals and later of the
royal quarto entitled “The Avifauna of Laysan and the Neighbor-
ing Islands, with a Complete History to date of the Birds of the
Hawaiian Possessions.” This volume, in three parts, with its
many and fine illustrations, and including in its scope the whole
Hawaiian group, must ever remain a landmark in Hawaiian
ornithological literature.

The year 1892 also witnessed the beginning of the natural his-
tory work in the islands of Mr. R. C. L. Perkins. This gentleman
was sent out conjointly by the British Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science and by the Royal Society. His general col-
lections were very large, and are by far the most important ever
made in the islands. They are deposited in the British Museum
and in that of the Cambridge University, England. A consider-
able number also are in the Bishop Museum, Honolulu. Not the
least important part of Mr. Perkin’s contributions to the natural
history of Hawaii are his notes upon the habits of its birds.
Though not a professed ornithologist, Mr. Perkins published ma-
terial showing him to be an acute and accurate observer, and his
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 29

observations went far to fill the previous lacunae respecting this
interesting subject.

Mr. Perkins’ series of birds included almost all the rarer species
still extant, and contained one new species. The fact that so
keen an observer and so energetic a collector as Mr. Perkins was
able to add but one new species to the list sufficiently attests the
thoroughness with which Mr. Perkin’s immediate predecessors
‘performed their work.

For all practical purposes the list of island birds is to be re-
garded as complete. Yet the discovery and description of all the
birds inhabiting the islands is to be looked upon but as the neces-
sary preliminary to a still more important study, viz.: the life-
histories of the birds, of their relations to each other and to the
avi-fauna of other lands.

PART II—DESCRIPTIVE.
TURDIDE, THRUSH FAMILY.
Phezornis obscura (Gmelin). Omao; Kamao.

The omao, which is the only Hawaiian representative of the
Thrush Family, is found abundantly all over the island of Ha-
waii, but only in the denser forests above one thousand feet.
The bird is so shy in some districts, as in parts of Olaa,
that it is very difficult to catch sight of, and in consequence
is wholly unknown to the settlers except by its voice, while in
other localities, not far distant, its disposition is exactly the re-
‘verse, and the bird may often be seen, and its habits studied, at
short range.

Wherever found, it is prodigal with its song and calls, and its
notes do much to dispel the prevailing stillness of the Hawaiian
forest. The song is jerky and consists of widely-spaced syllables,
but is pleasing and, at times, sweet. The omao sings its sweeter
strains while on the wing. In Spring, particularly, the bird seems
to be unable to express its feelings from its wonted perch and,
leaving the top of some tall tree, it circles widely about flooding
the air with its notes. The omao is preeminently a berry-eater
30 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

and, as it finds an abundance of berry-bearing shrubs growing far
up on the stems of the lofty ohias as well as upon low trees, such
as the kopiko, kawau, mamake and others, it rarely or never
descends to the ground.

Though berries are its chief fare the year round, it does not
wholly disdain insect food, and I have seen the omao hunting
insects over the large limbs of the koa with considerable energy
and celerity. Once or twice I have even seen the bird launching
out after a flying insect, but in such clumsy fashion as to reveal a
woeful want of practice in the business of fly-catching. It does
not disdain spiders upon occasion, and in the stomach of one in-
dividual, I found a minute land-shell. In the breeding season I
once found in the bill of a male several of the browti caterpillars
which infest the koa and ohia trees, which the bird was probably
carrying to its young. Nevertheless I wish to reiterate the state-
ment that the omao is essentially a berry-eater and that insects
form a rare and inconsiderable part of its fare. Of the many birds
I have dissected the stomachs of not five per cent have contained
insects, and then only in very small proportion. The stomachs of
the vast majority have been crammed with berries and with ber-
ries only.

It is a common habit of the omao to alight on a limb length-
wise, a custom which, with its erect attitude while perching,
strongly indicates thrush affinities.

All observers have noted the curious habit of the omao of shak-
ing its wings as if in an ague fit. The wings are allowed to drop
loosely by the sides, and are then shaken with a tremulous motion,
precisely as young birds do when begging food from their parents..
A succession of these fits always seizes the omao when an in-
truder is observed and, if the antic was reserved for such occa-
sions only, it might be set down in so shy a recluse as nervous
apprehension. But the writer has often observed the omao when
himself unnoticed, and has seen the bird indulging in the luxury
of a trembling fit all by himself. The habit is common to all the
species of the genus, into the origin and meaning of which it is
probably useless to,inquire. It is worth remarking that the habit
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 31

is not confined exclusively to omao but is shared by all the species
of Chasiempis.

Abundant and widespread as is this thrush, practically nothing
is known of its nesting habits. The author feels assured that the
bird nests far up in the tall forest trees, and that only by the
merest accident will its nest be found.

In March of 1899, while at Kaiwiki, I shot an adult io (Buteo
solitarius) ; and upon dissecting it I found in its stomach a small
fragment of egg-shell which I suspect was a portion of the egg of
an omao. It was of a light blue color sprinkled with minute
splashes of reddish brown. The size, as indicated by the frag-
ment, would well correspond to a bird the size of omao and, at
all events the egg both in size and color seemed to be essentially
Turdine in character. The mynah, the nest of which io some-
times robs, as is well known, lays a blue, unspotted egg. This
note is published for what it is worth and, unsatisfactory though
it is as evidence, I believe it affords a hint of the character of the
omao’s egg.

Description —Adult. Upper parts dull olive-brown, crown and forehead
tinged with grey; beneath smoky-grey, fading into white on the abdomen;
lower tail-coverts tinged with buff; flanks dull russet; rectrices dark
brown, edged with russet; base of inner primaries and secondaries bright
russet, forming a broad band. Legs light -brown; soles greenish yellow;
bill black; soft parts of mouth light yellow. Length about 6.75 inches.

Juv. plumage. Head above clove brown, with shaft-streaks of light
buffy; back, edges of primaries and secondaries sepia, most of the feathers
edged with blackish, and with arrow shaped shaft-streaks of buff; chin
and throat light grey; belly, white; feathers of lower throat, breast and
sides edged with black, and with triangular spots of light buff; under
tail-coverts russet, flanks tinged with same. Length about 7 inches.

Phzornis oahuensis Wilson. Oahu Thrush.

Thanks to the diligent inquiry of Mr. Wilson we now know
that the island of Oahu formerly possessed a member of this fam-
ily of thrushes, and that in 1824 specimens of the bird were ob-
tained on the island by Bloxam, the naturalist of the “Blonde,”
82 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

who gave it the manuscript name of “Turdus woahensis’ (see
Wilson Birds of the Hawaiian Islands p. XIII.)

The bird doubtless became extinct long ago, and its seems never
to have been seen, or at least recorded, from Bloxam’s day to this.

The manuscript description is as follows: “Length 7$ incli.
Upper parts olive-brown, extremities of the feathers much lighter
color; tail and wings brown; bill bristled at the base.”

As Bloxam’s manuscript contains a description of the thrush
inhabiting the island of Hawaii (P. obscura) which he rightly
considered a different species, we are safe in believing that the
Oahu bird was fully entitled to a distinct name, although no spec-
imens of the bird are now known to be in existence.

Phzornis myadestina Stejneger. Kamao.

This is one of two representatives of the thrush family found
upon Kauai. Palmer describes it as being “ a quiet bird and not
shy.” Its song “reminded him of that of an English thrush, but
it was less powerful, although it could be heard at a great dis-
tance,” and in his opinion was sweeter.

Its habits and its food appear not to differ materially from
those of its relative on Hawaii.

Description.—Adult. Entire upper surface of a dull hair-brown with
an olive tinge; sides of head dull tawny, the feathers fringed with
dusky; lower surface of a light smoky gray, light on throat and fading
into nearly pure white on abdomen and under tail-coverts; breast and
flanks olive-gray; base of inner primaries and secondaries bright russet.
Three outer tail-feathers tipped with white which gradually shades into
brown. Length about 8 inches.

Pheornis palmeri Rothschild. Puaiohi.

This bird, the smallest island representative of the thrush
family, inhabits Kauai where it was first obtained by the Roths-
child collectors, though its presence in the island seems to have
been known previously by Mr. Francis Gay and to the natives
by whom it had received a distinctive name. Its habits and its
song appear to differ considerably from those of the other species.

’
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 33

Description—Adult. Above dull brown, with darker head and almost
uniform wings and tail; inner web of external pair of feathers and center
of next pair buff; a white orbital ring, beneath greyish, becoming nearly
white on the abdomen and buff on the lower tail-coverts; a whitish patch
on the under surface of the wing quills. Length about 6.75 inches.

Phzornis lanaiensis Wilson. Olomao.

This Phe@ornis is said by Wilson, who discovered and described
it, to inhabit both Lanai and Molokai. I quote from Rothschild:
“The olomao, as it is called, both on Lanai and Molokai, is not
rare on both these islands, and Palmer saw it in the lowland as
well as at the highest elevations. In the stomachs he found seeds
and berries of different plants.”

Description.—Adult. Much like the other species. May be distinguished.
from obscura by its smaller size and whiter under-parts; from myadestina.
by its smaller size and the absence of the white markings on the tail.
Length about 7.50 inches.

SYLVIIDA. SYLVIA FAMILY,

Acrocephalus familaris (Rothschild). Miller Bird.

According to Rothschild this little bird is very abundant on
the island of Laysan to which it is confined. It is an energetic
insect eater, searching for its prey among the roots and grasses.
It is especially fond of a large white moth abounding on Laysan
and called “miller,” whence the name of the bird. The bird nests
in tussocks of grass, and lays three pale bluish eggs, blotched with
olive brown.

Description—Adult. Upper parts greyish brown. Below buffy white.
Length about 4% inches.

MUSCICAPIDH, FLYCATCHER FAMILY.
Chasiempis sandwichensis (Gmelin). Elepaio.

The elepaio is one of the most abundant of all Hawaiian birds,
and it is one of the most beautiful and interesting. In some dis-
tricts it descends almost to sea-level, but it is most numerous at
a middle altitude, say from 1,000 to 3,000 feet. The bird is

3-H B
34 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

equally at home in the tops of the tallest trees and in the lowest
shrubbery and, occasionally, it descends even to the ground in
search of insects. (Perhaps if it has a favorite hunting-ground
next to the ohia tree, it is the mamake, because that tree, with its
abundant berries, harbors many insects, and no clump of mamake
is without a pair of these little bets)

The curiosity of the elepaio is insatiable and a pair or two are
always on hand to inspect an intruder and to learn his business.
Tt will follow and catch an insect on the wing which it has
chanced to dislodge from some hiding place, but it never sits and
watches for flying insects as do the American flycatchers. In
fact by far the greater parts of its insect food is gleaned from the
branches of trees and shrubs, and from among the lichens and
tangled ferns. Its motions generally and its hunting habits are
those of a wren rather than those of a flycatcher. Indeed its
resemblance to the wrens is remarkable, especially when it droops
its wings by its side and cocks its tail over its back, which is its
_frequent habit.

Elepaio appears to be the only Hawaiian woodland bird that
nests low down habitually. I once found a nest of this bird on
the horizontal scape of a fern (Sadleria) within two feet of the
ground.

This, however, is a very exceptional location. Usually the
nests are situated in a small tree in the shade of the forest, like the
mamake, young koa, or one of the berry-bearing trees, like the
kawau, and are placed from ten to thirty feet up. The nest is
built in an upright fork or saddled upon a horizontal branch and
supported by lateral twigs, and is a beautiful structure, made of
grasses woven into a deep cup and most tastefully decorated on
the outside with fern fronds and lichens held in place by silk
strands taken from spiders’ webs.

The elepaio usually lays two eggs, sometimes three. They are
of a pure grayish white, more or less profusely sprinkled with
reddish-brown dots. No bird has a more important place in Ha-
waiian mythology than the elepaio, and omens and warnings were
formerly read from its actions and notes. Of the latter it has
‘several. VIts name is the native interpretation of its song—if it
can properly be called a song—and the bird itetates and re-iterates
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 35

this all.day long, so that no one with ears to hear need ever be
in any doubt as to the identity of elepaio. It has, besides, several
call-notes, one of which is a true flycatcher-like whit. ;

It is a most active little bird and is busy about something the
day long, now engaged in searching every nook and crevice for
insects, now chasing a comrade in play in and out of the leafy for-
est coverts.

Description—Adult. Above rufous brown; upper tail-coverts white;
forehead, lores and superciliary stripe white or (in most specimens from
the windward side of island) chestnut; wing coverts white, spotted with
black; feathers black at base, more or less white tipped, especially in
females; sides of body and chest reddish brown; abdomen and under tail-
coverts white; outer edge of outer tail feather mostly white; inner web
white for nearly half its length. Length 5.50-5.75. é

Juv. plumage. Above ochraceous brown; upper tail-coverts ochraceous;
wing-coverts brown tipped with ochraceous; under parts brown and buffy;
abdomen greyish white.

Chasiempis gayi Wilson. Oahu Elepaio.

This is the elepaio of Oahu and is one of the commonest, if
not the commonest, of all the small native birds left on the island.
This is what might be expected from its habits, and it is probable
that when most of the Hawaiian birds are extinct the elepaio will
long continue to maintain itself in scarcely diminished numbers.
So long as any woodland at all is left elepaio will hold its own.

Description—Adult. Above brown, slightly tinged with tawny ochra-
ceous buff; forehead, ear-coverts and an ill-defined line above the eye
ochraceous buff; rump and upper tail-coverts white; quills deep brown
narrowly edged with pale brown on the outer webs and broadly edged
with white inwardly. Rectrices blackish brown, largely tipped with white.
Feathers of the chin, throat, and upper breast black more or less tipped
with white. Abdomen and under tail-coverts white; breast and sides of
body washed with brown. Length about 5.50 inches.

Juv. plumage. Above tawny ochraceous brown, bright tawny ochraceous
on the upper tail-coverts. (Rothsch.).

Chasiempis schlateri Ridgway. Kauai Elepaio.

Three only of the islands are favored by the presence of a
species of this genus.: Molokai and Maui for some reason, are
36 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

both lacking the bird. The habits of the three species do not,
differ essentially.

Description.—Adult. Above dark smoky grey with a brownish tinge;
forehead and space around the eye washed with pale buff; rump and upper
tail-coverts white. Quills blackish brown, margined with pale brownish
ash on the outer webs, and with white on the inner webs; secondaries
white tipped. Tail blackish brown; outer tail feathers tipped with white.
Wing-coverts, except the primary, tipped with white below whitish,
strongly tinged with brownish buff on the throat, breast, and sides of the
body, darkest on the breast. Under tail-coverts and axillaries. white.
Length about 5.59 inches. (Rothsch.).

CORVIDA. CROW FAMILY.
Corvus tropicus Gmelin. Hawaiian Crow. Alala.

The Hawaiian crow is a singularly local species, and it may
be doubted if in the whole world there is another crow the habitat
of which is similarly restricted. Though called the Kona Crow,
the alala is numerous in the forests.of both the Kona and Kau
districts of Hawaii, outside of which island it has never been
found. The bird ranges also into the scanty woods on the lava
along the Kau road below the Volcano House, and Mr. Oliver
Shipman informs me that a few pairs used to breed in the koa
forest some two miles west of the Volcano House. This locality
brings the bird within sight of the Hilo district, into which the
bird seems not to desire, or perhaps to be able, to pass. As food
suitable for the crow abounds in the Olaa woods, the only appar-
ent cause for the bird not spreading further northward would
seem to be the more abundant rainfall on the windward side of
Hawaii.

The alala, like its congeners, seems to be almost omnivorous
and like them it possesses the unfortunate habit of robbing the
nests of other birds, even taking the eggs and the young of the
mynah.

The alala has quite a variety of odd notes but includes in its
repertoire a ringing caw, caw, which sufficiently betrays its rela-
tionship though the note is pitched upon a much higher key than
that of our old friend, “Jim Crow” of America.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 37

It would be difficult to imagine a bird differing more in dis-
position from the common American crow that the Hawaiian
alala. The bird, instead of being wary and shy, seems to have
not the slightest fear of man, and when it espies an intruder in
the woods is more likely than not to fly to meet him and greet his
presence with a few loud caws. He will even follow the strang-
er’s steps through the woods, taking short flights from tree to
tree, the better to observe him and gain an idea of his character
and purpose.

The alala is as impudent as he is curious and noisy, and will
invade the chicken yard daily to share with the fowls their food,
when it requires something more than moral suasion to induce
him to leave.

The nest of the alala is much like the ordinary structure of
the crow elsewhere, and is made of coarse sticks with a lining of
finer material. It is placed in an ohia or similar tree, not neces-
sarily high up, and the eggs are laid in the early summer months.
I am not aware that the eggs have been described.

Description —Adult. Dusky brown throughout, head and tail blacker.
Feathers of chin and upper throat bristly, with shining black shafts.
Primaries, especially towards tip, lighter brown. Bill bluish black; legs
and feet black. Total length about 19 inches; female smaller.

DREPANIDIDA, DREPANINE FAMILY.
Hemignathus obscurus (Gmelin). Hawaii Akialoa,

The akialoa is one of the most remarkable and interesting avian
forms which has been developed upon the islands. The present
species. is limited to the island of Hawaii, but Oahu, Kauai and
Lanai are, or formerly were, each represented by a species of
akialoa. Why this bird has not made a home on the islands of
Maui and Molokai it would be hard to say.

Upon Hawaii generally the akialoa must be considered as rare.
The deep forests of Olaa would seem to be peculiarly fitted to its
habits, but it was only after long search that the writer found the
bird there at all and then only upon a few occasions. Whatever
may have been the case formerly it is now rare there. It is more
38 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

numerous in the still denser forest of koa and ohia north of the
Wailuku river, though by no means common even there. It is
probably more numerous in Kona.

The stout legs and sharp claws of this bird enable it to pass
rapidly over the large limbs of koa and ohia, and to cling in any
and to seize from their hiding places in the tangles of ferns and
mosses various sorts of grubs, beetles and their larvae which are
its chosen food. I have never seen the akialoa feeding upon the
nectar of flowers though other observers have, but it is probably
a rare habit.

The akialoa is especially fond of probing into the deep, cup-
shaped leaf clusters of the ieie vine. These are usually full of
dead leaves and fallen trash, in the recesses of which insects are
perfectly safe from all birds except the akialoa and its relative,
the akiapolaau, the latter being furnished with a similar hooked
probe. I have no doubt that the peculiar leaf clusters of the ieie
have had more to do with the development of the extraordinary
bills of these two birds than anything else.

The akialoa has a characteristic call, but I have never heard it
sing, though I have often met with the pairs in the breeding
season,

Description —Adult. Above bright oil-green; wing and tail quills dusky
brown, margined with dull green; a well defined superciliary stripe of
gamboge-yellow. Lores black. Beneath dull olive green; legs and feet
plumbeus; bill bluish black, base plumbeus. Length about 6.5 inches.

Juv. Dull olive above, tinged with green; beneath olive-yellow; sides
and flanks warm olive; superciliaries pale yellow.

Hemignathus procerus Cab. Tiwi.

This Kauai species is said to be known to the natives by the
name iiwi. If so the transfer of names is somewhat surprising.
The bill is even of more extraordinary proportions than that of
the former species. Its chief food, no doubt, is insects, but, ac-
cording to Mr. G. C. Munroe, it also sucks honey from the lehua
flowers. This observer also reports that the species has a sweet
song.

We learn from him further that “this bird is much more com-
mon and enjoys a wider range than the nukupuu, which bird it
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 39

much resembles in habits. It seems to inhabit the whole forest
region of Kauai.” .

Description—Adult. Head above olive, feathers edged with olive-green,
giving a spotted appearance; back, edges of wing and tail quills and of
wing coverts bright olive-green; wing and tail quills ashy brown; a bright
yellow superciliary line, and a black loral spot. Throat and breast deep
olive-yellow, merging into sulphur-yellow on abdomen; tibiae dull white.
Length about 7.50 inches.

Adult female. Above greyish olive; rump and upper tail-coverts olive
green; a dusky loral spot below olive-yellow; sides and flanks olive-green,

Hemignathus lanaiensis Rothschild.

Several specimens of this species were obtained on Lanai in
1892 by Mr. Rothschild’s collectors, but it is doubtful if the
species is still in existence, as it was then very rare.

Description. Adult male. Differs from H. obscurus, its nearest ally,
in its much longer and very stout bill, ashy-greyish tint of the crown, and
much duller olivaceus green of the back, neck, and rump. Breast dirty
yellow, gradually passing into dull olive on the flanks, instead of bright
yellowish olive as in Hl. obscurus. Under tail-coverts creamy white, in-
stead of olive-green. (Rothsch.)

Hemignathus ellisianus (Gray).

This form of the akialoa used to inhabit the forests of Oahu
where Mr. Wilson thinks it may still linger in small numbers. No
collector, however, has seen the bird for many years and its ex-
istence is open to much doubt. The single specimen in the Berlin
Museum is supposed to be the only specimen extant.

Description—Above greenish olive-brown, more greenish on the back
and rump and more greyish on the head and hind-neck; the dark bases
of the feathers on the head showing through. Lores deep brown. A dis-
tinct yellow superciliary stripe. Chin, throat, and middle-of abdomen dull
brownish white (apparently somewhat faded). Upper breast olive-green-
ish; sides of breast and flanks dull olive-greenish. More olive-brown on
the flanks. Wings and tail deep brown, bordered with yellowish green.
Under wing-coverts dull white. The bill is brown, somewhat horn-brown,
but not blackish as in all the other species of Hemignathus. (Rothsch.).
40 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Heterorhynchus wilsoni Rothschild. Akiapolaau.

In the akiapolaau we have another of the interesting and ex-
traordinary bird forms with which Nature has favored the Ha-
waiian Islands; there being a distinctive species for each island.
In external form this bird resembles the akialoa, though more
compactly and robustly built than that bird, but the yellow belly
and the short, blunt mandible, in contrast with the long, delicate
maxilla, serve at once to distinguish the two apart. The differ-
ences of form, and especially the different bills, indicate a corres-
ponding difference in habits, of which, indeed, these differences
are the direct result.

The akiapolaau frequents the same deep forests as the akialoa,
though by no means wholly unknown in more open woods, and
like that species it passes over the large limbs and trunks of trees
with great rapidity, all the while peering to the right and left for
the hidden haunts of its insect food. It has the same habit of
probing into the leafy crowns of the ieie vine and into the thick
mosses and lichens. But the short, blunt mandible of the akia-
polaau has conferred new powers upon it which the other bird
does not possess. By means of it, when the maxilla is agape, it
can flake off lichens and even pound off small knobs and excres-
cences under which it suspects larvae to be concealed. Again,
fixing itself firmly to a limb by its stout claws, it will seize a small
excrescence between the mandibles and tug away at it till it
wrenches it off, when it probes the cavity beneath for larvae with
its upper mandible. The skull is unusually thick, and the muscles
of the neck and the maxilla are remarkably developed so as to
permit this double function of the bill as a hammer and as a
wrench. To some extent then the akiapolaau has progressed
towards the structure and the functions of a woodpecker, though
in the main it is very different from any of the members of that
tribe, not a single representative of which has found its way to
the islands.

_ It may be added in passing that no family of birds is more
needed in the islands than the woodpeckers. Dead timber is very
abundant in the forests and, as Hawaiian insects lead hidden lives
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 41

for the most part, the woodpeckers would ptove of immense ser-
vice in tearing open their burrows and in reducing their numbers.
Having to do without woodpeckers, however, Nature has at-
tempted to accomplish their work in a very different way. She
has endowed several birds with stout legs and sharp, strong
claws to enable them to run swiftly over the trunks and limbs of
trees. She has given to others long bills and brush tipped tongues
for probing hidden cavities and seizing the insect prey; and she
has equipped the akiapolaau with a special device in the shape
of a more or less effective hammer to expose the hidden retreats
of larvae.

But to return to our akiapolaau. So far as the general forest
is concerned the bird is a rather rare one, but in certain localities
north of the Wailuku I have found it rather common. It has a
short but sweet warbling song which it utters at frequent inter-
vals as it is engaged in hunting.

Description—Adult male. Above bright olive-green, brighter on head
and rump; wing and tail quills brown, edged with olive-green, as also the
wing-coverts; a black loral spot; beneath gamboge yellow; sides and flanks
washed with olive-green; legs plumbeus; bill bluish-black, bluish at base.
Length about 5.75 inches.

Adult female. Above dull olive with faint greenish cast, greener on
rump; beneath olive-yellow, much deeper on chin and throat, sides and
flanks greenish-olive.

Young. Are much duller above than the female; below olive, washed
with yellowish, especially on abdomen. Both the females and young differ
much individually, as regards extent and depth of color.

Heterorhynchus lucidus Lichtenstein.

This is the Oahu representative of the akiapolaau. As sug-
gested by Wilson, it is probable that the original specimens upon
which the species rests were collected by Deppe and Townsend
in Nuuanu Valley in 1837. The species has not been seen since
by any explorer, and it is all but certain that it is extinct. Very
few specimens exist in museums.

Description.—Adult male (in Paris Museum). Above olive-green,.

darker and more olive on the back, lighter and more green on the head,
wing, and tail-coverts. Lores and a line behind the eye, brownish-black;
42 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

across the forehead a narrow, and above the eyes a conspicuous orange-
yellow superciliary stripe. Quills deep brown, outer webs edged with
greenish yellow. Chin, throat and upper breast bright orange-yellow;
abdomen yellow. (Rothsch.).

Heterorhynchus affinis Rothschild.

Found only upon Maui where it is generally confined to the
more elevated forest. Mr. Perkins states that this bird has two
songs, one of which is identical with that of the Hawaii species,
while the other is much like that of the house finch introduced
from California. He finds that the food of the Maui species, like
that of the form on the island of Hawaii, consists mainly of in-
sects, “but the birds are quieter and less vigorous in their move-
ments.” He records the fact also that this species sucks honey.

Description.—Adult male. Top of head bright gamboge-yellow, passing
into yellowish-green on the nape and hind neck, the green being rather
abruptly terminated by the grayish olive-green of the back, brighter and
greener on the upper tail-coverts. Quills and rectrices deep brown,
bordered with bright olive green. Lores black, connected by a black band
across the forehead. A tiny black chin spot. Throat bright yellow, pass-
ing into sulphur-yellow on the abdomen and pale yellow on the under

tail-coverts. Sides of body tinged with greenish-olive. (Rothsch.).
Female much duller.

Heterorhynchus hanapepe (Wilson). Nukupuu.

The nukupuu inhabits the forests of Kauai, from an elevation
of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, where it seems to be decidedly rare.
Like its congeners, whose general habits it shares, the nukupuu
lives chiefly upon insects. The fact that all of the several species
of this curious genus live principally upon insects is attested by
all who have observed their habits. Indeed the result of these ob-
servations might have been predicted from a study of the birds’
structure. Long centuries of insect hunting, under the peculiar
conditions found in the Hawaiian forest, have impressed upon
the birds of this genus the stamp of extreme specialization. Their
modification has been all in one direction, and their equipment is
that of the highly specialized insect hunter.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 43

Mr. Wilson was informed by natives that the nukupuu eats
also bananas and oranges, an interesting fact if confirmed.
Description.—Colored much like others of the genus, especially the H.

wilsoni of Hawaii, from which it is at once distinguished by the curved,
instead of straight, under mandible. Length about 5.60 inches.

Viridonia sagittirostris Rothschild. Green Solitaire.

This beautiful bird was one of the most interesting discoveries
made by Palmer, Mr. Rothschilds’ collector, in the island of Ha-
waii where alone it is found. It is one of the rarest prizes among
existing Hawaiian birds and its habitat is limited to the dense for-
est a few miles in extent upon either side of the Wailuku River,
at an elevation of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet. Yet even in its
stronghold one may watch for it for days in vain, unless he know
its call note, when occasionally a pair may be called up out of the
forest fastnesses. Having attracted its attention in this way I
have succeeded on several occasions in luring one up to within
a dozen feet, and have listened to its rather plaintive call note.

The long straight bill is oriole-like in character and, like the
orioles, the Viridonia seems to live chiefly upon insects which it
gleans from the foliage of the ohias, to which tree it seems to con-
fine its attention chiefly. The bird seems to be wholly unknown to
the natives and I have been unable to learn its native name, if
indeed it ever had one. I have therefore ventured to call it as
above.

Description. Adult. Above bright olive-green, brighter on head and
rump; an inconspicuous dusky spot anterior to eye; below yellowish-green;
wing dark brown, feathers edged with green; a tail of a lighter shade of
brown, edged with green; under surface- of wing dark ash color; elbow
yellow; under wing-coverts light yellowish green; legs plumbeus; bill
bluish-black, base of L. M. bluish. Length about 6.5. Female generally
duller and smaller.

Chlorodrepanis virens (Gmelin). Hawaii Amakihi.

This little green and yellow bird is one of the commonest of
the island species, and is very widely diffused. In this respect it
44 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

differs markedly from many Hawaiian birds. which inhabit only
restricted areas specially suited to their habits.

The amakihi loves the nectar of flowers, and is frequently to
be seen in company with the iiwi and the akakani rifling the
ohia blossoms of their sweets. It has learned also that the im-
ported nasturtium secretes a fine quality of honey and, however
close to the house the flowers may grow, it pays them regular
morning and evening visits. As the amakihi has a comparatively
short bill it is quite unable to reach the nectar, deep down in the
long spurred corolla, and, like the iiwi, it has learned to pierce
the spur with its bill just over the nectaries, and in this way easily
reaches the coveted sweets.

It is the amakihi also that pays so much attention to the ba-
nana blossoms, and daily visits them for the sake of the abundant
nectar. This bird hunts, too, all over the broad leaves of the
samé plant for minute insects which no other bird does. But the
amakihi spends most of its time hunting for insects in the foliage
of the ohia trees and among the low shrubbery.

It is to be remarked that this species confines ‘its search for in-
sects almost entirely to the foliage, and spends very little time on
the trunks and the larger branches. Exactly the reverse is true of
the Oreomyza, which frequents the same localities, and rather:
closely resembles the amakihi in size and general appearance.
Bearing this difference in habits in mind, the two species may
almost always be distinguished at any distance.

The call note of this species is a low sweet “tweet” which is
frequently uttered. Its song is a low, simple but, withal, a rather
sweet trill which is repeated at rather frequent intervals.

The nest of this species seems to be placed at various heights
in the ohia and other trees. It is composed of roots and bark,
lined with rootlets. The eggs I have not seen.

Description—Adult male. Above oil green; beneath greenish-yellow;
lores black; wing and tail brownish, edged with green; lining to wing
whitish. Bill about .65 long; slightly curved; grayish plumbeus; legs
plumbeus. Length about 4.50 inches. Female similar but duller.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 45

Chlorodrepanis wilsoni Rothschild. Maui Amakihi.

Under the above name Mr. Rothschild has separated the Maui
amakihi, considering that it has a larger bill than virens of Ha-
waii on the one hand, and is somewhat differently colored from
chloris of Oahu on the other, a view apparently accepted by Mr.
Wilson. The writer also is inclined to consider this view correct,
though his present material is only sufficient to show that the Maui
bird is remarkably like virens. Though the bill of Maui specimens
appears to average larger than that of virens, yet I suspect that
individuals may occur which it will be impossible to determine
without knowing the island whence derived. In the juvenile
plumage Maui birds seem to be much greyer than the similar
stage of virens from Olaa. I have not compared skins from Maui
with the Oahu bird.

Mr. Rothschild, with material before him from Molokai and
Lanai, declines to admit the validity of Wilson’s Chlor. kalaana
and chloridoides, a view which I shall accept for the present.

I found wilsont to be rare in June on the slopes of Haleakaia
above 5,000 feet, but to be commoner below that elevation. Its
habits and notes seem to be much like those of virens of Hawaii.
The old birds were leading about their families of young which
were fully fledged.

Chlorodrepanis chloris (Cabanis). Oahu Amakihi.

This is the Oahu amakihi. Probably its habits differ in no
essential respects from those of its allies. According to Mr. Seale
the bird is not rare on the timbered mountain ridges and in the
gulches.

Description—Adult male. Above bright yellowish-green, with black
forehead and lores; wings and tail brownish-grey, edged with green;
below golden yellow. Length 4.5 inches.

Chlorodrepanis stejnegeri (Wilson). Stejneger’s Amakihi.

This is one of two species found upon Kauai, both of which
are known to the natives by the name of amakihi. This bird
possesses a more robust form than any of its congeners and.a
46 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

stouter and more curved bill. Its habits probably do not differ in
any essential respects from those of the species just described.

Description—Adult male. Entire upper surface bright olive-green;
lores blackish; primaries, secondaries and tail smoky brown; throat,
‘breast and sides lemon yellow, passing into whitish on the belly and under
tail-coverts. Length about 4.40 inches; bill about .65; strongly curved.
Female similar but duller.

Chlorodrepanis parva (Stejneger). Alawi; Anauanii.

This species is an inhabitant only of the island of Kauai where
it was first obtained by Mr. Knudsen. According to Wilson it is
found throughout the forest region, and has been taken by Mr.
Francis Gay towards the summit of Waialeale (4,000 feet), the
highest point on the island.

I see no reason for the removal of this species from the genus
‘Chlorodrepanis. It is true that it has a nearly straight bill. It
must not be overlooked that the bills of the other members of the
Chlorodrepanis group differ considerably inter se (more especially
the bills of stejnegeri and virens) and, in respect of its curvature
of bili, parva seems to connect Chlorodrepanis with Oreomyza.
In its other features, however, parva seems to be strictly congen-
eric with chloris, steinegeri and wirens. The character of the
tongue alone is sufficient to show that it does not belong in
Oreomyzsa. Parva seems, indeed, to be closely related to C. virens,
from which it is chiefly to be distinguished by its smaller size and
its shorter and straighter bill. :

Description —Adult. Entire upper surface and sides of body as well as
the outer edges of quills and tail feathers bright yellowish olive-green,
inclining to olive-yellow on the forehead, region above the lores, super-
cilia, and rump; trace of a dusky line between bill and eye; under surface,
including under tail-coverts, bright olive yellow; middle of abdomen,
tibiae, axillaries, and under-wing coverts white, except those of the latter
nearest to the edge of the wing, which are bright yellow; quills blackish,

edged in the outer web with yellowish olive,-in the inner one with white.
Length about 4.30. (Stejneger.)

Oreomyza mana (Wilson). Olive-green Creeper.

This little olive-green bird in certain districts of Hawaii is com-
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 47

mon, and in others rare. Throughout the Olaa woods, for in-
‘stance, even at an elevation at from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, the species
is rare, but in the forests of mixed koa and ohia along the Wai-
luku river it is numerous. The bird is common also in the koa
woods above the volcano. It appears not to be found at all at
low elevations, but occurs from about 2,000 feet upwards.

So nearly of a size are the amakihi and this species, and from
a distance so nearly alike in color, that by the novice they may be
easily mistaken one for the other. In habits, however, they are
quite unlike. Whereas the amakihi, as above stated, hunts for
insects among the foliage and the smaller twigs, the present
species creeps along the trunks and the larger branches, gleaning
from the interstices of the bark and from the mosses and lichens
its insect fare. Its food consists very largely of the larvae of
beetles, which its sharp, straight bill enables it to procure with
ease, provided they are not deeply hidden. In respect to its food
and its general habits, the olive-green creeper may well be com-
pared with the akialoa. Both birds frequent the same localities,
live upon much the same food, and procure it in much the same
way, save that the much longer bill of the akialoa enables it to
explore depths for the hidden larvae which the other cannot reach.
So far as I am aware the Oreomyza never touches honey.

Description.—Adult. Upper ‘parts dull green, brighter on rump; feath-
ers of head with dusky centers giving a slightly mottled appearance.
Under parts greenish buff, shading into yellow on abdomen and into whit-
ish on chin and throat. Wings and tail blackish brown, margined with
green. Lores and space beneath eye black, in some specimens tending to
orbital ring. Legs brown; Maxilla dark brown; lower mandible light
brown; length about 4.50.

Specimens in the juv. plumage have the abdomen cream color, the chin
and throat almost white, with a superciliary line of white which, in one
specimen, extends clear across the forehead. In very young birds the
lower mandible is yellow.

Oreomyza perkinsi Rothschild. Perkins’ Creeper.
*

Concerning this newly described species I quote as follows from
Rothschild:: “This remarkable specimen has a long but straight
bill; the nostrils are covered by an operculum, which, however,
48 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

leaves a minute space at the lower margin open; the second prim-
ary is about one-tenth of an inch shorter than the third; the third,
fourth, and fifth are nearly equal, but the fourth is a trifle longer.
The coloration is that of Chlorodrepanis virens. The bird thus
occupies a somewhat intermediate position between Oreomyza and
Chlorodrepanis, and it might be a hybrid between Oromyza mana
and Chlorodrepams virens; but, as Oreomyza parva of Kauai oc-
cupies a similarly intermediate position between the genera Ore-
omyza and Chlorodrepanis, I think it is quite possible that it is a
good species, and I have much pleasure in naming it after Mr.
Perkins, who has done such very good work on the Hawaiian
Islands in furthering our knowledge of their biology.”

“Adult male. Above light olive-green (Ridgway, Nom. Col-
ours, pl. x., No. 18). brighter on the rump. Quills black, edged
with oil-green; tail-feathers dark brown, edged with oil-green.
Below olive-yellow; vent greenish white. Thighs dirty white.
Under wing-coverts white, with a yellow tinge; lores black. Iris
dark brown. Legs and feet greyish brown. Soles of feet yel-
lowish flesh-colour. Upper mandible dark brown, with paler
base; lower mandible grey. Total length about 5.5 inches, wing
2.6, tail 1.7, tarsus 0.85, culmen 0.63.

One male, Puulehua, [Kona] Hawaii, September 25, 1891.

Resting as it does upon a single specimen, the status of this
recently described species can hardly be considered as settled until
after further investigation. Its description indicates that it is
very closely related to the Chlorodrepants virens ; or, as suggested
by Mr. Rothschild, it may be a hybrid.

Oreomyza bairdi Stejneger. Akikiki.

This is the Kauai representative of the genus. It is a larger,
more robust bird than the one just mentioned and is differently
colored, but in general habits the two species appear to resemble
each other closely.

Description.—Adult. Above hair brown, tinged with pale green on rtmp
and on margins of wing and tail feathers. Below olive-buff, nearly white
on chin and throat, and tinged with pale yellow on the breast and abdo-
men. Lores whitish. Length about 4.45.

a ins tin ade,
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 43

Oreomyza flammead Wilson. Kakawahie.

This beautiful species, the native name of which signifies “fire-
wood,” probably from its bright flame color, is found only upon
the island of Molokai where probably it is not uncommon. Very
little is known of its habits, but they probably do not differ essen-
tially from those of its congeners.

Description—Adult male. Front and sides of the head pure scarlet; top

of the head and back brownish scarlet, brightening into nearly pure
scarlet on the rump; chin, throat, and lower surface generally pure scarlet,
but paler in hue, brightening, however, on the flanks; remiges and rec-
trices. blackish brown, edged with brownish scarlet; wing lining pale
scarlet.
* Adult female. Top of the head hair-brown, but each feather brownish-
scarlet at the base, and the shafts of those towards the back of the head
grey; back hair-brown tinged with red; rump distinctly russet; upper
tail-coverts brownish scarlet; remiges and rectrices blackish brown edged
with brownish scarlet, as also are the upper wing-coverts. Beneath, dull
white tinged with pale scarlet; sides of the body reddish brown, and wing~
lining white tinged with scarlet. Length about 5 inches. (Wilson.)

Oreomyza newtoni (Rothschild).

I found this species to be very common in the woods of Hale-
akala at an elevation of between 4,000 and 5,000 feet; in fact it is
the most abundant of Maui birds in the vicinity of Olinda.

When referring to the Hawaiian member of this genus (mana)
I laid special stress upon its habit of hunting almost exclusively
along the main stems of the trees and upon the large limbs, a habit
which will almost invariably serve to identify the bird in the for-
ests of Hawaii. The Maui species is noticeable for the same habit,
but, unlike mana, it much frequents also the undergrowth, and not
rarely descends even to the ground in its hunting excursions.

Such marked difference in habits between species so closely
allied is extremely interesting, and I attribute it to the absence in
Maui of the elepaio. The absence of the latter bird from this
island is of itself remarkable, since in Hawaii, just across the
channel from Maui, in plain sight and distant not more than twen-
ty miles, the elepaio is very numerous indeed. The elepaio is essen-

4HB
50 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

tially a bird of the low undergrowth, though by no means ex-
clusively confined to it. As the undergrowth in Maui in unoccu-
pied by any bird, Oreomyza has changed its habits and extended
its hunting grounds, being indeed far more an inhabitant of the
scrub than of the trees. In other words its habits are far less
specialized in Maui than are those of its relative upon Hawaii
where competition is keener.

. Upon a few occasions I saw this species feeding upon nectar
from the ohias, but this I believe must be considered a rare habit,
as Mr. Perkins, who noted the same habit, also concludes.

In June the old birds were everywhere leading about young,
and were feeding them principally upon the small green cater-
pillars of the koa and ohia.

The call note is quite unlike that of mana, being very similar &
the chirp of our familiar song sparrow. Only once did I hear
anything resembling a song from this bird. Then I was close to
several younglings whom I was watching when a male flew almost
to my feet and, after a chorus of excited chirps and pleading
notes, burst into an ecstatic warbling song. It may be doubted
if this outpouring is the regular song of the species, as it was
quite unlike the voice of any other Hawaiian bird known to me.
It was a melody born of extreme agitation and of the alternate
emotions of hope and fear. If intended, as no doubt it was, to
divert my attention and to secure immunity for its young it was
a most touching and effective device.

Oreomyza maculata (Cabanis). Oahu Creeper.

This is the Oahu creeper. According to Wilson, this species
is fairly common in the district of Halemanu where there are
still some remains of the former forest. Palmer found it not rare
in the upland districts of Waialua from 1,500 feet upwards.
Perkins found it also at Kaiwaloa.

Description—Adult male. Forehead, superciliary stripe, chin, cheeks,
‘ear-coverts, throat, and breast golden yellow; rest of upper parts olive-
‘green. Wing and tail feathers blackish brown, with olive-green edges,

loral spot dusky. Beneath yellow, more whitish on the middle of the
lower abdomen; sides of breast and flanks washed with olive-green. Under
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 51

wing-coverts whitish, washed with olive yellow. Length about § inches.

Female very different from the male. Forehead, superciliary stripe and
under parts yellowish white; sides of breast and flanks washed with
olive-grey. Above olive, the greater wing-coverts: with large greenish-
white tips. (Rothsch.). :

Oreomyza montana (Wilson). Alauhiio.

According to Rothschild, Palmer found this species on the
southwest side of Lanai from about 1,500 feet to the highest
peaks. It is not perhaps so very rare, though difficult to procure
on account of the dense brush.

Description—Adult male. Forehead, line above the eyes, and cheeks
bright lemon-yellow; rest ‘of upper parts light yellowish green, more
greenish yellow on the rump and upper tail-coverts; margins of quills and
recticles like the back. Beneath bright lemon-yellow; thighs brownish
buff. Length about § inches. Female more greenish and duller.

Drepanis pacifica (Gmelin). Mamo.

There is every reason to believe that this famous bird is ex-
tinct, or so nearly so as to leave little hope that it will ever again
be seen by human eyes. Nevertheless the writer saw at least a
pair, possibly a whole family, in the woods of Kaumana, July,
1898. A year later I was assured by a native who had just come
down from the deep forest, not far from the above locality, that
a few days. previously he had heard the note of a mamo near by
but did not see it. His efforts to secure the bird, if he found any
as he promised, were not successful. This fact brings the living
history of the bird down to the year 1899.

The explanation of the extinction of this fine bird is doubtless
to be found in the persecution it suffered at the hands of the
natives, both in ancient and in modern times. Its feathers were
more highly prized than those of any other bird, and were dedi-
cated solely to the service of the higher chiefs. It may be doubted
if the mamo was ever very abundant, nor is it likely that many
of the feather mantles, even in ancient times, were made solely
of the yellow feathers of the mamo. The bird was probably never
humerous énough to permit of this extravagance. Still there is
indubitable proof that a few such cloaks existed, and it is eritirely
52 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

credible that their manufacture occupied several generations, and
that they were of priceless value when once made. The word
mamo had several meanings according to Andrew’s Dictionary,
and one of them signified a yellow war-cloak covered with the
yellow feathers of the mamo. Alaneo was another name for a
royal robe made of the feathers of the mamo only.

It is said that the birdcatchers in Kamehameha’s time, and per-
haps before, were strictly enjoined not to kill any of the royal
birds, but to turn their captives loose when stripped of the coveted
yellow feathers. Had this injunction been strictly obeyed, the
golden harvest might have been reaped indefinitely without in any
wise affecting the welfare of the bird. But the forests in which
the bird-catcher plied his calling was distant and deep, and it is
possible that the injunction was not strictly heeded; for meat of
any kind was always scarce in Hawaii and in any form was highly
prized. However, the mamo was ever a wary bird and difficult
to secure, and we may feel tolerably sure that the ancient system
of the natives of limeing the mamo would never have caused the
bird’s extinction, even ifthe kapu against its use for food was not
strictly observed. After the introduction of fire-arms into the
islands and they became at all general, bird lime rapidly gave way
to the quicker and more deadly shot-gun and the birds quickly
met their doom. In later historic’ times, at least, the mamo has
always been very rare. :

We know next to nothing of the habits of the mamo. The
birds I saw in Kaumana were very active, and evidently were in
pursuit of insects which they were hunting in the very tops of the
tall ohias. The birds’ flight from tree to tree was not rapid, but
was smooth and well sustained, and the bird on the wing reminded
me of nothing so much as the cuckoo. Though I observed the
birds at intervals for more than two hours, I did not hear a single
note.

Description.—Glossy black, with the exception of the lower part of the
body, the rump, the tail coverts both above and below, the feathers of the
tibia and those of the anterior margin of the wing, which are of a fine
crocus yellow; the larger primary wing-coverts and under wing-coverts

white, the former mottled with blackish grey, and the latter tinged with
yellow. Remiges brownish black, tipped with dull white on the external
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 53.

vane of the five outer primaries, and both vanes of the next four, as well
as those proceeding from the olecranon. Four middle rectrices, glossy
black, the rest more or less brown, and showing a patch of dull white near
the tip, which though indistinct on the inner feathers becomes very dis-
tinct on the extreme pair. Bill and legs apparently deep brown. Total
length about 8 inches. (Wilson.)

Drepanis funerea A. Newton. Black Mamo.

This species was discovered by Mr. Perkins upon the island of
Molokai, to which island it is confined. He obtained several spec-
imens at an altitude of about 5,000 feet. It appears to be rather
closely related to the mamo and is somewhat smaller.

Description. Black throughout, except the outer edges of the primaries

which are grey. Bill long and very much decurved; upper-mandible much
longer than the lower. Length about 8 inches.

Vestiaria coccinea (Forster). Tiwi.

This is one of the few birds which is generally distributed
throughout the islands and, except at low altitudes, it is every-
where numerous.

The most highly colored of all Hawaiian birds, the iiwi, is also
one of the most interesting. The disconnected notes of its rather
sweet song may be heard coming all day long from the tall ohias

‘when in blossom.
The iiwi is exceedingly fond of nectar, which is obtains chiefly
from the blossoms of the ohia, but the bird does not disdain to
- rifle it from other flowers, both wild and cultivated. Nasturtiums
and canna are especial favorites with it, and any one who is for-
tunate enough to live where the bird is common may attract num-
bers close to the house by planting the above named flowers. The
birds will soon learn to visit the flower beds daily, especially in
early morning and at eventide. Unable to reach the nectaries
from the mouth of the nasturtium flower, even with their long
bills, the iiwi has learned to pierce the spur of the blossom just
above the coveted honey, and the brush tipped tongue enables
them to scoop out the sweet drops‘and leave not a trace behind.
The iiwi is at all seasons also an energetic insect hunter,
54 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

though more particularly when nectar is scarce, and its crop is
often crammed with a small green worm which infests the xoa,
the ohia, and other trees. The iiwi was the species chiefly de-
pended upon in the olden times to furnish the red feathers for
the cloaks and helmets of the lesser chiefs. Like the mamo, the
oo.and other bright feather-bearing birds, the iiwi was caught
chiefly by means of bird-lime.

The flight of the iiwi, and also of the akakani, is accompanied
by rythmic pulsations, which are audible at quite a distance, and
which always betray the passage: of the birds above the tree tops.
The flight of no other Hawaiian birds are thus marked. I have
fancied that the wing-beats of the akakani are pitched on a higher
key than of the iiwi, and that the flight of the two are thus dis-
tinguishable. :

Description.—Adult. General color bright vermillion. Wing and tail
black; innermost secondaries white or white edged; under wing coverts
white. Bill and feet vermilion; bill an inch long and much curved.
Length about 5% inches. :

Young in juvenile plumage (iiwi popolo) greenish yellow, . variously
mottled with black.

‘Palmeria dolei (Wilson). Crested Honey Eater.

This remarkable and interesting species inhabits the higher
wooded districts of the island of Maui, to which island alone it is
confined, and where it is not found much if any below an altitude
of 5,000 feet. Like the akakani, to which it is evidently related,
the crested honey eater frequents the ohia trees almost exclu-
sively and, like that bird, derives a large part of its subsistence
from the nectar of the ohia flowers. Its long tube-like, brush-
tipped tongue enables the bird to extract the honey from the tas-
sel-like blossoms with great ease and celerity.

In midsummer, at least, Palmeria feeds to a considerable ex-
tent also upon insect food, especially upon the small green or
brown caterpillars which at this season swarm upon both the ohia
and koa trees. Upon these same caterpillars it also feeds its
young which, by the middle of June, are fully fledged and mostly
capable of caring for themselves, though still following their par-
ents.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 55

Palmeria is a strong and active bird, possessing a vigorous
flight and displaying much activity in traversing the ohia branches,
or in flitting from one cluster of blossoms to another, I noticed
much animosity manifested by the individuals of this species to-
wards the akakani. The habits of the two species are too much
alike for friendly relations to exist, and the greater size and
strength of Palmeria enable it to drive away its smaller rivais
from coveted feeding grounds. Even the half-grown birds suc-
cessfully attack the akakani, and divide their time between sip-
ping honey and in chasing their rival cousins.

Like most of the honey-eating birds, the stomach of the crested
honey eater is remarkably small for the size of the bird, so
etherial a food as the nectar of flowers being speedily and easily
digested and necessitating neither a capacious nor a strong
stomach.

I heard no song at all from this species, though it is probable
that in the mating season the bird gives musical utterance to its.
feelings. It is to be noted, however, that at the same time and in
the same place both the akakani and iiwi were musical enough,
though both species were feeding their young. Palmeria has a call
note which is as characteristic as any sound heard in the Hawaii-
an woods. It is a loud, clear and rather shrill whistle, somewhat
like a flycatcher’s call (great crested flycatcher), but perhaps
best described by comparison with the well known call of Bob
White. The note is easily imitated, and the birds can invariably
be induced to answer, and usually can be called up close to the
observer. But for this fact Palmeria would be indeed difficult to
discover, since it is neither numerous nor generally distributed
but, on the contrary, is very local, the birds seeming to dwell in
small, isolated communities.

The flight of the crested honey eater is unaccompanied by the
rythmic pulsations so characteristic of the flight of the akakani,
(and of the iiwi) while its larger size and whitish crest, as well
as the absence of the white crissum, serve to readily distinguish
the bird from the former species.

I have mentioned the Drepanine characteristics of the tongue
of Palmeria, but there is another Drepanine feature wanting in
56 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

all the specimens of Palmeria thus far examined by me. I allude
to the powerful scent noticeable in the case of every other member
of the group, and which I have come to consider as perfectly dis-
tinctive. I am assured, however, by Mr. Perkins that in his own
experience the Drepanine odor to the bird is very noticeable at
certain seasons. As the natives seem not to know the Palmeria
and to have no name for it, I suggest the above appellation.

Description.—Adult. Upper parts, wing and tail black; feathers of mid-
dle back and rump tipped with scarlet and with grayish shaft-streaks;
elbow and edge of wing scarlet, secondaries and greater wing coverts
tipped with grey; primaries edged with same; a broad nuchal. band of
scarlet, extending over the side of neck; an occipital crest of pointed
lanceolate feathers black with light shaft streaks; a crest of dirty white
feathers, nearly’ an inch long, curved forward from the forehead and
partly covering the bill. A light scarlet ring around the eye, broadest
above. Throat and upper breast of a beautiful hoary grey; rest of under
parts black with grey shaft-streaks; feathers of belly and flanks tipped
with crimson; tibiae orange scarlet. Bills and legs black. Length about
7 inches. Female smaller.

The young repeat the pattern of coloration of the adult even to an incip-
jent crest, but the crimson is replaced by brownish pink. The legs are
brownish black, and the bill is black with orange patches especially on the
lower mandible.

Himatione sanguinea (Gmelin). Akakani; Apapani.

This is one of the most beautiful and abundant of the island
birds and, like the iiwi, is found upon all the islands.

In its general habits the akakani resembles the iiwi, but is
even more dependent for food upon the nectar of flowers than
that bird. Though perhaps a less persistent insect hunter the
year round than the iiwi, the akakani is dependent to a great
extent for a livelihood upon insects, and is extremely partial to the
little green and brown caterpillar of which nearly all the forest
birds are so fond.

Like the iiwi its feathers were much used in ancient times to
make cloaks, helmets and leis for the priests and lesser chiefs,

The akakani’s song is sweet to the ear but is monotonous, and
is delivered at all seasons of the year and at all times of the day.
In fact this species and the iiwi rank as the most persistent song- |
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 57

sters the writer has ever heard. The akakani has a delightful
habit of gathering together in loose companies in the tops of the
leafy ohia trees about midday, when hunger is appeased and most
of the other forest songsters are silent, when the males join in a
subdued lullaby and literally sing themselves and their mates to
sleep.

The akakani usually nests in the tall forest ohias, but the writer
has seen numerous nests in the small, scrubby ohias about the
Volcano House which he attributed to this species; those ex-
amined were invariably empty.

Description —Adult. Above and below crimson, brightest on the head
and shading off on the abdomen into white; under tail coverts white; wing
and tail black, the quills and secondaries edged with scarlet; under wing

coverts ashy. Sexes practically indistinguishable. Length about 5%
inches.

Himatione fraithii Rothschild. Laysan Akakani.

According to Palmer the akakani is by far the rarest of the
Laysan birds, although it occurs in fair numbers. Like its rela-
tive it feeds upon the nectar of flowers though perhaps more de-
pendent upon insects, of which it is an energetic hunter. Accord-
ing to Palmer the bird has a low sweet song.

The Laysan bird is no doubt a derivative of the Hawaiian
Island stock, and must have been a resident of its present domain
for a very long time.

Mr. Rothschild states that it resembles sanguinea of the
islands, but has a shorter bill, and the color is scarlet vermilion
instead of the darker blood-red of that species.

Ciridops anna (Dole). Ulaaihawane.

This beautiful and finch-like bird was first described by Mr.
Dole from specimens taken on the island of Hawaii where alone
the species has been found. These mounted birds, two in number,
were in the collection of the late Mr. Mills and, presumably, were
taken by the natives not far from Hilo, perhaps in the Olaa dis-
trict. There is no evidence, however, of the exact locality whence
58 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

they were derived, and it is possible that they may have come
from some other part of the island.

No collector has met with the species recently, save a single
individual shot for Mr. Palmer by a native on Mt. Kohala in Feb-
ruary, 1892. From the fact that the principal food of the bird (as
the natives say and as its name implies) was derived from the
hawane palm, there would seem to be a reasonable hope that the
bird may vet exist in the more elevated districts of the interior
where alone this palm grows in abundance. However, even if the
species is still extant is must be in very small numbers. To all
intents and purposes the hawane finch may be looked upon as
extinct, and as furnishing another melancholy example of the
mysterious fate which has overtaken so many Hawaiian birds.

Description.—Adult. Crown black, shading into grey and white on the.
nape and sides of the neck; back brownish; lower breast, rump, upper’

tail-coverts, median and part of lesser coverts scarlet; throat and breast
black, as also the tail, primaries and much of the secondaries.

Loxops coccinea (Gmelin). Akepeuie.

The members of this genus are the smallest of all Hawaiian birds
and are among the-most beautiful and most highly colored. This
particular species is found only on the island of Hawaii where, in
most districts, it is rather rare. In two regions only have I found
the bird comparatively common, in the mixed ohia and koa forest
on the north side of the Wailuku river at an altitude of some
1,800 feet upwards; and in the koa forest of Kau.

The bird is extremely partial to the koa tree, and its great
rarity throughout the deep forests of Olaa is doubtless due to the
general absence there of koa. The soft, small insects and cater-
pillars which constitute its chief food are almost entirely derived
from the foliage of this acacia and from the foliage of the naio
and mamane.

All the species of the genus Loxops possess symmetrical bills,
the tip of the lower mandible having a decided: twist to the
right or left, as the case may be. No one, familiar with the
curious crossed bills of the crosshills, and who has seen the birds
manipulate pine seeds with these scissor-like instruments, could
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 59

doubt for a moment that the peculiar bill of Loxops has originated
in a similar way and has similar functions..

In his “Further Remarks on the Relations of the Drepanididae”
in Wilsons’ “The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands,’ Dr. Gadow
refers to this peculiarity as follows: “Curiously enough, there
exists another still more striking analogy between the crossbills
and some Hawaiian birds, hamely with Loxops incl. Chrysomi-
tridops. As already known to Cabanis, when he established the
genus Loxops, the under jaws of these little birds are not sym-
metrical—the distal half of the under jaw is twisted either to the
right or to the left. It is interesting to note that the amount of
twisting varies individually, right- and left-billed specimens occur-
ring in equal numbers, and that it is smallest in young birds.
There is not the slightest doubt that this asymmetry is acquired
individually by their twisting open husks and seeds, or cracks of
bark, in search of their food.”

Notwithstanding the indicated function of the bill of Loxops
and the apparent relation of cause and effect observable in its
shape, the writer is bound to state that nothing in the habits of
the bird, so far as he has been able to observe them, lends any
color whatever to the theory; nor can he learn that Perkins’ ex-
' perience was different. As stated above Loxops hunts its prey
among the leaves, the small, outermost twigs, and the flowers of
the koa, but never, so far as the writer is aware, probes into the
cracks and crevices of the bark for food nor twists off “husks and
seed.” The bird may, indeed, possess these latter habits, as its
bill indicates it should, but none of the thirty or forty individuals
the writer has seen have thus been employed, nor do the contents
of the many stomachs he has examined contradict his observa-
tions.

Moreover, the peculiar twist of the bill does not seem to be in
any wise dependent on age but, on the contrary, is as apparent in
some ten or fifteen individuals in juvenile plumage as it is in the
oldest individuals. Individualiy, however, the birds differ much in
the extent to which the bill is twisted.

The writer can but regret that he has no theory of his own- to
propose in place of the one above given which, however sound and
60 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

plausible it may appear, seems not to accord with observations in
the field.

The curiosity of this little bird is remarkable and, by making
odd, squeaking notes, the writer has more than once called a pair
down from the top of a tall koa to within a few feet of him
when he had no idea that there was an akepeuie within miles.
It is probable that certain small nests common in the outermost
twigs of the topmost branches of the koa belong to this species
but he has no definite proof of the fact.

Like many other Hawaiian birds, the akepeuie pairs at an early
age, while. still in the juvenile dress. There appears to be much
individual difference in plumage in all stages, particularly that
of the adult, or, at least, of the breeding, females.

In the introduction to these pages brief reference is made (p. 20)
to certain tumors or swellings affecting the feet and the soit
parts round the bill of Hawaiian birds. A specimen was forward-
ed to Washington for investigation, and the following report has
been received from D. E. Salmon, Chief of the Bureau of Animal
Industry: “I am in receipt of your letter of September 11th to-
gether with a specimen of a bird, Loxops coccinea, affected with
tumor-like growths on the head, feet and thighs. You state that
this disease is very prevalent among the various woodland birds
in the Hawaiian Islands, and request that you be furnished with
information concerning the nature and cause of the disease.

In reply I would say that a microscopical examination has dem-
onstrated the presence within the degenerated tissues of numerous
fungoid growths which closely resemble morphologically the
blastomyctes described by Sanfelice in his article, Uber die path-
ogene wirkung der Blastomyceten, published in Zeit. fur Hygiene
und Infectionskrankheiten, 1897, page 298. ,

These organisms have been demonstrated during the past sum-
mer in diseased chickens which were forwarded from Honolulu,
and this fact adds to the probability of the same microphyte being
the causative agent'in the disease under consideration. This af-
fection, commonly called chicken pox, sore head and bird pox,
has been known for many years and is usually found in warm
countries, especially in Southern Europe and the Gulf. Section of
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 61

the United States. It affects ordinary fowls, turkeys, pigeons
and birds, and Bollinger, Virchow’s Archiv. Bd. LVIII, S. 349,
mentions an outbreak among hawks and pheasants.

Further information concerning the disease may be found in
Bulletin No. 1, of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station,
entitled “Chickens and their Diseases in Hawaii.”

With reference to the foregoing it may be remarked that if the
disease in question be the same that prevails so extensively among
the domestic fowls of the islands, it seems to assume a much
milder type among the wild birds, whether native or introduced.
If it resulted in blindness and death among wild birds as fre-
quently for instance as it does among chickens, the fact would
hardly have escaped the attention of observers.

‘The writer has examined scores of wild birds that were affected
with these tumors when they were shot, or had been affected pre-
viously, but none of them showed serious impairment of health
and vigor. The disease must often prove a serious inconvenience
to wild birds, but apparently it is rarely or never the cause of
death.

Description.—Adult male. Color above scarlet orange, duller on the
back. Beneath cadmium-orange, brighter on the belly, wing and tail
dusky brown, each feather and the wing coverts edged with orange. BBill
pale yellow, sometimes orange-yellow at base; tip dusky; legs and feet
blackish brown. Length about 4.5 inches. :

Adult female. Above dull olive-green, brighter on forehead, rump and
upper tail-coverts; ‘wing and tail quills blackish brown margined with
greenish olive as also the secondaries. Below beautiful gamboge-yellow,
paler on abdomen. This is the extreme adult phase of the adult female
and is very rare. More usually the gamboge underneath is limited to
breast and throat, the upper parts being much duller than described. In
juvenile specimens the head is dull olive grey. Back washed with olive-
green; under parts ashy grey, tinged with pale yellowish.

Loxops rufa (Bloxham.). Oahu Akepeuie.

Found only on Oahu where it is now very rare and probably
soon will be extinct. It is distinguished from allied species of
other islands by its more brownish color and its smaller size.

.
62 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Loxops ochracea Rothschild. Ochraceus Akepeuie.

My own experience with the Maui akepeuie is rather limited.
I found it in June to be rather rare on the slopes of Haleakala,
frequenting scattered koa trees which are here not at all common.
No doubt the bird is more numerous in localities where the koa
abounds. The akepeuie formed little family groups, the fully
fledged young accompanying their parents, now in the moult, in
their search for food. The food of this, as of the other species,
consists chiefly of caterpillars and very small spiders. These they
obtain almost wholly from among the leaves of the koa, though
occasionally the akepeuie is found hunting in the ohia trees. Mr.
Perkins saw this species and L. ceruleirostris sucking the nectar
of the ohia flowers, but rarely.

Mr. Perkins remarks that the different species of Loxops “have
much the same habits, and the song, which is short and simple,
though sweet, is nearly the same in all. Their call is a plain
keewit, uttered once or repeated, and is constantly heard.”

Description—Adult male. Dark orange above, becoming lighter
(orange-ochraceus) on the rump and belly and under tail-coverts; wings
and tail dusky brown edged with orange-yellow. Bill slate-blue, tip black-
ish. Legs plumbeus. Length about 4% inches.

' Adult female. Above dark green, lighter on the rump; wings and tail

dusky black edged with yellowish green; below light yellow washed with
dusky green on the sides and throat.

Loxops ceruleirostris (Wilson). Ou-holowai.

This fine species was discovered by Mr. Wilson upon the island
of Kauai at an elevation of about 3,000 feet. So far as known
the bird is confined to this island. According to its describer, the
ou-holowai has a siskin-like song which distinguishes it from
Chlorodrepanis parva, in whose company it was usually found,
frequenting the low branches of the ohias.

Description. —Adult. Crown and under parts gamboge yellow; occiput,
back, upper surface of wings, and tail greenish olive, brighter on rump.
Lores black, extending to base of bill above and’ below. Wing and tail

quills dusky brown. Bill light prussian blue; feet bluish black. Length
about 4.5 inches. :
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 63

Pseudonestor xanthophrys Rothschild. Parrot-billed Koa Finch.

This extraordinary and finch-like bird is found only on the
island of Maui where it is very local and is confined to the high
forest from an elevation of about 4,000 feet upward.

The formidable, hooked and parrot-like bill suggests peculiar
and remarkable habits, a suggestion fully confirmed by observa-
tion of the bird in the midst of its natural surroundings. Mr.
Perkins has given an admirable account of Pseudonestor’s habits,
and my own experience with the bird in the forests of Haleakala
fully confirm the accuracy of his observations.

The bird appears never to wander far from the koa, and obtains
the principal part of its food, the larvae of longicorn beetles, by
tearing open the small terminal dead twigs of this tree in which
the larvae burrow, secure from all bird enemies less formidably
equipped. The stout legs and claws of the bird enable it to main-
tain its hold on the branches in any desired position and for any
length of time, and a suspected twig is soon reduced to fragments
by the operation of its powerful mandibles. —

Undoubtedly, as suggested by Mr. Perkins, the peculiar bill of
Pseudonestor and its powerful jaw muscles have been developed
by use in the above manner.

I found the bird in June feeding its young, and at this time it
has recourse, as have so many other Hawaiian species, to the little
caterpillars which infest the koa and ohia at all seasons of the
year but, especially, in the summer. In its search for these the
bird descends into the shrubbery to within a few feet of the
ground’

Pseudonestor is very tame and unsuspicious and withal a bit
curious, and while at work may be watched at short range more
easily than any Hawaiian bird known to me.

Like so many other Hawaiian birds this species is very local,
but unlike some others it is rare, and I never saw more than two
in a long day’s search, more frequently none at all. All the indi-
viduals that came under my notice, less than ten in all, were silent
save one male which as it flew emitted a low faint pea, much like
the call of Chlorodrepanis virens, which was probably the call to
64 HAWAIIAN: BIRDS.

its young. Mr. Perkins, however, heard from it “a decided song”
which he likens to that of the amakihi.

The koa upon Maui has suffered much of late years from the
ravages of the insect pests above alluded to, and thousands of
mature trees have been killed. The life of Pseudonestor is so in~
separably connected with the koa tree that the destruction of the
latter will be almost certainly followed by the extinction of the
former, and it is to be feared that this interesting and valuable
bird, confined as it is to one island, has before it no very long
term of existence,

The powerful odor which attaches to the plumage of so many
of the Drepanidide is very marked in the case of this bird, being
nearly, or quite, as strong as in the ou.

Description—Adult. Upper parts green, suffused with grey; head and.
rump brighter; wings and tail brown edged with green; a broad super-
ciliary streak of canary yellow from bill to nape. Under parts canary
yellow; sides and flanks green. Maxilla bluish black, cutting edge
whitish; mandible whitish; legs plumbeus, soles yellowish.

Female smaller and duller. Length of adult about 5%4 inches.

The young bird in juvenile dress is colored much like the adult, but is
pale yellowish underneath.

Psittirostra psittacea (Gmelin). Ou.

The ou is one of the winged gems of the island forests, and
happily is widely distributed throughout the group. It is found
on all the larger islands, including even Lanai, although upon
Oahu it is now practically extinct.’

The bright green plumage of the ou, its yellow head‘ and its.
powerful beak combine to suggest to the uninitiated the parrot
family; in fact the bird was called by Latham, its first describer,
the “Parrot-billed Grosbeak.”

The ou is, perhaps, the only really fine songster among the
island birds, and in the writer’s opinion its song far excels that of
any other Hawaiian species. The song is somewhat suggestive of
that of the canary’s and in Olaa it is the general belief that the
woods are full of escaped cage birds. Yet in power, sweetness and.
melodiousness the song of the ou at its best far excels the canary’s.
Unfortunately the ou is rather chary of its melody, and its finished,
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 85

performances are tess frequeritly héard than snatches and bits of
song, dropped carelessly, as-it were, by the .way-side while the
bird is pursuing its regular avocations.

The powerful, hooked bill suggests a special use, arid this usé
is made apparent when the bird is at work prying out from the
spadix the seeds of the ieie, which constitute the special food of
the ou. The ease and celerity with which this task is accom-
plished sufficiently attest the purpose of the instrument and its
efficiency. The bird is very fond also of mamaki berries, which
seem to make up a large part of the subsistence of the young, at
least after they get fairly on the wing. The ou eats, also, many
other kinds of berries, such as the alani, kopiko, kawau and others.
It feeds, also. upon bananas and guavas, and the late Mr. E.
Hitchcock informed me that the first year his peach trees bore
the ou paid them marked attention, apparently fully approving of
this, to it, new kind cf fruit.

In connection with the love of the bird for small fruits, it is to
‘be remarked that it seems to pay no attention whatever to the
raspberries, originally imported from Jamaica, which have over-
run the whole of Olaa, and are everywhere very abundant. The
ou seems not to be at all partial to insect food at any time of year,
‘though occasionally I have found larvae of several kinds in its
-stomach.

The ou is a common and generally distributed species in the
ohia forests of the island of Hawaii from about 1,000 feet up-
‘wards, and presumably its range in the other islands is the same.
It is generally found in small companies, never singly. Like most,
perhaps all Hawaiian birds, the ou seems to be always paired, and
I believe it is the rule that all Hawaiian birds pair for life. The ou
-has a pretty and plaintive call-note, much like that of the Amer-
ican goldfinch and, as it is easily and accurately imitated, the
presence of the birds may always be detected by means of it.
Perched in the tops of ohias or hidden by the clustering leaves of
the ieie, the birds will continue to answer the call almost indef-
initely, all the while peering about with an air of innocent wonder
and surprise. Though the bird is so common nothing has = been
‘learned of its nest and eggs. mu

5-H B
66 HAWAIIAN BIRDS. ~

Description.—Adult male. Head and neck gamboge-yellow; back, edges
of secondaries of remiges, and rectrices olive-green, brighter on rump
and upper tail-coverts; wing-coverts, remiges and rectrices blackish brown,
Under parts olive-grey washed with olive-green, especially on the sides
and flanks; belly greyish white; under tail-coverts. grey washed with
green; bill white with faint bluish tinge; legs flesh color. Length about
6.30 inches.

Adult female. Above olive-green, brighter on head and rump; feathers
of back with dark olive centers. Beneath- smoky grey, passing into white
on abdomen; sides and flanks olive-green.

Juvenile plumage. Above dark olive-green; beneath a lighter shade of
same, washed with yellow on throat; lower breast and belly sulphur-
yellow.

Psittirostra olivacea Rothschild. Oahu Ou.

At one time, no doubt, the ou was as common upon the island
of Oahu as it now is on most of the other islands. In 1893 Mr.
Perkins saw a pair there, and Mr. Bryan informs us (Key of the
Birds of the Hawaiian Group, p. 54) that he saw an individual
in Moanalua valley as late as October, 1899. A.few pairs may
still linger here and there. Still the bird is to be looked upon as
practically extinct on Oahu.

The cause of the extinction of the ou upon Oahu seems to be
very obscure. The fruit of the ieie vine is the particular food of
the bird, and there are considerable tracts of timber on the moun-
tains of the island where this vine still abounds. So, too, there
are sections where the guava and the mamaki are still plentiful,
and the ou is very fond of their fruit and berries. There appar-
ently being no scarcity of food and’ shelter, why should the ou
have disappeared from Oahu, and yet persist upon other islands
where the timbered areas are even more restricted?

The Oahu bird appears not to differ in any important partic-
ular from psittacea, and perhaps, as suggested by Mr. Rothschild,
is to be distinguished sub-specifically rather than specifically. The
chief differences, as indicated by Mr. Rothschild, are the buffy
whitish breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts of adult males of
olivacea, the breast being washed with olive and the sides olive-
green as contrasted with the olive-green under parts of adult
psittacea, the whitish being restricted to the middle of the lower
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 67

abdomen. The wing of the Oahu form is also said to be sherter
and the upper side to have a more olive tint.

Loxioides bailleui Oustalet. Palila.

While in general appearance so much resembling the ou that
the natives frequently confound the two and call both ou, the
present species differs in many important particulars, especially in
the size and shape of the bill.

The palila is not only limited to the island of Hawaii but, so
far as is known, is confined to the districts of Kona and Hainakua
where it lives in the upper woods. Here it is said to subsist upon
the seeds of the mamane tree. This tree is not common on the
windward side of the island, not being found at all in the lower
woods, and this fact may explain the bird’s absence there.

Mr. Wilson heard no song from the palila. It had, however, a
clear whistle-like note which, when often repeated, is held by the
natives to be a sign of approaching rain. Should the palila prove
on further investigation to be without song, the fact will be a re-
markable one in the light of the decided musical powers of its
relative, the ou.

Description —Adult male. Head and neck deep gamboge-yellow; rest
of upper surface ashy grey, lighter on the rump; wing-coverts, rectrices
and tetrices dusky black, edged with olive-yellow. Throat and upper

part of breast gamboge-yellow; rest of under surface dusk white; bill and
feet slaty purple. Length about 6.5 inches. Female auller.

Telespiza cantans Wilson. Laysan Finch.

According to Rothschild the Laysan finch is common all! over
the island of Laysan, to which it is confined. “They are quite
omnivorous, eating insects and other birds’ eggs, and seem fond
of bathing in water. Mr. Freeth says he has seen a small flock
feeding on a dead albatross.” The nests were built of grass andi
small twigs and were placed in the scrub or in the tussocks of
grass. They nest about May, and lay from two to four eggs.
Many of these birds are brought to Honolulu in cages, and sold
for cage birds. They thrive well for a time but ultimately die,
G3 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

perhaps from the lack of their accustomed varied diet. The song
is sweet hut not very spirited.

The T. flavissima of Rothschild is now admitted by that author
to be only the extreme adult phase of the present species.
: Description—Adult. Head, neck and under parts to lower abdomen
rich yellow; upper parts brown, more or less washed with yellowish, and
with or without dark streakings on middle back; wing-coverts brown,
they with primaries and secondaries margined with yellow; abdomen
whitish; tail feathers dark brown, margined with yellow; bill horn color;
legs and feet blackish brown. Juvenile birds are browner, and are streaked
above and below. Length about 6.50 inches.

Rhodacanthis palmeri Rothschild. Hopue; Orange Koa Finch.

; This, the largest and finest of all the Hawaiian finch-like forms,
is contined to the island of Hawaii, where it seems to be restricted
to the western side, or to the districts of Kona and Kau. It is
known chiefly from Kona, but Mr. Perkins informs me that he
saw numbers of the bird in the extensive koa woods above the
volcano. This locality is on the very edge of the rainy Olaa dis-
trict which the bird appears never to enter.
_ The koa finch seems not to descend to low altitudes but to be
found from about 4,000 feet upwards. It frequents chiefly the
forests of koa, the beans of which constitute its principal food.
Mr. Perkins, to whom we now owe most of our knowledge of the
habits of the species, says “It does not restrict itself to the koa
bean, but varies its diet by feeding on lepidopterous larvae, just
as the Psittacirostra does.” “Its peculiar whistle, though not very
loud, is very clear, and can be heard for a considerable distance.
If imitated closely it will readily answer and sometimes, after
fruitless search for hours without even hearing a sound trom this
bird, a whistle has been immediately responded to.”

Description—Adult male. Head, throat and under parts reddish
orange, duller on the abdomen; back and upper wing-coverts dull greenisli
olivaceus, Wing and tail blackish brown. Length about 834 inches.

The female is duller; above olive-green, brighter on the foreheadi
‘Throat and sides of body olive-green; breast and abdomen dull white
washed with green.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 69
Rhodacanthis flaviveps, Rothschild. Yellow-headed Koa Finch.

This species was described by Mr. Rothschild from two spec-
imens obtained by Mr. Palmer in Kona in the same locality in-
habited by the previous bird. The present form is supposed to be
smaller and with much yellow and green in its plumage. Notwith-
standing these differences, until more specimens have been pto-
cured, the exact status of the bird can hardly be regarded: as
settled.

Description.—Adult male. Head, neck and underparts apple-yellow,
brighter and richer on the head and neck; and greener on the under
parts. Upper parts ashy green, becoming bright green on the lower
back, rump and upper tail-coverts; wings and tail dull blackish brown,

the feathers margined with green. Female duller and greener. Length
about 7.5 inches. (Rothschild.) : d

Chloridops kona, Wilson. Palila.

This remarkable finch is one of the most local of all Hawaiian
birds, and is confined to the Kona district of the island of Hawaii.
Mr. Perkins seems to have enjoyed better opportunities for ob-
serving its habits than anyone else, and the following is taken
from his account of the species in the “Ibis.” The palila “though an
interesting bird on account of its peculiar structure is a singularly
uninteresting one in its habits. It is a dull, sluggish, solitary,
bird, and very silent—its whole existence may be summed up in
the words ‘to eat.’ Its food consists of the seeds of the fruit of
the aaka (bastard sandal-tree, and probably at other seasons of
those of the sandal-wood tree), and as these are very minute, its
whole time seems to be taken up in cracking the extremely hard
shells of this fruit, for which its extraordinarily powerful beak
and heavy head have been developed. * * * The incessant
cracking of the fruits when one of these birds is feeding, the noise
of which can be heard for a considerable distance, renders the
bird much easier to get than it otherwise would be. It is mostly
found on the roughest lava, but also wanders into the open spaces
of the forest.”
70 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Description—Adult male. Above and below bright olive-green; lores
dusky; abdomen whitish. Length about 6 inches. Female similar.

MELIPHAGID#, HONEY-SUCKER FAMILY.
Moho nobilis (Merrem.). O-O.

This magnificent species, a prince among Hawaiian birds, in-
habits the island of Hawaii where, in former times, it was wide-
spread throughout the lower as well as the middle forest. Today
it is fast nearing extermination.

This species, and the much rarer mamo, yielded the yellow
feathers so precious in the eyes of the higher Hawaiian chiefs, and
it is to obtain possession of the coveted feathers that the birds
have been sacrificed. True, it is said to have been the practice of
the ancient bird-catchers to release their captives after plucking
the golden harvest under each wing and tail, each bird yielding
fifty feathers and upwards. Moreover dire penalties are said to
have followed the detection of an infraction of this law.

It is not to be overlooked, however, that the brilliant shining
black body feathers of the o-o were also in great demand for mak-
ing cloaks and, as remarked by Prof. Brigham, the bird could
hardly survive the loss of nearly its entire plumage. It may well
be, therefore, that the old bird catchers were not wholly un-
acquainted with the good qualities of the flesh of the o-o, which is
Said to be most excellent eating.

The above merciful and wise custom, if ever generally observed,
(there is no doubt that a law prohibiting the killing of the o-o was
‘made by Kamehameha) died out together with the chiefs with
‘whom it originated and with the old race of bird-catchers. The
silent snare has given place to the deadly shot gun. Though island
royalty is no more, the demand for feather leis continues, and to
meet it the o-o has been pursued till only a few remain in the dis-
tant woodland fastnesses—so few and so shy from persecution
that happily the yield to the lei hunter no longer repays ‘the labor
and trouble of pursuit. :

The districts of Olaa and Puna are today almost absolutely
tenantless of this beautiful bird, where formerly there were mul-
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 71

titudes. As late as 1898 more than one thousand individuals of
this species were shot by the lei hunters in the heavily wooded
district north of the Wailuku river, where their presence had
probably been overlooked. Having been undisturbed for some
years the birds were increasing rapidly, and doubtless in time
might have reoccupied their lost territory in other districts. But
the rapacity of the lei-hunters leaves little hope for the future of
this beautiful and interesting bird, and the district alluded to is
now almost depopulated.

The extermination of the o-o is the more to be regretted inas-
much as the bird is a very active and persistent insect destroyer,
on which account it can the less be spared from the Hawaiian
woods. In the stomachs of most of those I have dissected I have
found the remains of beetles, flies and coleopterous larve. In
addition to insects, which I feel sure are its principal food, the o-o
is fond of bananas. It also feeds much at times upon the nectar
of flowers. Wilson says that in captivity it has been kept on the
juice of the sugar cane, but I do not believe that the bird’s exist-
ence could be long prolonged on such thin fare*

In connection with its food, I may add that the stomach of the
o-o is, astonishingly small for the size of the bird, and is but little,
if any, larger than that of the iivi which is a much smaller bird.

The o-o usually frequents the tops of the tallest trees where it
glides over the branches with marvellous celerity, now and then
stopping to utter its far reaching call and to jet its long tail. This
latter action serves to reveal its bright yellow under tail-coverts
to its no doubt admiring mate, and it is probable, though I have
not been able to verify the supposition, that its wings are fre-
quently opened to display the similar adornment under them. The
latter, of course, are always visible when the bird is flying.

Upon one or two occasions only, by the use of great caution, I

 

*Since the above was written the writer has had further opportunities
for observing the o-o, and is inclined to believe that when obtainable the
nectar of flowers, especially of the ohia, forms a very important part of
the food of the bird, though it always supplements its liquid fare by the
more substantial one of insects. The latter probably are absolutely essen-
tial to the bird’s existence.
12 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

have succeeded in getting close to a small company of these birds,
and have watched them unsuspected. This was soon after day-
light, and they’ were feeding. among the lower branches of the
ohias, and even in the shrubbery, a practice no doubt common
with them formerly. The moment the birds learned of my presence |
they showed the greatest agitation, and at once retreated to the
tops of the tallest forest trees, which persecution has taught them
is their only safe refuge.

When feeding in the early morning, and particularly when
with their young, the calls of the o-o are almost incessant, and it
is this loud and-constantly repeated call-note which has led to the
easy destruction of the species.

The poor bird has yet to learn that its appreciation of the joy-
ousness of existence and its love for its mate and young can be
expressed only at the cost of its very life. Thrice happy o-o in the
olden days when its tribute to royalty was unstained ,with its lifé
blood.

After nine in the morning the o-o usually lapses into absolute
silence, save for an occasional note from dream-land as the bird
slumbers in the tops of the tallest trees where it is entirely invis-
ible. The note—the bird apparently has no song—is a loud double
syllabled chook, chook, but neither these syllables, nor any others,
can convey an adequate idea of the sound of the bird’s voice or
represent its peculiar rhythm, which is not without ventriloquial
quality, and always sounds much nearer than it actually is. None
of the present day natives whom I have asked have been able to
imitate the call of the o-o though it is said, and no doubt truly,
that in ancient times this accomplishment was a prerequisite to
the honorable and lucrative practice of bird catching. However,
the writer has succeeded in whistling a rude semblance of the
note, and many times has elicited a response, even where before
he was not aware of the bird’s presence. It must be added, how-
ever, that the bird has always detected the cheat after a repetition |
or two, and has declined further responses. _

The o-o breeds in the late spring and early summer, retiring for
this purpose into the depths of the middle forest, and no doubt
places its nest in the tops of the tailest ohias. After the young are
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 73

on the wing, both old and young associate in large companies,
and there is a definite and decided movement from higher to
jower ground. I have found large companies thus gathered to-
gether late in August and early in September on the outermost
edge of the woods, the young apparently being still in.-attendance
on their parents. At such times the calls and answering calls are
4ncessant.

Description—Adult, Head and occiput purplish, shining black, the
feathers stiff and imbricated so as to give the effect of speckling; upper
parts generally shining black, the bases of the body feathers duller black,
producing a variegated effect; the neck feathers have a brownish cast,
giving the effect in some lights of a broad nuchal collar; behind the
malars and encroaching on the ear-spaces is a band of iridescent brown.
Beneath shining black, the feathers having the same variegated appearance
as above; belly with a tinge of brown; under wing-coverts (of about
20 feathers each) and under tail coverts bright yellow; anal tuft white;
two outer tail feathers on each side white for about half their length;
‘bases black, as also the shafts at tip; middle pair of rectrices twisted out-
wardly on their axes near the tip. Length about 12.5 inches.

Female. Similar in color to the male, though not so bright, and with
the middle pair of rectrices much shorter and but little twisted. Length
about 9.5.

Juvenile plumage. Dull black all over.

Moho apicalis (Gould). Oahu O-O.

This, the o-o of Oahu no doubt was formerly common, but none
of the recent explorers have found it, and the presumption is that
it is now extinct, a presumption rendered all the more probable
from the extensive deforestation which has occurred on that
island ; for the o-o is preeminently a bird of the dense forest.

Description—Adult male. Black. Back and rump brownish and with
distinct shaft lines. Rectrices with white tips for from one-half to an
inch. Breast, flanks, vent and under tail-coverts yellow. Under wing-
coverts white.

Moho bishopi, Rothschild. Molokai O-O.

This o-o has’been found only upon the island of Molokai. As
yet nothing has been published upon its habits which presumably
do not differ essentially from those of its congeners. —
74 HAWAIIAN BIRDS:

The species may vet, however, be found to occur on the
island of Maui from which, hitherto, no species of moho has
been reported. On June 9, 1901, however, I saw a single adult
male o-o in the forest tract northeast of Olinda, at an elevation of
about 4,500 feet. I was close to the bird, saw it plainly, and heard
its notes distinctly, and am positive as to its identification as one
of the members of this genus. The species has yet to be de-
termined but, if not an undescribed species, it is likely to prove to
be bishopi, and to be common to both Maui and Molokai, as is
the Palmeria dolei.’

Description—Adult male. Upper parts black with a brownish tinge on
back; underparts brownish black, the feathers of the latter and of the
hind neck. being lanceolate and having whitish shaft-streaks. A tuft of
feathers with long golden yellow tips springs from near the ear-coverts

and is directed backwards; axillary tufts and under til-coverts gamboge-
yellow. Length about 8.62 inches. Female smaller.

Moho braccatus (Cassin). O-O A-A.

This bird, known as the dwarf o0-o is confined to the island of
Kauai where, according to Wilson, it is found at all elevations of
the forest and is by no means uncommon. The coveted yellow
feathers are confined, in this species, to a small patch upon either
thigh, and hence the bird was little persecuted as compared with
its relative on Hawaii.

The late Mr. Knudsen reported that the species, as was to be
expected, is fond of bananas. Mr. Wilson observed it feeding
upon the nectar of ohia flowers and of those of the tree lobelia.
I have no doubt that the dwarf o-o feeds much also upon insects.

‘According to Wilson this species “has a sweet song, some of
its notes possessing a hell-like clearness.”

In his notes upon this species Mr. Rothschild remarks that
“these birds have a remarkable and somewhat musk-like scent,
even strongly perceptible in a box of skins. The same scent is
present in the other species of Moho.”

I feel positive that in ascribing a strong odor to any of the
species of this genus Mr. Rothschild is mistaken. Without doubt
the odor noticed by him from the Moho skins, which he likens to
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 75

the well known musky scent of the Drepanine birds, originated
with the latter and was communicated from them in the shipping
box or in the cabinet. The odor from freshly made skins of the
Drepanidide is exceedingly penetrating, as well as lasting, and
will attach to any object confined with them. Freshly killed spec-
imens of Moho have no perceptible odor. I have had in hand
over a dozen freshly killed M. nobilis, and they are absolutely un-
scented. Moreover Mr. Perkins, who has shot braccatus, as well
as nobilis and bishopi, informs me that none of these species pos-
sess the Drepanine odor.

The matter has considerable interest since, up to the present
time, no Hawaiian bird has been found to possess this peculiar
musky scent, save only the members of the Drepanidide, and
they all have it in perceptible degree.

It might at first seem that this peculiar odor, so unlike that of
other birds, is peculiar to the islands, and is derived from the food
of the birds. The several members of the Drepanine Family, how-
ever, differ so much in regard to their food, as to render such a
supposition hardly tenable. Moreover, there are other birds, in
nowise related to the Drepanine Family, as the several species of
Moho, of Chasiempis, and of Pheornis, which live upon much
the same fare as the Drepanids, and yet are without the peculiar
scent of the latter.

There seems, therefore, good reason to conclude that this odor,
universal among the Drepanids and absent in all the other island
birds, indicates a common ancestry for the former, and may yet
prove a sufficient.clew to their original home whence they migrat-
ed: to the islands.

Description.—Adult male. Head black, feathers stiff and lanceolate;
above slaty brown, lighter on rump; interscapularies with light shaft-
streaks; wing and tail black, central pair of rectrices much exceeding
the rest; anterior edge of wing white; chin, throat and upper breast black,
with tranverse sub-apical bars of white; rest of under parts slaty brown;
feathers of lower breast with light shaft-streaks; lower thigh chrome-
yellow. Length about 7.75 inches.

Female similar but with whiter throat.
76 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.
Chaetoptila angustipluma (Peale)..

This remarkable species was secured by Peale of the U. S.
exploring expedition, and was described in 1848. The following
is his brief account of it: “This rare species was obtained at the
Island of Hawaii. It is very active and graceful in its motions,
frequents the woody districts, and is disposed to be musical, hav-
ing most of the habits of a MW aiphaga. They are generally found
about those trees which are in flower.’

Mr. Mills, formerly of Hilo, also procured at least two speci-
mens of the bird, presumably from natives living in Olaa. I have
many times visited the Olaa woods and have spent many days
there, always having the bird in mind, but have seen no trace of it.

Of the several species known formerly to have inhabited the
island of Hawaii and now supposed to be extinct, the case of the
Chaetoptila is perhaps the most hopeless as regards the chance
of survivors. A bird of such large size, of active habits and mus-

‘ical can hardly have escaped attention all these years. It has been
seen by no one since the time of Mr. Mills, and the natives do not
know it even by name.

It was doubtless confined to a limited district in Hawaii, for no
one has been able to verify the statement of Mr. Dole (Hawaiian
Annual for 1879, p. 47) that the bird was found in Molokai as
well.

Description—Top of the head and neck blackish brown, each feather
with a greyish white shaft-streak which is strongly tinged with yellow on
the nape and sides of the neck. A greyish-white stripe over the eyes.
Wing-coverts and back hair brown, tinged with ochreous on the rump,
the feathers of the mantle with a white shaft-streak widening into a tear-
shaped spot towards the tip; remiges and. rectrices deep brown, their outer
margin yellow, giving a greenish effect to the whole. A greyish-white
stripe over the eye. Lores, sides of-the head and ear-coverts dull black,
the feathers immediately under the eye mottled with greyish white. Chin
and throat dull white,-tinged with yellow, the shafts and the hairs with
which this part is beset black. Breast and abdomen dull white, striped:
longitudinally with darkish brown; flanks strongly tinged with, ochreous.
Length about 13 inches. (Wilson.)
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 17
ACEDINIDA:, KINGFISHER FAMILY.
Ceryle alcyon (Linn.). Belted Kingfisher.

Early in November of rgot the attention of Mr. Harry Patten,
of Hakalau, was called by some natives to the presence of a pair
of strange birds in the mouth of Hakalau Gulch. Mr. Patten vis-
isted the locality, and at once identified the birds as belted king-
fishers. They seemed to be quite at home amid their novel sur-
roundings, perching on a telephone wire much of the time, and
evidently reaping a satisfactory harvest of small fish from the
stream.

One of them, however, disappeared, having probably been shot,
and on the 27th of the month Mr. W. K. Andrews, of Honomu,
went to the gulch, and secured the remaining bird, kindly present-
ing it to the writer.

It proved to be an adult female, and as the other bird is said to
have been somewhat differently colored it was, no doubt, a male.

So far as the writer is aware this is the first reported occurrence
of the species in the islands. It is in the late fall months that most
of the strays from the American coast reach the group, and this
pair was undoubtedly blown off the coast during the fall migra-
tion, and lured hither in the company of plover or other regular
migrants to the islands. :

The occurrences of stray mainland birds in the group is of great
interest, and should always be reported by sportsmen, to whom
the knowledge usually comes, since they indicate the manner and
the sources whence the original avian inhabitants of the islands
were derived, It is rarely that strays reach the islands in pairs, as
these kingfishers appear to have-done, and, had the birds chanced
to reach a more isoiated section, it 1s possible they might have
chosen to remain and so have founded a colony of their kind.

Description—Adult male. Above bluish plumbeous; tail with tranverse
white markings; primaries with spots of same; forehead with white spot;
below white, with band of plumbeous across breast; white of throat en-
circling hind-neck. Female similar, but sides and flanks rufous, with
an interrupted band of same across belly. Length 11.00-14.50. - - -
18 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.
BUBONIDA, OWL FAMILY.

Asio accipitrinus sandwichensis (Bloxam). Pueo. Short-eared

Owl.

That the pueo must have been long a resident of the islands is
evident both because the bird is diffused throughout the entire
group and because it figures prominently in Hawaiian folk-lore,
‘the bird being formerly worshipped as a God, one of the poe akua.
mana. :

The following is a fair specimen of the animal myths current in
ancient Hawaii, and illustrates the place held by the owl-in Ha-
waiian mythology :*

“There lived'a man named Kapoi, at Kahehuna, in Honolulu,
who one day went to Kewalo to get some thatching for his house.
On his way back he found some owl’s eggs which he gathered to-
gether and brought home with him; in the evening he wrapped
them in ti leaves and was about to roast them in hot ashes when
an owl perched on the fence which surrounded his house and called
out to him, “O Kapoi! give me my eggs.”’ Kapoi asked the owl,
“How many eggs had you?” “Seven eggs,” replied the owl.
Kapoi then said, “Well! I wish to roast these eggs for my sup-
per.” The owl asked the second time for its eggs and was
answered by Kapoi in the same manner. .Then said the owl, “O
heartless Kapoi! why don’t you take pity on me? Give me my
eggs.” Kapoi then told the owl to come and take them.

The owl having got the eggs told Kapoi to'build up a heiau.
(temple), and instructed him to make an altar and call the temple
by the name of Manua. Kapoi built the temple, as directed; set
kapu days for its dedication and placed the customary sacrifice on
the altar.

News spread to the hearing of Kakuihewa, who was then King
of Oahu, living at the time at Waikiki, that a certain man had
kapued certain-days for his heiau, and had already dedjcated it.
This King had made.a law that whoever among his people should

*From the Hawaiian Annual for 1802.
 

ASIO ACCIPITRINUS SANDWICHENSIS. SHORT EARED OWL, PUEO.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 79

erect a heiau and kapu the same before the King had his temple
kapued, that man should pay the penalty of death. Kapoi was
thereupon seized, by the King’s orders, and led to the heiau of
Kupalaha, at Waikiki. :

That same day, the owl that had told Kapoi to erect a temple
gathered .all the owls from Lanai, Maui, Molokai and Hawaii to
one place at Kalapueo.! Ali those from the Koolau districts were
assembled at Kanoniakapueo,? and those from Kauai and Niihau
at Pueohulunui.?

It was decided by the King that Kapoi should be put to death on

the day of Kane.4 When that day came, at daybreak, the owls left
their places of rendezvous and covered the whole sky over Hono-
lulu, and as the King’s servants seized Kapoi to put him to death
the owls flew at them, pecking with their beaks and scratching
them with their claws. Then and there the battle was fought
between Kakuihewa’s people and the owls. At last the owls
conquered and Kapoi was released, the King acknowledging that
his Akua (God) was a powerful one. From that time the owl has
been recognized as one of the many deities venerated by the Ha-
waiian people.”
- ‘The recent examination of a large amount of material in the ,
way of skins from the islands and from abroad has led Rothschild
to consider the island bird as a distinct form, distinguishable
chiefly by its smaller size. Six specimens of my own collecting
confirm his measurements.

According to Andrew’s Dictionary there was a special form of
. snare designed for catching the owl, called pehe or peheapueo,
“snare for catching owls.” It is possible that owl’s feathers were
employed for decorative purposes, but it is more probable that the
feathers taken from the captured owls were used to decorate the
owl idols, or employed as offerings to propitiate the owl god’s
fayor. Nor is it improbable that owls were kept captive in the
heiaus or temples.

The pueo was formerly very numerous in the lowlands of all
the islands, but the extension of the canefields has materially

1Situate beyond Diamond Head. 2In Nuuanu Valley. 3Near Moanalua.
+When the moon is 27 days old.
80 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

‘diminished its numbers by depriving the bird of suitable nesting
sites. Moreover the owl has ruthlessly been killed of late years,
for no other reason than that it is an owl. As a result the pueo
is nowadays getting comparatively rare. This is unfortunate,
especially for the cane and coffee growers, since rats and mice are
this owl’s chief, nay almost its only food, and it annually destroys
‘vast numbers of these mischevious rodents

That it eats lizards, occasionally at least, is proved by the fact
that one which I dissected in Kau had in its crop, in addition to-a~-
good sized rat, two lizards (Peropus mutilatus and Lepidodac-
tylus garnotti).

No one alleges mischievous habits against the pueo. It kills no
poultry, or does so only exceptionally, and harms no-one, and the
bird should be protected by law and preserved-for the good it is
continually doing.

Its native name, pueo, is a good rendering of its:cry which it
commonly utters as it hunts in the early morning hours or the late
afternoon. The bird sees uncommonly well in the daytime, and
not rarely is abroad in bright sunlight; nor does it fly after dark,
unless by moonlight.

Its habit of rémaining stationary some little distance above the
ground on rapidly moving wings, as it anxiously scans the ground
beneath for mice, is common in the islands, and is the character-
‘istic by which it is most commonly known.

As is well known this owl nests on the ground among the thick
grass, and lays from three to six roundish white eggs.

Description—Adult. General color from tawny ochraceus to buffv
white, plentifully striped with dark drown; legs and under tail-coverts un-
marked ; wings marked with dark brown and ochraceous, with dusky bands.

Orbital rings black; eye-brows ‘whitish; no apparent ear-tufts. Length
13.80-16.75. :

FALCONIDZ, HAWK AND FALCON FAMILY.
Buteo solitarius, Peale. Io.

The io is the only representative of the hawk family in the
Hawaiian islands, save the accidental marsh hawk, and the rare
fish hawk, so far as definitely known. The bird occurs only in the
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 81

island of Hawaii, where it is generally diffused.. That a bird,
possessed of such strong powers of flight as io, should be limited
to a single island is most surprising and, indeed, unaccountable.
Even, however, if the hawk reported from Kauai by Mr. Dole
was of this species, the bird must be very rare upon that
island, since no recent coliector has obtained, or even seen it.

Upon both the windward and leeward sides of Hawaii the io is
by no means a rare bird, though it is nothing like so common as
it used to he in the old days. Inspired with the idea that any and
all hawks must, from their very nature, destroy chickens, the set-
tlers, for several years, have shot all hawks upon sight. This
ruthlessness is all the more to be-regretted since io rarely ever
touches a chicken or, indeed, a native bird of any kind. I have
made constant inquiry among poultry raisers in the heart of the
io range, and have yet to find any one who has ever seen a hawk
seize a chicken. The hawks have been suspected because they
have been seen near the poultry-yard. As a matter of fact mon-
goose and rats, more especially the latter, are responsible for most
of the depredations for which io is blamed. I have dissected more
than thirty adult hawks coliected upon the windward side of Ha-
waii, and have yet to find the first evidence of the chicken-eating
propensities alleged against the bird. I have found as many as
four mice in the crop and stomach of a single bird, and nearly
every hawk examined had the remains of at least one mouse or
rat. In the stomach of but two individuals have I found native
birds. One of these had killed two akakanis and the other had
killed an amakihi. é

I have elsewhere noted the finding of the fragment of an egg—
perhaps of the omao—in the stomach of one of these hawks which
the bird had taken, presumably from the nest. I regret to be comm
pelled to add that this is not the sole instance of the bird’s pro-
pensity to rob nests which has come to my notice. I learn from
an informant in Kaiwiki that he has seen hawks more than once
in the very act of robbing mynahs’ nests, despite the vociferous
protests of a whole colony of the parent birds. The mynahs in
this case had their nests in the forks of the main branches of some
ohia trees close to the house. The hawks flew up against the

6-H B
82 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

trunks, maintaining themselves in this awkward position by means
of their claws and their outstretched wings, and deliberately seized
a young one and bore it off, repeating their predatory visits sev-
eral times and in successive years.

Yet notwithstanding the fact that io sometimes destroys birds
and may even occasionally seize a chicken, it is nevertheless appar-
ent that the chief food of io, and, when he can get them, the only
food, are mice and rats. When these are not to be had io contents
himself with what he can find, among other things the larvae of
the Sphinx moth and spiders. I have found the crops and stom-
cachs of a number of individuals absolutely crammed with spiders,
Large spiders of an introduced species (Argiope avara) have in-
creased rapidly within the last few years, and it is but recently,
apparently, that io has learned their value as food. The feathers
of the legs and thighs of several hawks I have examined have been
completely gummed up with a viscid secretion from the spiders
and with the silken webs.

In view of the above facts it is a little difficult to understand
the statements of some of the early explorers like Peale regarding
this hawk; to the effect that “small birds constitute its principal
food.” The. bird is large and sluggish and, though powerful of
wing, possesses none of the rapidity of movement and alertness
common to all bird-catching falcons. Jo knows his business far
100 well to waste his time and strength in the vain pursuit of birds.
When hungry he sits motionless. upon the low limbs of trees
‘watching for small rats, mice and other creeping things which
he can pounce upon unawares. .

Io shuns the dense forest—where alone most of the Hawaiian
birds dwell—and lives upon its edges, especially where he has
access to large cleared areas like cane and coffee fields. Both
these are favorite hunting grounds, and he does excellent service
in ridding the land of the above rodents which, as is well known,
destroy both cane and coffee,.to say nothing of corn and other
.farm products. Upon the whole Hawaii has no bird more im-
portant economically than this hawk, no bird perhaps which the
agriculturalist cannot better spare. While there is yet time to
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 83

preserve the species from extinction, laws should be passed pro-
tecting this hawk and imposing a heavy penalty for its destruction.

Like its American relatives of the genus Buteo, io is fond of
soaring high in air in fine weather, especially towards midday, and
once above the forest trees the bird mounts upward in wide
spirals without perceptible movement of the wings until he is
almost lost to sight in the blue ether. Under ordinary circum-
stances the flight of this hawk is heavy and labored, and is main-
tained at first by a series of rapid-wing-beats until the bird has
secured good headway.

An instance has recently come to my notice where a hawk, un-
doubtedly of this species, accompanied a vessel all the way to Cal-
ifornia, most of the time perched on the royal yards. From this
lofty perch, whence it could survey the ocean for miles around, it
occasionally sallied forth after food which consisted of small
birds, doubtless petrels. :

The plumages of this hawk have not been well understood.*
There is an extraordinary amount of individual variation, and in
a series of over twenty specimens no two are alike. There are,
however, but two distinct types or phases of the adult plumage,
a very dark phase, in which the bird at a short distance appears
to be black, and a light phase, in which the bird seems to
be almost white. The juvenile plumage of each of these phases
is very distinct from each other and from the corresponding adult
condition; both of them, however, I believe have been described
by authors as adult plumages. Juvenile specimens in the dark
phase are very dark brown, but by no means so dark as the adult;
those of the light phase are of a light brown type. Juveniles of
both phases are, I think, several years in acquiring the adult
plumage. The brown stripes and bars underneath are gradually
replaced with buff in the light phase, and in the dark phase deepen
and finally overspread the entire under surface.

The light and dark phases appear to mate in every possible
combination, pairs of dark birds, pairs of white birds, pairs with
both phases represented.

' Dark birds are very much more numerous, at least on the wind-

*For a paper upon this subject by the author see “Ibis” for 1902.
84 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

ward sides of Hawaii, than light ones. I believe that not more
than twenty-five per cent of the hawks on this side of the island
are of the light phase.

Description —Adult. Dark phase: Above and below blackish brown;
feathers on throat and sides of head edged with rusty; rectrices with
seven or eight zigzag black bars; interspaces ashy brown; inner webs of
quills and secondaries white, barred with blackish brown. Legs greenish
yellow; bill bluish black, plumbeus at base of lower mandible; eyris dark
hazel.

The juvenile plumage of this phase is blackish brown above (though
not so black as in adult); feathers of head and occiput edged with buff;
chin, throat and breast buff deepening on sides, belly and tibiae into
ochraceus, the feather of these parts with terminal shaft-streaks of dusky
brown; belly and sides streaked with blackish brown; thighs and tibiae
barred with same; tail and wings much as in adult.

Adult. Light phase: Head and hind neck light buff, streaked with
dark brown; rest of upper parts dark brown; the upper tail-coverts wash-
ed with buffy the tertiaries and wing-coverts edged with buff and white;
tail ashy brown with more or less distinct dark brown bearings. Under
parts buff, deepest on belly and thighs, with a few indistinct brown shaft-
streaks on sides. Eyris light hazel.

The juvenile plumage of this phase is dusky brown above, feathers,
head, hind neck, sides of neck and wing-coverts with buff margins; under
parts white with strong buffy tinge on sides of body where streaked with
brown; thighs and tibiae barred with same; eyris light hazel. :

Length of adult male, about 1514 inches; of adult female, about 18 inches.

Circus hudsonius (Linn.). Marsh Hawk.

I am not aware that there is any direct evidence of the occur-
rence of this species outside of Oahu, where several specimens
have been obtained at different times. Nevertheless a recent visit
to Oahu and much inquiry among sportsmen and others leads the
writer to think that the specimens above alluded to were but cas-
ual visitors, and that the marsh hawk is not now, and never has
been, a regular resident of the island.

Dole’s Accipiter Hawaii is simply the Buteo solitarius as is
shown under the heading of the following bird.

It is to be remembered that the marsh hawk would prove a wel-
come resident of the islands, especially of Hawaii, in which island
there are immense tracts where this hawk should thrive and mul-
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 85

tiply. As the bird is a most indefatigable destroyer of mice and
small rats it would prove an efficient ally of io in its war upon
these pests.

Description —Adult male. Upper parts, including head, neck and chest
light bluish grey; upper tail-coverts white; tail bluish grey with white
spots towards base, tipped narrowly with white, and with from five to
seven dusky bands; lower parts sprinkled with brown.

Adult female. Above dusky brown, streaked and spotted with rusty;

upper tail-coverts white; tail brown, banded with black; lower parts gen-
erally dull buff. Length 19-24 inches.

Pandion haliaétus carolinensis (Gmelin). American Osprey.

It is difficult to state the precise nature of the occurrence of the
osprey in the Hawaiian Islands. Mr. Perkins writes me that he
has shot the bird upon Oahu, where it “is found as a straggler
and no doubt at times on all the islands. It is, I believe, more
frequent on Kauai and Niihau.” The writer has neither seen nor
heard of the osprey on Hawaii and, though the bird may occur
here casually, the coast being well adapted to its habits, it is cer-
tainly neither a regular inhabitant nor a regular visitor to the
windward side of the island.

The osprey seems to have been noticed long ago in the islands
by Mr. Dole, though the fact has escaped the attention of recent
writers. His notes (Hawaiian Annual, 1879, p. 42) under the
heading of Pandion Solitarius, partly apply to this bird though
the bird described is Buteo solitarius. He calls it “Osprey or Fish
Hawk,” gives its habitat as Hawaii, Molokai and Niihau, and adds
the significant note that “it is probable that this bird inhabits all
the Hawaiian Islands, but as it frequents the most inaccessible
coasts it is rarely noticed.” The-above in nowise applies to the
Buteo solitarius while entirely consonant with the view that the
osprey was the bird in mind.

But the error does not stop here. Dole’s Accipiter hawaii is
quoted by Wilson in his “Birds of the Hawaiian Islands” as a
synonym under Circus hudsonius. This citation I believe to be
an error. Dole’s Accipiter hawaii, as the description proves, is a
young male Buteo solitarius in the brown phase of plumage.

This hawk was supposed by Mr. Dole to be an undescribed
86° HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

species, its habitat being “Hawaii, rare on the rest of the group,”
and the type being a ‘‘mounted specimen in Mills’ collection, Hilo,
Hawaii. So far as I am aware the marsh hawk has never been
found on the island of Hawaii and assuredly is not found there as
a regular inhabitant. Moreover Dole’s description, giving the
length of his bird as 14 inches at once shows that the bird cannot
have been a marsh hawk, if indeed the native name io given was
not sufficient to show this. 1n further confirmation of the fact
that Dole’s bird cannot have been a marsh hawk, Mr. Brigham
writes me that all the hawks from the Mills’ collection in the
Bishop Museum are io. As is well known all of the Mills’ collec-
tion was acquired by the Bishop Museum, and there is little doubt
that the particular specimen which served as Dole’s type of Accip-
iter hawatt is among them though apparently unmarked.

It would seem certain that Mr. Dole as above cited had in mind
two distinct species of hawks, and but two, neither of which was
the marsh hawk. The two formal descriptions given apply to but
one species, viz: Buteo solitarius, of which two phases of plum-
age are described, while the notes refer in part to that species and
in part to the osprey.

There is little doubt that the osprey found in the islands is the
American form, though specimens are necessary to finally settle
the question.

Description—Adult male. Above grayish brown; tail tipped with white,
and with about six dusky bars; head, neck and under parts white; chest
occasionally blotched with brown.

Female similar, but breast more heavily marked with brown. Length
from about 21 to 25 inches.

APHRIZIDA SURF-BIRD FAMILY,
Strepsilas interpres (Linn.). Akekeke; Turnstone.

The akekeke occurs in great numbers throughout the archipel-
ago, and in some localities is fully as numerous as the kolea. The
two frequently associate, and by most sportsmen both are shot
and eaten under the name of plover. It may be added that there
is little difference to choose between the flesh of the two, and botli
are tidbits when in good order.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 87

The first stragglers put in an appearance about the middle of
August. In 1900 I shot some twenty of these first comers and to
my great surprise found all of them to be plump and in fine order
for the table, while some were very fat indeed. All these birds,
with one exception, were fully adult and the majority were males.
Moreover they were in much the same plumage as when they left
for Alaska in May ; that is, they were in the red and black plumage
characteristic of the nuptial season. The young birds did not be-
gin to appear till at least a fortnight later, and when they came
were thin and poor.

The akekeke roost at night upon rocky points and little islets
by the shore, where they are reasonably sure of being undis-
turbed and, about davbreak, leave for the pastures and freshly °
ploughed cane-fields where thev feed all day. They and the plover
destroy vast numbers of a small worm, called by the natives “‘pe-
lua,” which eats the freshly sprouted grass, and many other in-
sects. On this account they are protected by some, but not all,
the planters. Comparatively few akekeke remain in the islands
all summer and, as stated elsewhere, these consist of the immature
birds and the cripples. In some localities, however, the akekeke
may be seen in large flocks all summer long, as near the crater
of Kilauea, and many roost in the crater itself.

So far as I can learn the akekeke never has been known to
breed in the islands.

Description—Adult. Upper parts black and rufous; much white on
head; rump, throat and belly white. Length 9-10 inches. Bill 8-9 inches.
In juvenile dress the fufous is wanting; breast dusky.

CHARADRIIDZ. PILOVER FAMILY.
Charadrius squatarola (Linn.) Black-bellied Plover.

The occurrence of this plover in the Hawaiian Islands rests, so
far as the author knows, upon a single individual shot by Mr.
George C. Hewitt in the fall of 1900 at Kaalualu, coast of Kau,
Hawaii. That this is an isolated case is hardly to be believed, and
it is more than likely that a few black-bellied plovers reach the
88 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

islands every year in company with flocks of their relatives next
mentioned.

Description.—Adult. Above blackish, eteou with white and yel-
lowish; rump white with dark barring; below white, more or less shaded
with grey; throat and breast with dusky spots. In summer under parts

black; above variegated with black and white; tail barred with same;
@ small hind toe. Length about 12 inches.

Charadrius dominicus fulvus, (Gmelin.). Kolea; Pacific Golden
Plover.

It must have been in very remote times that the kolea first dis-
covered the Hawaiian Islands and established the habit of annual-
ly visiting their shores. No sooner have they reared their young
in Alaska than they begin their return flight with its attendant
dangers and fatigue. Leaving the islands in April and May, the
first comers return about the middle of August. On that date of
the present year (1900) I shot a number of kolea on the coast near
Hilo in company with the akekeke above alluded to and, like the
latter, they were all adults and had not yet doffed their nuptial
dress, although beginning to moult. My friend, Mr. W. K.
Andrews of Honomu, also reports that about the same time he
saw numbers of first arrivals in the cane-fields near Honomu, and
all were adults. It would seem, then that, directly the cares of
the nesting season are over, the old males, and such of the females
as have reared their young, start upon the return trip, leaving the
young birds to be convoyed much later by the bulk of the females
and a certain proportion of the males. Such, at least, may be
inferred from the above notes, although many more observations
will be necessary before ail the facts concerning the migration of
the kolea can be considered established.

As was the case with the akekeke, the kolea first to arrive were
in excellent condition. In fact most of them were so fat that dif-
ficulty was experienced in preserving a specimen or two. Many
observers have noted the fine condition the kolea are in just prior
to the spring flight northward, but it seems remarkable that they
should be able to make the long’ flight they are credited with
twice, and in the interim raise their young, and still retain their
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 89

plumpness. The young birds, unlike the old, seem to be invar-
iably poor when they reach the islands.

Mr. Henry Patten of Hakalau has witnessed the actual arrival
of some of these flocks upon Hawaii. When first they make the
land they are evidently spent and weary by their long flight but
soon measurably recover and begin to feed.

All the kolea do not arrive in the islands in great flocks at a
given date, but the migration continues for a long time, more or
jess intermittently, from about the middle of August until at least
November 1, at which late date flocks have been observed from
shipboard nearing the islands. There would thus seem to be no
concerted action in the fall migration. Flocks, large or small,
just as it happens, take flight for the islands as the whim seizes
them or, as’ is more likely, when they are in the proper condition
for the trip.

There is every reason for believing that many of the migrants
are lost in the long passage, especially in the late Fall, when so
large a proportion of them are younglings, not yet seasoned to
such prolonged flights. Small flocks of them are frequently en-
‘countered by vessels nearing the islands, and they usually act as
though confused and uncertain as to their proper course, ‘flying
wildly about the vessel and uttering their calls as though quite
bewildered. a

The food of the kolea, while in the islands, is almost wholly
obtained from the pastures and cane lands, especially from newly
ploughed land, and consists chiefly, if not wholly, of worms and
insects. The crops of some of those examined by me have been
filled with insect remains, unfortunately in too fragmentary con-
dition to enable their identity to be determined. It is highly prob-
able that the kolea destroys a greater or less number of the beetle
of the cane borer and, in any event, the number of insects it des-
troys is so great that the bird should be carefully protected by the
plantation owners. No effort should be spared to encourage its
presence in the cane fields with the hope that finally the bird may

 

*Observations made Sept. 9, 1901, corroborate the above. A number
ot kolea were shot at that date and all were adult but the moult into winter
-dress at this date was well towards completion.
90 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

be induced to breed in the islands and so remain the year round
to wage war on insect pests.

In this connection I regret to be compelled to state that this fine
bird is becoming scarcer and scarcer with every succeeding year-
The fact that it visits all the islands in great numbers, added to
the excellence of its flesh for the table, has long made it the favor-
ite object of pursuit by island sportsmen and, as the latter have
materially increased in numbers of late years, the plover have cor-
respondingly diminished.

Neither the kolea nor the akekeke can go long without slaking
their thirst, and from the barren uplands of Kau great numbers
every day wend their way-to the rare watering places which here
are on the coast just above high water mark. The moment thirst
is quenched the birds return to the feeding-grounds. These daily
flights of the plover and akekeke after water afford the sports-
men their opportunity, and great numbers of the birds are killed
from blinds placed within easy range of the watering places.

A comparatively small number of kolea roost upon the coast
with the akekeke. By far the greater number assemble at night-
fall and fly in flocks to one of the lava-flows which are so bare
and inaccessible as to offer safe refuge from all enemies that have
not wings. The floor of the crater of Kilauea also used to harbor
thousands every night.

The first rains in the dry districts send the green grass above
ground, and the plover soon become very fat feeding upon the
worms and insects which infest the grass. By April all the kolea,
both old and young, are in prime condition, having moulted and
the old birds having now assumed in’great part the dress of black
and gold their wedding season calls for. During this month they
leave the islands in large flocks, and by early May there are com-
paratively few left. Mr. Hoswell, of the Pepeekeo Plantation,
Hawaii, informs me that in the early morning of the first days of
April of the year 1900 he saw large flocks of kolea (and probably
of akekeke) circling high in air over the coast and finally, after
soaring in wide circles till almost out of sight, they took a north-
erly course and soon disappeared in the distance. Some of the
flocks soared so high that they were lost to sight before settling -
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 91

upon their course. Doubtless these preliminary aerial evolutions
are for the purpose of settling their course and, perhaps, of get-
ting into favorable air currents. These migrating flocks have
been sighted by the captains of more than one vessel at various
points between San Francisco and the islands, and, as in Spring
they are always steering north, there seems to be no reason to
doubt that they are making direct for the Alaskan tundras.

Careful cbservations by sea captains upon these migrating
flocks, giving the dates when the observations are made, the lat-
itude and longitude in which the flocks are seen, and the course
taken by them will still prove of great value, and will do much to
assist in solving the somewhat mysterious and always interesting’
problems of bird-migration.

Description.—Adult. In summer above black, spotted with white and
golden yellow; below black, but forehead, sides of head, neck and chest
white. In winter no black below; belly white; chest and sides of neck

washed with yellowish, and streaked with brown; upper parts spotted
with greyish and gold; no hind toe. Length about 8 or 9 inches.

. SCOLOPACIDA, SNIPE FAMILY.
Numenius tahitiensis (Gmelin). Kioea; Bristle-thighed Curlew.

The kioea appears to occur in small numbers upon all the
islands, where it is chiefly a winter visitant. Upon the windward
side of Hawaii the bird appears to be rather rare but Mr. Patten
informs me that nearly every season he sees a few, usually a small
flock, near Hakalau. Upon the Kau and Kona coasts the kioea
is more common, and a certain number are shot there each year.

I feel sure that.a large majority of these curlew make their
appearance in September and October, and I have little doubt that
they come from Alaskan breeding grounds with the kolea and the
akekeke. Yet I am not prepared to assert that the kioea does not,
at least occasionally, nest upon the islands. At Kaalualu, on the
coast of Kau, where I saw a small flock of curlew the last of
October, I was assured by Mr. Sam Kauhane that a few actually
remain all summer, and he believed that some nested.

Mr. Wilson states that he, also, was told by natives that the
kioea breeds in the islands. There can be no doubt that a few re-
92 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

main all summer, but this fact by no means gives positive assur-
ance that they breed. Both the kolea and akekeke leave a con-
tingent in the islands when they go north to nest in Spring but
none of the stay-behinds have been known to breed. The curlew
that remain all summer doubtless consist for the most part, as the
kolea and akekeke certainly do, of the young birds, too immature
to breed, and the old and the cripples. For all that, it is difficult
to understand why the curlew and the other migrating species do
not, in the course of time, settle permanently in the islands, where
there would seem to be all the requisites.

Description—Adult. Above dusky brown varied with buff; upper
tail-coverts and tail ochraceous, the latter barred with dark brown; top
of head dark brown with a medium stripe of buff; beneath dull buff;
cheeks, neck and chest with brown streakings; side barred with same;

thigh feathers with bristle-like points. Length about 17.25; the curved
bill from 2.70 to 3.70.

Heteractitis incanus (Gmelin.). Ulili; Wandering Tatler.

The ulili is a permanent inhabitant of the. Hawaiian Islands,
frequenting the rocky shores of all the members of the group as,
indeed, it does of the Pacific islands generally. Solitary or in
pairs its ringing note may be heard summer and winter as, dis-
turbed, it flits from rock to rock. It feeds upon minute crustacea
and small crabs and to obtain these follows the receding waves
with nimble steps, running quickly back to avoid the incoming
rtish. It also follows the fresh-water streams a mile or two from
the sea, and I have seen them feeding in pastures by the side of
little rivulets. Nevertheless the sea-side is their proper home and
they do not go far beyond the sound of its breakers.

Apparently the ulili never nests in the islands and, about April
or May, the greater number accompany the plover in their north-
ern flight. Before they depart many of the outgoing ulili assume
the barred plumage which is characteristic of the nuptial season.
While most go, many remain, the latter being the immature birds
and the weaklings. At all events those that remain retain the
immature or winter dress and show not the slightest inclination
to breed.

About the middle or the latter part of August the return
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 93

1igrants begin to appear, and it is noticeable that the first comers
re adults, chiefly males and still in the nuptial dress which, how-
ver, is now somewhat worn and faded. Very soon after their
rrival they begin the fall moult, and by. the middle of September
idividual birds are to be found that show but a few barred feath-
rs and have nearly donned the full winter suit.

The ulili does not appear to return to the islands in flocks but
9 drop in a few at a time, perhaps in flocks of other birds, as
‘olea and akekeke, and it is probable that the migration of the
pecies is not concluded till early winter.

Description.—Adult. Above plumbeus grey; below white, streaked and

arred with dusky. Length about 11 inches. In winter underparts are
nspotted; breast plumbeus grey.

.imosa lapponica baueri (Naum.). Pacific Godwit.

According to Bryan a specimen of this godwit was secured by
Wir. Francis Gay on the island of Kauai, while -a fine specimen in
vinter dress is in the cabinet of Saint Louis College, Honolulu.

Mr. Rothschild notes (Avifauna of Laysan pt. 111, 307) that
everal were procured on Laysan Island by Prof. Schauinsland in
“lay, 1896, which completes the present record for the islands.

The bird is found both on the Asiatic and Alaskan coasts, mi-
trating as far south in winter as Australia and New Zealand.

Description.—Adult. Head, neck and lower parts cinnamon; back and
capularies irregularly varied with blackish, whitish and light rusty; wing
overts light greyish with dusky shaft-streaks and whitish margins. In
vinter head, neck and lower parts whitish; head and neck streaked, the

ack and sides irregularly barred with greyish brown; back and scapulars
rownish grey. Length about 14.60-16 inches. (Ridgway.)

validris arenaria (Linn.). Hunakai; Sanderling.

Mr. Knudsen appears to have been the first to observe this
pecies in the islands, and he secured several examples upon
<auai. In October cf 1899 I secured two specimens at Kaalualu
mn the Kau coast. At this place the bird seems to be by no means
are and, although the natives did not know it by name, they as-
ured me that it.came in small numbers every year with the kolea
94 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

and akekeke. Early in October of 1900 I saw two hunakai on the
Hilo beach, where they made themselves very much at home, re-
maining there for at least a fortnight. Mr. Hewitt has sent me
a third specimen which. he shot at Kaalulalu October 14, 1900.
September 25, 1901, I saw a little company of four on the Hilo.
beach. I am inclined now, therefore, to regard the hunakai as a
regular migrant to the Hawaiian Islands, coming each year in
small numbers which are likely to increase as time goes on.
Description.—Adult in winter plumage. Above pale grey, the feathers
of head, back and rump with black central areas; hind neck and rump

lighter; under parts pure white; bill and feet black. Length 7-8.75; bill
about an inch.

Tringa acuminata (Hors.) Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

One specimen was procured on Laysan by Professor Schauins-
land and is now in the Bremen Museum. A second specimen was
taken by Mr. A. F. Judd in Moanalua valley near Honolulu, and
a third by Brother Matthias on Maui as recorded by Mr. Bryan
in the Key. ‘As this sandpiper is a common summer resident of
Alaska, occasional individuals may be looked for in the islands
accompanying the plover and akekeke in the Fall migration.

Description.—Adult in winter plumage. Above grayish brown, streak-
ed and striped with dusky; supercilliary stripe and lower parts dull white;
chest and sides, breast, pale grayish buff. In summer the upper parts

are brighter with rusty and black; unders streaked with dusky, and with
greyish-brown V-shaped marks. Length about 8.25.

Tringa maculata Vieill. Pectoral Sandpiper.

Two specimens of this sandpiper have been shot by Mr. George
C. Hewitt, one on the coast of Kau, Hawaii, the other a few miles
inland, in the Fall of 1900. Both specimens were sent to me for
examination.

»
Description.—Above brownish buff much marked with black; breast
buff, with dusky streaks; rest of lower parts white. Length about 8.75.

Gallinago delicata (Ord). Wilson’s Snipe.

One of these snipe was killed by Mr. Hewitt near Naalehu a
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 95

few years ago, as recorded in “The Auk” for July, r900. In the
Fall of the same year a second indivudual was seen in the same
locality by Mr. W. H. Hayselden who, however, failed to secure it.

Description. —Adult. Above blackish, feathers edged with buff; below

white; under wing-coverts, axillars and sides barred with slate. Length
about 11 inches; bill 2.75.

RECURVIROSTRIDZ, STILT FAMILY.
Himantopus knudseni, Steineger. Kukuluaeo; Knudsen’s Stilt.

This stilt was first described from specimens obtained in Kauai
by the late Mr. Knudsen, although the birds’ presence in the
islands had long before been recorded by Pelzeln in 1873. Mr.
Wilson obtained specimens in Oahu and Dr. O. Finsch observed
it in Mani. There is, therefore, some reason to believe that the
bird is distributed throughout the whole group. I have never
seen, it, however, upon Hawaii, nor have I been able to learn of
its presence there. The aeo frequents the beach and also inland
ponds and swamps. Upon Oahu, where but a few years ago the
bird was numerotis, it is now very scarce, having been mercilessly
shot by gunners, though its flesh is of no value for food.

Description. —Adult. Above black; a small spot of white above and
posterior to eye which is nearly encircled also with white; under parts

white which color extends along side of neck and over the forehead in «
broad band; tail smoky gray; legs bright pink.

PHALAROPIDA. PHALAROPE FAMILY.

Crymophilus fulicarius (Linn.). Red Phalarope.

A specimen of this phalarope was presented to the writer by
Mr. M. Newell (Brother Matthias) who obtained it upon Kauai
in the spring of 1894, where it appeared not to be uncommon. In
April 1900 I shot a single individual from a flock of akekeke.
How close was the association of this bird with the akekeke ap-
pears from the fact that it evidently accompanied the akekeke in
the flight to the uplands to feed, quite contrary to the usual habits
of this species which is pre-eminently a marine bird. Professor
96 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Schauinsland saw this species upon the island of Laysan. It may-
be found that, like the sanderling, this phalarope visits the islands.
annually in small nuzobers.

Description.—Adult. Underneath purplish cinnamon; sides of head

white; top of head blackish. In winter under parts white; occiput and.
about eyes plumbeous. Above pearl gray. Length 7.50-9 inches.

Phalaropus lobatus (Linn.). Northern Phalarope.

So far as known, only a single specimen of this phalarope has:
ever been found on the islands. . This individual was shot by Mr.
A. F, Judd on Kauai during the winter of 1892-93, and is now in:
the Bishop Museum. The bird summers in Alaska, and migrated’
in great numbers down the west coast, so that occasional strays.
are to be looked for in the islands.

Description —Adult. Above dark plumbeous, the back striped with buff;
greater wing-coverts tipped with white; lower parts white; chest and sides,

rufous. The female much brighter than the male.
In winter chiefly white; upper parts grayish. ‘Length about 7 inches..

RALLIDZ, RAIL AND MUD-HEN FAMILY.
Pennula millsi, Doie. Moho.

There is a popular impression that this bird was wingless. As:
a matter of fact the moho was as well supplied with wings as most.
of the rail family, though it may be doubted if its wings were of
any special use to it after it reached the islands. Obtaining its
food solely from among the weeds and grasses, having no migra-
tion to perform, and at first having practically no enemies to.
escape from, the wings of the moho doubtless in time came to be
almost useless. Nor-would serviceable wings have long availed
to preserve a bird of its secretive habits from the enemies des--
tined, to work its extermination, the domestic dog and cat (es--.
pecially the latter) run wild in the islands. . These wild cats have:
abounded in the woods from an early day, living upon rats, mice,
and such young birds as chance throws in their way. The mon--
goose usually receives the credit of exterminating the moho, but.
it may be doubted if a single moho was alive at the comparatively-
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 9?

ate day when the mongoose came upon the scene. So far as the
vird is concerned the matter is of no consequence since either
memy, cat or mongoose, was, unaided, quite capable of com-
yassing its destruction.

Of the range and the habits of the moho we know very little.
[ am inclined to believe that forty or fifty years ago the naoho
ranged over a considerable portion of the windward side of the
island, but not far above the sea.

The late Judge Austin told me that years ago it was not un-
common as far north along the coast as Onomea, and that on one
occasion a native showed him a moho’s nest with eggs, which was
suilt in the grass close to a cane field. The late D. H. Hitchcock
also informed me that less than forty years ago the moho lived on
the edge of the woods not far above the town of Hilo, and that a
nest with eggs was shown to him im situ by some boys. Thus it
would appear that the moho ranged from somewhere near the vol-
cano northward for forty miles or so along the coast and, per-
haps, much farther. That the moho ever inhabited the dense
woods of Olaa, as I find many people believe, is in the last degree
doubtful. Mr. Mills’ specimens, it is true, are supposed to have
come from Olaa though their exact locality is unknown. Mr.
Wilson states that Hawelu, the native who collected them, lived
at the former half-way house on the old Volcano trail, and it was.
probably in the rather open country that here interposes between.
the woods and the sea that the moho lived.

A report is current in Hilo that when the Volcano road was.
being finished (about 1893) a moho was seen close to the road and.
some five miles east of the Volcano House. I have not been able-
to verify this report which, if true, brings the existence of the bird!
down to recent times, but the locality indicated is of all others the:
one in which I should expect to find this rail. The pahoehoe at:
this point is covered with a dense matting of mosses, lichens and’
ferns, above which rises in clumps a scattering growth of scrub,.
consisting of small ohias, herry-bearing trees, large ferns, vacci-
aium, ukiuki and many others. Even in dry weather the regiom
is boggy and in wet weather it is a morass. Such a locality may
well have been the last stronghold of the moho. In 1887 Mr. Wil-

7-H B
98 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

son searched the above region for the bird, and I have visited it
‘many times since, but to no purpose. To- explore this region
thoroughly, however, with a dog would require weeks of per-
sistent effort and would prove a most tremendous task.

What between the uneven and boggy nature of the ground, the
‘presence on all sides of holes in the lava dangerous to limb if not
to fife, and the heavy growth over all which renders walking
almost as difficult as through deep snow, the difficulties of explor-
ation are of no ordinary kind. But more disheartening to the
naturalist than all else is the presence of the mongoose which is .
there, as it is everywhere on the island, in force, and seems to
render the quest for the moho at this late day an absolutely hope-
less one.

Description—Adult. Above rufous, lighter on head; side of head,

chin, and throat whitish; beneath lighter rufous. Length about 5%
inches.

Pennula sandwichensis (Gmelin).

There is but one known specimen of this rail, that in the Ley-
den museum. I follow Sharpe and Rothschild in recognizing this
specimen as the type of Latham’s species, but it appears by no
means certain that the specimen in question ever came from the
Hawaiian Islands. To recognize a third species (P. wilsoni) is
but to add to the existing doubt and confusion.

The following is a description of the Leyden specimen by
Sharpe as quoted by. Rothschild:

“Adult (type of species). General colour above ruddy brown with
Dlackish centres to the feathers, producing a broadly striped appearance;
wing-coverts like the back and very much elongated; quills blackish, with
rusty-brown edges; tail-feathers blackish, completely hidden by the long
feathers of the rump; head more uniform brown, with a ruddy tinge; sides
of face like the head; throat and under surface of body dark vinous red,
a little paler on the latter. Total length 5:3 inches, culmen 0.8, wing 2.8,
tail 0.7, tarsus 1.3, middle toe and claw 1.35.”

Porzanula palmeri, Froh. Laysan Crake.

This little rail is very abundant on the island of Laysan, where

’
HAWAIIAN BIRDS.. 99

alone it is found, and amid its novel surroundings it has developed
very remarkable habits. The following account is taken from
Rothschild: Palmer says that it is “diurnal in its habits, very
active, fearless and extremely inquisitive.” Professor Schauins-
land says of it: “This funny little rail has become accustomed
to a totally new life; it lost its power of flight completely, and
hardly uses its rudiments of wings to help it when running like a
shadow across the sands with mouse-like speed. Originally more
a swamp bird and dependent on worms, it has here become om-
nivorous, and the sea-birds must furnish its principal food. Al-
though it cannot open their eggs with its thin beak, I have often
seen it partake of the tasty inside of an egg when a Telespiza had
broken one. It does not even despise corpses of birds, which are
so frequent here, but it tears the flesh off in pieces and devours it;
it feeds also chiefly on flies and the numerous beetles (Der-
amestes).”

“The nest of the Laysan crake is built under the thickest
bunches of grass and there is a cover placed over it with a hole
on the side for the bird to enter. It consists of grass woven to-
gether with very fine shreds of grass, fibres, and a little down,
with here and there a feather intermixed, the materials softer in-
side.”

“The eggs are longish oval and measure on an average 1.15 by
0.86 inch. The colour is pale creamy buff, flecked with pale red-
dish brown and pale purplish grey.” :
' Description.—Adult. Above light brown, many of the feathers with
blackish centers; sides of head and neck, chin, throat, breast and abdo-
men slaty gray. Bill light green; tarsus and feet greenish. Length about
6 inches.

Fulica alai, Peale. Alae keokeo.

In general appearance, habits, and notes this bird is the counter-
part of the American fresh water coot from which, no doubt, it
is descended, but from which it presents recognizable differences.
The natives know it by the name of alae keokeo, white alae, in
contradistinction from the red alae (Gallinula) because of its
beautiful cream-colored frontal shieia (red in the Gallinule) and
100 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

its white (famtly tinged with bluish) bill. The bird formerly
figured prominently in Hawaiian folk-lore.

The alae is found upon all the islands and frequents shallow
fresh water ponds, where there is an abundance of coarse reeds
and sedges to serve for its own protection and to conceal its nest.
When disturbed the birds instantly swim into the reedy recesses
from which they can be dislodged only with the greatest difficulty.
The nests are the same bulky piles of reeds and grasses character-
istic of the coot everywhere. They are placed on the water, and
are kept from floating away by the surrounding reeds. The birds
begin to nest as early as the month of February and I have seen
half-grown young freely swimming about in company with their
parents April 30. Nesting thus early, the alae probably would
be through with their domestic duties by mid-summer were it not
for the fact that the natives freely plunder the nests for the eggs,
‘which are excellent eating. In some localities it is only with great
difficulty that the birds raise any young at all.

The only nest I ever saw, with anything in it, was found Aug-
ust 17 and contained two fresh eggs, but I do not doubt that these
were a second, perhaps even a third, laying. I have no means at
hand of direct comparison, but I should judge it to be impossible
to distinguish the eggs of the alae from those of the American
species. The ground color is of a delicate creamy brown of the
exact shade known as cafe au lait, numerously sprinkled with dots
and roundish blotches of clove brown and purplish. They meas-
ure: 188x130 and 144x125. The alae keokeo had achieved a
rather conspicuous position in Hawaiian mythology, and had even
risen to the dignity of a place in the Hawaiian pantheon, a fact
which of itself indicates a residence in the islands of respectable
antiquity.

Description—Adult. Dark slate, paler below and much darker on
head and neck; edge of wing, tip af secondaries and crissum white; legs

and feet greenish gray; frontal knob delicate creamy white; bill faint
bluish white. Length about 14 inches,

Gallinula galeata sandvicensis’ ( Streets.). Alae ula. Hawaiian
Gallinule.

The prominent place in Hawaiian mythology occupied by this
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 101

bird sufficiently attests the fact that it has been long a resident
of the islands. The alae ula is the bird that first stole fire from
the gods and gave it to the natives and, even to this day, it bears
upon its forehead the crimson frontal knob where the feathers were
burned away by the sacred fire.

The bird has overspread the islands and is found in the same
places as the coot. Unlike the latter bird, its nest is not placed
over the water where it is inacessible to the thieving mongoose.
The consequence is that in many localities upon the island of
Hawaii, as for instance, about Hilo, where formerly the gallinule
abounded, it is no longer known.

Dr. Stejneger has examined the claims of this bird to specific
rank with his usual acumen, and sums up the matter as follows:
“Tt seems, therefore, that there are no characters upon which to
base a specific separation, and were it not that the difference in re-
gard to the color of the tarsus may hold good in the majority of
specimens, I should be disinclined to regard the Hawaiian bird as
even stbspecifically distinct.” I am not in position to add any-
thing to Dr. Stejneger’s remarks further than to say that the
single specimen of this bird I have been able to obtain near Hilo
had no trace of red upon the tarsus and, so far as I am able to see
without direct comparison with American specimens, is indistin-
guishable from ordinary American examples.

Description —Adult. Head, neck and under parts grayish black, darker
on head and whitening on belly; back brownish olive; wings and tail
dusky; crissum, edge of wing and flanks white; bill, frontal plate and

tibiae anteriorly (usually) red; tarsus and toes greenish. Length 12-15
inches.

ARDEIDA. HERON FAMILY.

Ardea sacra, Gmelin. Aukuu.

According to Rothschild this heron has been ascribed to the
Hawaiian Islands by G. R. Gray. but without citation of authority.
Dole also gives it as an inhabitant of the group (Proc. Bost. Soc.
Nat. Hist. 1869, p. 303) but his statement that it is “common all
over the group” is assuredly a mistake, and tends to throw some
doubt upon the accuracy of his knowledge respecting the species.
102 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Dr. Finsch, who was well acquainted with the bird in the islands
further south, is quoted by Rothschild as stating that he “ob-
served the white form once at Kahului, Maui.”

I can add no certain evidence of the occurrence of the bird in
the islands, although a large white heron which I am informed
was seen in Honolii gulch near Hilo, Hawaii, can hardly have
been anything else except the white form of this species.

Description.—Adult, Above cinereous blue; abdomen dusky; plumes of

back and ‘breast white. Length about 17 inches. The young is wholly
white. :

Nycticorax nycticorax griseus (Bodd.). Aukuu kahili; Black-
crowned Night Heron.

This heron is numerous on Oahu, and even about Honolulu,
being found on the Nuuanu stream quite within the city limits.
It is common also upon Maui, and occurs on all the other islands
in greater or less numbers. Upon Hawaii it is comparatively
rare, at least upon the windward side, though I have seen a num-
ber about the Lokoaka ponds, not far from Hilo. Formerly it was
occasionally found.on the Waiakea ponds close to Hilo, and I have
heard of a number being seen on the upper Wailuku close to the
forest.

The habits of the bird during its residence on the islands appear
to have undergone no change. Usually the herons roost by day in
the lauhalas, mangoes and other trees of dense growth and, about
dusk, betake themselves to feed in the shallow brackish and fresh-
water ponds, their chief prey being oopu and other allied small
fish.

‘Upon Oahu a considerable number of these herons are killed
by the Portuguese under the name of “fish-hawks” and eaten, and
their rank flesh is highly esteemed.

Description—Adult. General color bluish gray; crown, scapulars and in-
terscapulars dark glossy green; forehead, throat and underparts generally
whitish; occipital plumes white. Length about 24 inches.

Young birds lack the plume, and are otherwise very different. Above,
grayish brown, paler below; much spotted with white.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 103°
IBIDZ, IBIS FAMILY.
Plegadis guarauna (Linn.). Glossy Ibis.

The occurrence of this ibis in the Hawaiian Islands has hitherto
rested upon a single specimen obtained by Mr. Knudsen in 1872,
upon Kauai, and identified by Mr. Ridgway as of the above
species. Mr. Newell informs me that in 1873 Mr. Wilder of Ho-
nolulu shot a second specimen of this ibis on the island of Maui,
and sent it to him for preparation. It was probably of the above
species, though this is not definitely known.

Description.—Adult. Head, neck and lower parts chestnut; upper parts
metallic green, bronze and purple; lores lake-red; feathers at base of.

bill white. Length about 22 inches.
Young with lower parts grayish brown.

ANATIDZ. GOOSE, DUCK AND SWAN FAMILY.

Bernicla sandvicensis (Vigors). Nene. Hawaiian Goose.

The nene is now found chiefly, if not wholly, upon the island of
Hawaii, although it is said to have nested in past times in the
crater of Haleakala on the island of Maui and, occasionally, to
have been seen on the islands of Kauai and Niihau. At the pres-
ent time, however, there is no reason to believe that the nene is
found upon Maui, inquiry in 1891 failing to disclose that it has
been seen there for several years. Its occurrence upon Kauai
and Niihau,was probably in the nature of an accident, if indeed it
was not mistaken for one of the species of American geese which
are now known to visit the islands not rarely.

Upon the island of Hawaii the haunts of the nene, for the
greater part of the year, are the uplands from about 5,000 feet
upwards. At or abotit the above elevation the range of this goose
is quite extensive, and it is found from the district of Kona to the
northeast flanks of Mauna Kea. It would be an easy matter to”
introduce the nene from Hawaii into the other islands, especially
Maui, and no doubt the bird would thrive, if properly protected.

The region it affects is open, and, in general, as barren as can
well be imagined, consisting for the most part of lava flows, naked
104 HAWAIIAN BIRDS. ‘

except for very scanty growth of ferns, ohelos, puakeawe, and a
few other lowly shrubs. Except for the temporary rain-water
pools this region is entirely devoid of water, and it is doubtful if
this goose drinks, or indeed cares to drink, any other fluid than the
dew it may find on the grasses and berries it eats. The bird has
lived so long amid its novel surroundings that it has become en-
tirely weaned from the habits of its kind, and never enters water,
but is in all essential respects a land goose.

The food of the nene consists of pualele (Sonchus oleraceus),
tender grasses and several kinds of berries, especially the ohelo
(Vaccinium reticulatum), puakeawe (Cyathores tameiameiae),
and the strawberry (Fragaria chilensis). In summer when the lat-
ter abound in the upper districts, the geese become very fat, and
are then fine eating. The young birds, however, and the old ones
too for that matter, are said to be more fond of the milky juiced
weed called by the natives pualele than anything else, and to live
largely upon it from their adolescent stage onwards.

When captured young the nene are rather difficult to rear, but if
they live are readily domesticated, and eventually become exced-
ingly tame, following their owner about and permitting them-
‘selves to be freely handled. A pair kept for several years by Mr.
‘Walton of the Pahala plantation, Kau, were very playful and,
‘when invited to a romp, would chase a lad round the enclosure
with every manifestation of delight. In some districts I am told
they breed rather freely in confinement, but such it not always the
case. Numbers of these geese have beentaken to England from
‘time to time, where they have been successfully kept for years
‘and, in some instances as I am assured have reared young.

That the mongoose, to some extent at least, have invaded the
upland homes of this goose there is only too much reason to be-
lieve, and it remains to be seen if the bird can long maintain itself
‘against the attacks of this fierce marauder. The barren flats near
the sea where this goose nest would seem to be entirely unsuited
1o the mongoose, yet in riding over these flats looking for geese
I saw mongoose, which doubtless are ever ready to plunder an
unprotected nest or to seize an imprudent young one. A goose,
however, with its nest to defend, or its young to protect, is no
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 105

contemptible foe, and it is to be hoped that this fine bird may be
able to hold its own in the contest.

The mongoose is not the only, nor the chief, foe the nene has to
fear, since the districts frequented by the bird most of the year,
though remote and inaccessible, are now often visited by sports-
men, and the nene is rapidly diminishing in numbers. The time
will inevitably come, and that soon, when this goose will need
protection from sportsmen to save it from its otherwise inevitable
fate of extermination.

In this connection attention may well be called to the fact that,
as the present law stands, the open.months (from September 15 to
February 1), when the killing of this goose is permissable, are
almost preciscly the ones in which it rears its young. The law,
doubtless through a misapprehension of the facts, protects the
bird wken it least needs protection, and exposes it to slaughter
when it is laying its eggs and leading about its young.

The breeding season of the nene is a very protracted one, as is
that of all Hawaiian birds, and Mr. Eben Low informs us that
some pairs begin to lay the latter part of August, and the nesting
season is‘not all over and the young able to shift for themselves
till April or even later. Thus the months that by law are now
open ones should be closed, and the close time extendéd somewhat.

It-has been stated and seems to be the general impression that
the nene rears its young in the uplands where it is found in sum-
mer, but stich is not the fact. The greater number, probably all,
leave the upper grounds beginning early in the fall, and resort to
lower altitudes, from about 1,200 feet downwards. There are
barren lava flats near the sea in Puna, Kona, Kau and Kohala,
rarely indeed visited by man, and it is to these deserted solitudes
that the nene resorts at the beginning of the love season.

The cause of the desertion of the uplands by the geese for the
low-lying lava flats near the sea is doubtless the failure of the
food supply in the former, at least of such as is adapted to the
wants of the young. At high altitudes there is but a scanty crop
of berries in winter, and most of the pualele dies; whereas near
the sea there is an abundance of this plant and of freshly sprouted
grasses during the winter and spring months.
106 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Mr. Eben Low informs me that the nene is much attached to
its old nesting ground, and is wont to return season after season
to the same locality to deposit its eggs. This fact is well known
to the natives who, when once they find a nest, never fail to return
the following year to secure the yourig. It is when leading about
their young that the old birds undergo the moult, and, when de-
prived of their wing feathers and unable to fly, they, and the
young, are easily run down by the fleet-footed natives and secured.

Mr. Palmer Wood, of Kohala, who has several pairs of nené
in confinement, tells me that they lay from three to six eggs, the
former being doubtless the more usual number. The nest of a
wild bird which he found in a lava flat was placed among low
bushes, and was made by scraping the surrounding dirt into a
hollow pile. The eggs are laid directly upon the earth, but finally
are surrounded with down plucked from the breast of the old
birds, after the usual manner of the Anatide. When the bird
(tame or wild) temporarily leaves the nest, the down is carefully
disposed over the eggs, probably for the double purpose of hiding
them and keeping them warm.

Mr. Sam Kauhane also has found the nest of the wild bird on
the lava below Kahuku, Kau. The eggs, in this instance four in
number, were on the bare ground, but were encircled by a slight
barrier of bits of brush.

Mr. George C. ‘Hewitt, of Naalehu, has kindly presented the
writer with two eggs, laid by one of his geese in confinement, and
a third was presented by Mr. C. M. Walton of Pahala. These
eggs are of a delicate creamy white (brown stained when long
set on) and measure as follows: 3.37X2.42; 3.32X2.45 ;3.40x2.18.

Description—Adult male. Hind neck, head, cheeks, chin and throat
black, as also a narrow ring around lower throat; rest of neck and sides
of head brownish buff; feathers on throat and sides of neck narrow and
acute and so arranged as to disclose their black bases; above deep hoary
brown, feathers margined broadly with brownish white; rump and tail
dusky black, as also the primaries; beneath grayish brown; feathers on
sides and flanks with gray tips; lower belly and under tail-coverts white;
bill and feet black. Length 23 to 28 inches, the female the smaller.

The appearance of this handsome goose is much enhanced by
the arrangement of.the neck feathers. These are somewhat stiff
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 107

and lanceolate, and are so disposed in oblique and more or less
parallel rows as to disclose the black bases in the intervening fur-
rows, thus producing a market and novel effect.

. Branta nigricans (Lawrence). Black Brant.

“Palmer obtained a specimen of this bird from Brother Mat-
thias, who got it at Kahului, on the island of Maui, in 1891.”
(Rothschild Avifauna of Laysan, pt. 111, p. 279. 1900.)

Description—Adult. Head and neck black; above dark drown; neck

with broad white collar, interrupted behind; below dark sooty slate;
crissum white; bill and feet black. Length from 22 to 23 inches.

Branta canadensis minima (Ridgway). Cackling Goose.

According to Rothschild Mr. Palmer shot a specimen of this
goose, the only one known to have found its way to the islands,.
near Waimea, Kauai, March 16, 1891.

During the winter months of 1900-Igo0I two separate flocks of
Canada geese made their appearance in Hilo bay, and remained
for a considerable period. In all there were upwards of fifteen
reported. A number, possibly all, were killed at one time and
another, but as I was unable to obtain a sight of a single indi-
vidual I am unable to state which form of the Canada goose was
represented by these birds.

The above instances are not the only ones I have heard of, and
I believe it is not a rare thing for geese to make their way to the
islands in the fall and to winter here. Sooner or later, no doubt,
all of the geese from the northwest coast will be recorded as cas-
ual winter visitors.

Description —Adult. Head and neck black; a white patch on cheek;
lower neck encircled by white collar; upper parts brownish, feathers with
lighter tips; lower parts deep grayish brown; anal region white; bill and
feet black. Length from 22 to 25 inches. _

Chen hyperborea (Pall.). Lesser Snow Goose.

A single specimen of this goose was obtained on the island of
Maui by Brother Matthias as recorded by Rothschild.
108 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Description—Adult. Uniform white; head usually stained with rusty;
primaries black bill and feet purplish red. Length from 23 to 28 inches.

Young birds have grayish head, neck, and upper. parts; rump, upper
tail-coverts, tail and lower parts white.

Anser albifrons gambeli (Hartlaub). American White-fronted”
Goose.

A male of this goose was shot by Palmer at Honokohau, island
of Hawaii, Dec. 18, 1891, as recorded by Rothschild.

Description—Adult. Fore part of head to about half way across lores
and forehead white; rest of head grayish brown, as also neck and upper.

parts; below grayish white, blotched with black; crissum and tail-coverts
white; bill and feet yellowish or orange. Length 27 to 30 inches.

Dafila acuta (Linn.). Koloa mapu. Pin-tail Duck.

Well known to sportsmen as a winter visitor to the islands,
where, some seasons, it seems to be rather numerous.

Description.—Adult male. Head and upper neck hair-brown, glossed
with green and purple; sides of head with white stripe; dorsal line of
-neck black; lower neck and under parts white; back and sides vermicu-
lated with black; speculum greenish purple; tertials and ‘scapulars sil-
very and black; tail cuneate with much projecting middle feathers.
Length about 28 inches. :

Female. Above grayish dusky with bars and streaks of yellowish
brown; lower parts chiefly white; flanks and under tail-coverts streaked
with dusky. Smaller.

Spatula clypeata (Linn.). Koloa moha. Shoveller.

Well known to the island sportsmen as the “North-west duck.”
It winters in large numbers in the Hawaiian Islands, especially
upon Oahu and Kauai, and occurs upon the island of Hawaii in
flocks of considerable size. Capt. Wm. Matson informs me that
when about 300 miles off the port of Hilo, October 31, 1900, he ob-
‘served a flock of about fifty ducks, presumably of this species.
They seemed to be lost, and followed the vessel for two days,
practically into port. They kept lighting in the water near by,
and when the vessel forged ahead a few miles they overtook her,
circled around, and again alighted only to repeat the performance.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 109.

he flock seemed to have lost their bearings and to be following
the vessel as a guide.

Description—Adult male. Head and neck green; breast and outer
‘capulars white; rest of under parts chestnut; crissum dark bluish green,

»ordered anteriorly by white; bill black and twice as wide at tip as at
vase; feet orange-red. Length about 20 inches. Female duller.

Anas americana (Gmelin). Baldpate.

A single juvenile specimen of this duck was taken by Professor
Schauinsland on Laysan, October 15, 1896. So far as I am aware
this duck has not yet been found in the main group.

Description.—Adult male. Head and upper neck white, speckled with
dusky; sides of head with brown patch of metallic green; sides and

flanks vinaceous; back and scapulars grayish white. Female is duller.
Length from 18 to 22 inches.

Anas boschas Linn. Mallard.

Professor Schauinsland obtained a single adult male of this
species on the island of Laysan, July 11, 1895. This is the first
and, so far as I know, the only record for the islands.

Description.—Adult male. Head and upper neck glossy green; neck
encircled with a white ring; breast purplish chestnut; greater wing-
coverts tipped with white and black; speculum violet with border of
black; bill greenish yellow; feet orange red. Female with the wing as in
the male; elsewhere mixed dusky and ochraceous. Length about 24 inches
more or less.

Anas carolinensis Gmelin. Green-winged Teal.

’ This is another of the American ducks of which Prof. Schau-
insland obtained a single specimen upon Laysan Island. This
bird was obtained October 27, 1896.

Description.—Adult male. Head and upper neck chestnut with broad
patch of green behind eye, bordered by white; a broad white bar across.
side of breast; upper hind neck with tuft of bluish black; chin and upper
throat ‘black; lower neck, upper back, scapulars, sides and flanks mixed
black and white; speculum metallic green. .

Adult female. Above grayish dusky with buffy edgings and bars;.head._
110 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

neck and lower parts brownish white; head and neck streaked ‘with dusky;
sides and flanks with dusky spots; belly usually speckled with white.
Length from 13 to 15 inches.

Anas wyvilliana, Schlater. Koloa.

The little native duck, or koloa as the natives call it, is widely
spread over the archipelago, no island being without it. Upon the
island of Hawaii the koloa used to be numerous, being by no
means tincommon about Hilo, the type locality, as recently as five
years ago. But as the mongoose has increased in numbers, the
koloa has diminished, and it is no longer found immediately about
Hilo at all, while it is becoming comparatively scarce in other
parts of the island. I believe that generally speaking the bird is
becoming less numerous upon all the islands, both because of the
attacks of the mongoose and because it is more sought after by
sportsmen than formerly.

The old birds of course are rarely killed by the mongoose, which
never pursues its prey into the water, except when setting. As the
koloa, like most other ducks, makes its nest upon the land the
setting birds and their eggs must frequently fall easy prey to the
keen nosed and fearless mongoose.

The koloa is a fresh water duck, although by no means entirely
absent from the coast, and it loves to follow the windings of the
little mountain stream as they thread their way through the
tangled woods, here and there forming little pools of still water.
It is in such localities, rather than near the coast, that this duck
usually nests.

In localities where unharrassed the koloa is tame and unsus-
picious, and its destruction is easily compassed by the sportsman.

In October of 1899 a pair of these ducks was shot at Kaalualu
on the coast of Kau, Hawaii, by Mr. Bertelmann and presented to
the writer. Upon dissection the stomachs of both birds were
found to be crammed with two species of small fresh and brackish
water shells. The larger of the two proves to be the Melania
newcombii Lea which abounds in all the islands of the group. The
smaller has been identified by Mr. C. F. Ancey as the Hydrobia
porrectamigh, .
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. if

Description—Adult. Top of head blackish; neck, upper back and inter-
Reapers brown with rufous brown bands; lower back, rump and upper
tail-coverts brownish black; speculum deep purple, bordered with white;
sidés of head, neck and throat brown mottled; breast rufous brown with
U-shaped blackish markings; abdomen brownish . buff; ; sides of body
rufous heavily marked with deep brown. Length about 20 inches.

Anas laysanensis, Rothschild. Laysan Teal.

This duck, which is even smaller than the preceding species,
appears to be limited to the island of Laysan, where it is fairly
numerous in the scrub. Though often seen on the beach, Palmer
never observed this duck in the water, and it appears to have be-
come as thoroughly habituated to a strictly land life as the nene,

or Hawaiian goose.

' This duck is a near relative of the preceding species, and evi-
dently both are derived from the same stock.

Description —Adult. Above deep blackish brown, darkest on rump and
upper tail-coverts, with irregular U-shaped markings of light rusty-brown;
crown black; an irregular ring of white about eye; speculum deep green,
tipped with white; below pale rusty brown, irregularly barred and spotted.
Length about 15 to 17 inches. Female smaller.

Merganser serrator (Linn.). Red-breasted Merganser.

This duck was recorded by mein the ‘‘Auk’”’ for April, 1893, as
a “casual and possibly a rather regular winter visitor” to the
islands on the strength of two specimens shot near Hilo. No
others have been seen since and, were it not for the fact that the
bird seemed to be familiar to the natives to whom I showed the
specimen I shot, I should be inclined to look upon its occurrence
here as purely accidental. Mr. Bryan in his Key notes its occur-
rence on Oahu. ©

Description.—Adult. Head greenish black and crested; above pied
black and white; rump, upper tail-coverts and tail ash gray; neck and
sides of chest light cinnamon, streaked with black; lower parts white or
salmon colored. Length 20 to 25 inches.

Charitonetta albeola (Stejneger). Buffle-head.

Mr. Bryan records a single specimen as being in the cabinet of
112 HAWAIIAN BIRDS,

Saint Louis College, Honolulu. This specimen was obtained on
the island of Maui by Brother Matthias. The bird is one of the
commonest of the continental ducks. :

Description —Adult. Head and upper neck metallic green glossed with
purple on the crown; back and upper parts black; a white patch from

behind the eye across the occiput; lower neck, under parts, secondaries
and scapulars white. Female duller. Length about 12.50 inches,

FREGATIDZ, MAN-O’-WAR BIRD FAMILY.
Fregata aquila (Linn.). Iwa. Man-o’-War bird.

Apparently the iwa does not breed upon the Hawaiian group
proper unless, perhaps, on Niihau. That it breeds in great num-
bers upon Laysan and the neighboring islands was ascertained by -
Palmer. The iwa is not infrequently seen about Oahu and even
in Honolulu harbor. Knudsen obtained a single individual on
the coast of Kauai. I have never observed the bird upon the
windward side of Hawaii, nor has anyone else, so far as I can
ascertain.

According to Rothschild the iwa breeds in rookeries of from
half a dozen to fifty, building their nests on the scrub, and laying
one white egg.

The iwa lives chiefly upon fish which they catch themselves,
when so unfortunate as to be unable to find any other sea-bird
which they can compel to disgorge its finny prey. They are
aggressive thieves under all circumstances, and will steal the
young of the gannet and other sea-birds in the very presence of
the parents.

Description.—Adult male. Black all over with metallic gloss on scapu-.

lars and interscapulars. Female dull black; breast and sides whitish.
Length about 40 inches. ‘

Phalacrocorax. pelagicus Pall. Pelagic Cormorant.

Mr. Rothschild records a single specimen of this cormorant
from the island of Laysan where taken by Professor Schauinsland
October 22, 1896. Late in November of 1900 two cormorants
made their appearance in Hilo bay and remained till into the
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 1s

spring of 1901. One of them was shot, but what became of the
other is unknown. It is possible that they were of the present
species, or they may have been one of the other west coast forms
that chanced to find their way here in company with the flocks of
ducks that each fall wing their way to the islands for the purpose
of wintering.

Description.—Adult. Head and neck violet black with changeable re-
flections; rest of body greenish. In breeding dress, neck and rump with
white filamentous feathers; flanks marked with white. Juvenile birds of
a dusky brown.

FAMILY SULIDAE. THE GANNETS.

Sula cyanops (Sundev.). Masked Gannet.

But one of the gannets have been reported from the main group,
though the others may be expected to occur in the contiguous
waters, at least casually. The present species breeds both on
Laysan and French Frigate Islands. No nest is made, but the
two eggs are laid on the sand. All the members of the family
live upon fish.

Description—Adult. White; wing-coverts and alulae sooty brown; tail

mostly sooty brown; feet yellowish. Length about 28 inches. The young
are brown above, lower parts white. .

Sula piscator (Linn.). Red-footed Booby.

Knudsen secured a specimen of this gannet on the coast of
Kauai, concerning which he says: “The other day, when the
men were out fishing, this bird came up to the canoe and tried to.
take the fish off their hooks.” (Proc. U. S. Nat. Museum, Vol..
XII, p. 383, 1890.)

This species is very plentiful on Laysan, as reported by Palmer,.
and was often seen, also, at sea. This and the following species
both make nests upon bushes. The red-footed: booby is said to.
lay but one egg. (Rothschild.) ;

Description Adult. White, head and neck with buffy tinge; remiges.
slate color; shafts of rectrices yellowish; feet yellowish. Length about.
28 inches. -

8-H B
iid HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

The young are sooty brown above; head, neck and lower parts smoky
‘gray.

Sula sula (Linn.). Booby.

According to Rothschild this gannet was very plentiful on Lis-
jansky and Midway Islands, and was noticed by Palmer off Nii-
hau. It is however, “altogether the rarest of the three species in
these waters and was absent from Laysan.”

“This species builds a nést of twigs on scrub and lays two eggs,
but on Midway Island, where only grass is found, it builds on the
ground.

. Description—Adult. Mostly sooty brown; lower parts from breast

backwards white. Length 30 to 31 inches.
The young are sooty brown all over, but paler below.

PHAETHONTID#. TROPIC BIRD FAMILY.

Phaéthon lepturts Laup. V. Daudin. Koae. Salmon-tailed Tropic
Bird. Bos’n.

In the ‘‘Auk’’ for January, 1901, the writer.called attention tothe
presence of the “Yellow-billed Tropic Bird” on the coast of the
island of Hawaii, giving it-the name of P. americanus. He was
not aware at the time that the Pacific Ocean form of the yellow-
bill had been described under the name lepturus. Subsequently,
through the kindness of Director Brigham, an opportunity was

-had to examine all the specimens of tropic birds in the Bishop
Museum, when it appeared that but two species were represented,
viz: lepturus and rubricauda. In other words it became at once
apparent that the bird which had been recorded from the coast of

“the several islands by various observers as P. ethereus was, in all
probability, the present species.

Mr. Rothschild independently reached the same conclusion from
the examination of the material in the Tring Museum, and the
matter is duly set forth in part 111, Avifauna of Laysan, p. 206.

The error of identification dates-back as far as 1869 when Mr.
Dole, in Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. p. 308, gives P. ethereus asa
resident of the islands without reference or comment. There can
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 115

be no doubt that he, also, had in mind the present species. Thus
@thereus has no present claim whatever to be considered a bird
of the islands.

The koae, as the natives call this and the next species, is com-
mon along the windward side of Hawaii, frequenting, however,
only those portions of the coast where the presence of cliffs offers
cavities in which the birds may roost and nest.

On sunny days the bos’n 1s frequently to be seen as, singly or in
pairs, they slowly winnow their way along the cliffs, apparently
inspecting them with a view to the selection of future homes. At
such times the birds often fly over points of land that project into
the sea, and occasionaily are seen even over the cane-fields chasing
each other in play.

Lepturus appears to be the only species that now lives upon the
windward side of Hawaii, although it is reasonable to suppose
that the following bird occurs here, at least occasionally.

For some reason or other this bird of late years is much less
numerous along the island of Hawaii than it used to be, and the
same is true of Oahu and, I believe, of all the other islands of the
group. The mongoose has been blaimed for this decrease in the
numbers of the koae, but it must be only in very exceptional in-
stances when this animal can reach their practically inaccessible
nests in the steep faces of the cliffs.

The long tail feathers of this and the following species were
formerly highly valued for decorative purposes as, also, were the
body feathers.

It is a common habit of this bird to visit the neighborhood of
‘its nest once or more during the daytime, either alone or in com-
pany with its mate. These visits by the birds seem to be for no
other purpose than to assure themselves that their home is all
right, and has not been molested during their absence. The birds
fly about the locality, now a mile out to sea then back again, for
an hour, more or iess, occasionally setting the wings and darting
up to the very mouth of the cavity which shelters their young or
egg. I have thought that their object at such times might be to call
the young bird to the mouth of the burrow for the purpose of
feeding it. I have never been able, however, to catch sight of the
116 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

nestling nor, apparently, do the birds go close enough in to effect
such a design, even could they accomplish it without making a
perceptible pause.

Formerly this tropic bird frequented the steep banks of the
Wailuku River, Hawaii, and nested three or four miles up that
stream, but they no longer do so.

I believe this is the tropic bird’that is often seen over the pit
of Kilauea ‘on fine sunny days and which breeds in the cliffs that
limit the western side, although Mr. Wilson in his volume states
that he shot the P. rubricauda there.

Description Adult. General color pure white, with distinct rosy tinge
below; a black bar through eye; tertiaries mostly black; outer edge of
primaries and shafts of tail feathers black; feathers of sides, flanks and
upper tail-coverts with central streaks of black; two central tail feathers,
projecting 8 or 9 inches beyond the rest, of a deep salmon-color, some-
times in summer fading to nearly pure white; bill greenish yellow, in-

determinately marked with bluish black; legs and feet pale bluish; webs
black. Length 22-23 inches.

Phaéthon rubricauda (Bodd.). Koae. Red-tailed Tropic Bird.

The red-tail occurs probably off all the islands of the main
group, although the writer feels by no means sure that Wilson
has not confounded this and the preceding species when he states
(Aves Hawaiiaensis) that “it breeds in several places in the group,
especially on Kauai and Niihau, and choses holes in almost in-
accessible cliffs wherein to deposit its eggs.’’ These remarks cer-
tainly apply well to lepturus, and it may prove to be that species
only which frequents the rocky cliffs of the main group. As noted
by Wilson, the nesting habits of rubricauda on Laysan are very.
different since there, according to Palmer, “they make a hollow in
the ground under the bushes for their nest.”

The writer has not met with this spécies on the windward side
of Hawaii. nor do any of the resident natives appear to be ac-
quainted with it. He learns, however, that it has been seen and
shot on the coasts of Hamakua and Kohala, on the northern ex-
tremity of the island.

Upon the island of Laysan this tropic bird nests in June. Both
species lay but one egg.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 117

Description.—Adult. General color satiny white with more or less of a
rosy tinge; above barred and spotted with black; a black crescent before
the eye and a smaller one behind; two central, elongated tail-feathers
crimson with black shafts; bill red; feet yellowish; toes black. Length
about 30 inches.

PROCELLARIIDAE. PETREL FAMILY.

Puffinus cuneatus, Salvin. Wedge-tailed Puffin. Uau Kane.

This rare petrel was originally described by Salvin from the
Krusenstern Islands (Marshall group), and the same year (1888)
was redescribed by Stejneger as P. knudseni from Kauai from
specimens furnished by Mr. Knudsen. Of the occurrence of the
species on Kauai, Mr. Knudsen says: “It was formerly found
plentiful every summer at the top of the mountains as high up as
5,000 feet, where they had their nests in long burrows, but that in
the last ten years they have become rare, as the foreign rats kill
them in their nests.”

This puffin was observed by Palmer on all the northwestern
islands except Midway, but only in small numbers. He says it
“lives in pairs and lays only one egg in a rude nest made of grass
in a burrow in the sand.”

Description.—Adult. Above sooty brown, darker on head, rump and

wing-coverts; quills and tail-feathers black; underparts white; sides of
head and body gray; bill horn-gray; feet pink. Length about 17 inches.

Puffinus newelli, Henshaw. Newell’s Puffin.*

This bird was first obtained by Mr. M. Newell on the island of
Maui in the spring of 1894, several of them having been taken
from their burrows by the natives and brought to Mr. Newell
alive. Two specimens were saved, one of which, the type, is in
my possession, the other being in the museum of St. Louis College
in Honolulu. .

*This species was described by the author in “The Auk” for July, 1900.
By an unfortunate misprint it was ascribed to the island of “Ulani” instead
of Maui.
118 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

At the time mentioned the species was numerous in the Waihee
valley and probably elsewhere on Maui, but it is to be feared that
the species has since suffered from the mongoose, which is rapidly
exterminating the native puffins elsewhere on the islands. At
present no particulars of its habits are known.

Mr. Bryan in his Key gives the island of Kauai also as the
habitat of the species, where it was obtained by Mr. Francis Gay,
and the bird may prove to be somewhat generally dispersed
throughout the group. I saw numerous puffins in the channel
between the islands of Molokai and Maui. They were rather
close to the steamer, and their appearance seemed to exactly coin-
cide with the present species.

Description.—Adult. Above, including upper surface of wings and tail,
clear and somewhat glossy black. Border of under wing-coverts black.
Beneath, including under tail-coverts, pure white. Maxilla and edge and
tip of mandible black; rest of maxilla light brown. Tarsus and feet

light yellow, but black along the outer posterior side of tarsus, the outer
toe and half the middle toe. Wing, 8.65; tail, 3.75; bill, 1.28; tarsus, 1.80.

Puffinus nativitatis Streets. Christmas Island Shearwater.

Recorded by Mr. Bryan in his “Key to the Birds of the Ha-
waiian Group” as from the French Frigates and Laysan Islands.
Description.—Adult. Lower parts uniform dusky black; bill deep black;

under wing-coverts deep sooty black; primaries and tail feathers black.
Length about 15 inches.

Oceanodroma castro (Harcourt). Ake-Ake. Hawaiian Stormy
Petrel.

Nothing appears to be known concerning the occurrence of this
petrel in the islands, save that two specimens were collected by
Mr. Knudsen on Kauai, from which the species was described by
Mr. Ridgway, and that it has been observed and collected on
Niihau by Mr. Gay. Mr. Rothschild notes the bird also from
French Frigate Island.

I have little doubt that the akeake is much more common and
widely dispersed among the islands of the group than the above
meager notices would seem to indicate. Very little work has
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 119

been done as yet in the waters surrounding the islands, even in-
shore, and their thorough examination will yield many facts of
interest.

The natives report a small petrel, which they call by the above
name, as common on the fishing grounds five or ten miles off the
windward coast of Hawaii, and I have little doubt that it is this.
species, although I have not yet been able to obtain a specimen.

Description—Adult. General color fuliginous; head and upper parts

more slaty; remiges and rectrices dull black, the latter (except middle
pair) white at base; upper tail-coverts white. Length about 8 inches.

Oceanodroma fuliginosa (Gmelin). Sooty Petrel.

Accerding to Rothschild evidence of the occurrence of this
petrel on Laysan was obtained by Prof. Schauinsland and later
was verified by the finding of the species breeding in small num-
bers. The bird is chiefly known from the Japanese seas.

Description —Adult. Crown, occiput, hind neck, scapulars and upper
rump uniform dark sooty slate, darker and more sooty on posterior scapu-
lars; lesser and uppermost median and greater wing-coverts sooty black;
rest of wing-coverts and tertials light grayish brown; alula, primary
coverts and remiges uniform sooty black; lower rump light grayish
brown; upper tail-coverts and tail sooty black; anterior portion of head’
grayish brown; under parts sooty grayish brown. Length about 10 inches.
(After Ridgway.)

Bulweria bulweri (Jard & Selby). Bulwer’s Petrel.

Until somewhat recently this petrel was supposed to be wholly
confined to the Atlantic Ocean where it has a wide range. The
bird, however, was found by Mr. Palmer breeding commonly on
French Frigate and also on Laysan Island. In the archipelago
proper this petrel is known only from Kauai, where Mr. Knud-
sen collected two specimens.

Description Adult. Entire plumage sooty brownish black; bill black;
feet brown. Length about 11% inches.

strelata phaeopygia sandwichensis (Ridgway). Uuau.

.A female of this petrel in the juvenile plumage came ashore
‘

120 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

on Hilo beach November 20, 1890, in an exhausted condition,
and was secured by some boys by whom it was given to Mr. New-
ell, after having been kept alive for several days, when it died.

The natives inform me that the uuau is common on the fishing
grounds, some five to ten miles off the windward side of Hawaii.
They sav also that formerly this bird nested in great numbers in
the lava between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. They have visited
the old nesting sites within a year or two, but report that they
are no longer occupied, having been iivaded by the mongoose.

It is said that years ago the nestlings of the uuau were con-~
sidered a great delicacy, and were tabooed for the exclusive use
of the chiefs. Natives were dispatched each season to gather the
young birds which they did by inserting into the burrows a long
stick and twisting it into the down of the young which then were
easily pulled to the surface..

The native name for this bird, it is said, can be pronounced so
as to exactly imitate its nocturnal cry.

The author feels reasonably sure that this species of petrel
is the mysterious nightly visitor that for many years past has
periodically invaded the town of Hilo upon dark and stormy
nights, usually during the fall and winter months. The flying
visits of the birds usually begin about Half past seven or eight and,
if the night be a stormy one with heavy showers of rain, the
harsh, snarling cries of the bird may be heard intermittently all
night long, as they fly rapidly back and forth over the zone of
light that marks the populous part of the town. Whenever the
heavy tropical showers cease, the cries are stilled, and the birds
apparently retire to the sea; but the onset of another gust with
accompanying rain is the signal for the return of the birds.

It is not surprising that these invisible visitors of the darkness,
whose uncanny wailings come from the upper air, have excited
the superstitious fears of the natives, and that they should inter-
pret their voices as the sign of some unusual and calamitous
event.

Upon a few occasions when the rain has been resolved into a
fine mist and the electric light has been reflected upward as against
a curtain, the writer has succeeded in getting a glimpse of the fly-
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 121

ing birds. Their white underparts, which can be plainly seen, and
the peculiar character of their flight convince him beyond much
doubt that the bird is none other than one of the petrels.

The birds fly a hundred yards and more above the earth, clear-
ing the tops of the tallest palms, and the height has so far rendered
futile all attempts to secure a specimen. Some of the natives sol-
emnly declare, with a significant shake of the head, that they do
not know the bird at all, that it has no name and has never been
seen by human eye. Others, better informed or less superstitious,
affirm with much positiveness that the bird is none other than the
uuau ; others believe it to be the ao; while others still are equally
Positive that it is the koae. The question can be settled absolutely
only by obtaining a specimen—no easy task.

Description— Adult. Above brownish slate, darker on wings and tail;
head black; feathers of hind neck and upper tail-coverts white beneath
the surface; forehead, lores, cheeks and under parts white; sides and
flanks lightly barred (or not) with dusky; bill black; tarsus and upper

half of foot flesh color; lower half of toes black. Wing, 10.75-11 inches;
Dill, about 1.20 inches. :

/Estrelata hypoleuca, Salvin. Salvin’s White-breasted Petrel.

“Palmer met with this rare petrel only on Laysan, where he
found four moulting specimens in the daytime in deep burrows.
They were completely dazed when taken out of their hiding
places, and behaved as if they were quite blind. According to
Mr. Freeth, their breeding-season was now over, June 16-26, but
they came ashore in large numbers earlier during their breeding-
time. They are quite nocturnal like other species of this genus.”

Description.—Adult. Feathers of the forehead up to the middle of the
head deep slate-color, broadly margined with white, and white at base;
feathers just above the bill, lores, and entire under surface white; occiput
and hind neck deep slate-color; feathers of the inter-scapular region back,
and upper part of rump slate-color, with pale cinereous -margins; lower
rump deep slaty. * * * Length about 13 inches. (Rothschild.)
122 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

DIOMEDEIDAF. ALBATROSS FAMILY.
Diomedea immutabilis, Rothschild. White Albatross.

This albatross breeds in immense numbers upon Laysan and
also upon Lisiansky islands. Apparently it is more or less com-
mon throughout the Hawaiian main group, though it is not known
to breed upon any of them.

Description.—Adult. “Head, neck, lower rump, and entire under sur-
face pure white; space in front of the eye sooty black; wings and wing-
coverts blackish brown; interscapular region, back, and upper part of
rump paler and more smoky brown; tail black, fading into white at base;

under wing-coverts mixed blackish brown and white. Total length about
32 inches.” (Rothschild.)

Diomedea nigripes, Aud. Brown Gooney.

This is the gooney that follows in the wake of ships from San
Francisco to Honolulu and Hilo. The birds feed upon the scraps
of pork and meat thrown overboard from the kitchen, and it is
simply amazing that birds will fly so far and take so much
trouble for stich meager reward. Usually the last gooney parts
company with the southward bound ship when some 500 miles
-off the islands, but occasionally individuals keep on till immed-
iately off the harbors. At rare intervals I hear of an albatross
coming ashore on Hawaii to roost for an hour or so on the rocks,
but whether this or the preceding species cannot be determined as
no specimens have been collected.

Description.—Adult. Dusky throughout; grayer beneath; forehead,
tail-coverts and base of tail white. Length 28.50-36.00 inches.

LARIDE. GULL AND TERN FAMILY,
Sterna fuliginosa, Gmelin. Ewaena; Sooty Tern.

I have not found this tern upon the coast of the island of Ha-
waii although it may occur there in small'numbers as it has been
taken upon the shores of Oahu and Kauai, and Mr. Palmer found
it breeding abundantly upon Laysan island.

Description—Adult. Upper parts sooty black; forehead, sides of head,
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 123

and under parts white, as also mostly the outer pair of tail-feathers; bill
and feet black. Length about 15-17 inches.

Sterna lunata,-Peale. Pakalakala. Bridled Tern.

This is ancther species of tern which has not yet been found
on the coast of the island of Hawaii, the shores of this island be-
ing perhaps less adapted to the habits of the gulls and terns than
those of any other of the group. It was found, however, upon
Kauai by Mr. Knudsen, and Palmer found it in abundance upon
Laysan. The bird deposits but one egg, and this on the sand.

Description.—Adult. Upper parts dark ashy, paler on the hind neck;
forehead, a broad stripe through the eye and entire under parts white;
head and neck black. Outer webs of primaries blackish; inner webs white
with a black stripe along the shaft. Outer webs of tail-feathers gray,
inner webs white; outer pair of rectrices white. Length about 16.50
inches.

Sterna paradiszea Brunn. Arctic Tern.

The only claim this tern has to recognition here is the occur-
rence of a lone individual on Hilo beach May 9g, 1891. The bird
boarded a schooner bound for Hilo when four days off port, but
disappeared on the third day following, having evidently sighted
land. It was next seen on the beach by some boys, and was in
such an exhausted condition that it was caught by hand, and, still
living, came into the possession of Mr. R. T. Guard. It died the
following day, probably from exhaustion and starvation, as it was
much emaciated, and subsequentiy was kindly presented to the
writer.

Presumably the bird was migrating somewhere along the Am-
erican coast towards. Alaska when, in some way, it was lost or
blown out to sea, and made the weary passage nearly to Hawaii,
probably with neither rest nor food.

Description Adult. Top of head black ; above deep pearl-gray; tips
of secondaries, rump, upper tail-coverts and tail white; beneath deep
lavender gray; sides of head and lower tail-coverts white; outer web of

outer tail feather dusky; bill and feet carmine; length 14 to 17 inches.
In winter the crown is white with black streaks; the lower parts white.
124 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.
Sterna melanauchen Temm.

Two specimens are reported by Mr. Bryan to be in the Bishop
Museum which were taken at Mana on the island of Kauai by Mr.
A. F. Judd during the winter of 1892-93. “Both have the white
foreheads assumed by this species, while the remainder of the
plumage is badly worn.”

December 24, 1901, a third specimen of this tern was obtained
at Hakalau by Mr. H. Beveridge during a severe and prolonged
storm. The bird evidently was a wanderer and had left the sea
to seek shelter on the land. It is in excellent plumage. The bill
of this specimen is black, the extreme tip lighter. The legs and
feet in life were orange, or perhaps red. Mr. Bryan has kindly
compared this bird with the museum specimens and his remarks
are added. “The Museum specimens are much more badly worn.
The bills are horn black, with lighter tip; the feet indicate red,
though very much discolored. The black patch in front of eye
is better defined in -your specimen, and the Museum specimens
have more dark feathers about the carpal joint. I should judge
your bird to be adult while ours are more immature.”

The tern is of far southern distribution in the Pacific, occur-
ring through Polynesia generally, the Philippines and on the
Chinese coast. It is probably entirely accidental in the Hawaiian
Islands.

Description.—Adult. “Crown always white, sometimes with a brownish
tinge; nape, orbit, and ear coverts black; mantle pale gray; in front oi
the eye a black triangular patch, the point of which does not reach to the
base of the bill; from the eyes a black band extending about the back
of the head; band broadened and more or less prolonged down the back
of the neck; neck and under parts white; mantle and rump pearl gray;
shafts of the primaries white; outer primary with the outer web blackish.
streak next the shaft on the inner web blackish or grayish black.” Length
about 13.25-13.50. (Bryan.)

a

Anous stolidus (Linnaeus). Noddy Tern.

This tern was found by Palmer breeding upon French Frigate
and Laysan Islands, and hence may be expected to occur as a
visitor on the Hawaiian group from where, however, no present
record of it exists.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 125

’ Description—Adult. Sooty brown, grayer on neck and passing into
white on forehead; quills nearly black. Length 13.00-16.75.

Anous hawaiiensis, Rothschild. Noio.

This tern was well named hawatiensis, for it may be regarded
as the Hawaiian tern. It is found in colonies all along the coast
of the island of Hawaii, wherever caves and ledges occur in the
face of the cliffs suitable for roosting places and for nesting sites.
It probably occurs, also, on all the other islands. The noio lives
wholly upon fish, to obtain which it habitually makes excursions
off shore ten or fifteen miles. Indeed comparatively little of its
food is obtained in shore, though occasionally the birds may be
seen slowly winnowing their way along the surf-streaked coast,
and scanning the heaving billows with anxious eye for their
quarry.

While following its prey on the broad ocean the noio is of
much service to the Hawaiian fishermen, and acts as his pilot;
for its presence in numbers in a given spot marks the where-
abouts of shoals of noi, a long silvery minnow, and there also is
sure to be found the aku, or skipjack, much sought after by the
fishermen.

This tern never dives for fish but with a quick stoop and a dip
of the head it seizes the unsuspecting minnow when close to the
surface.

In the olden time I learn that the natives used to raid the nest-
ing sites of the noio pretty regularly for both eggs and young,
the latter especially beirig esteemed delicacies as indeed were the
young of most sea-birds. For this purpose dark nights were
usually chosen and by means of torches and the help of clubs
the old birds, bewildered by the light, were easily secured.

‘A few straws picked up from the surface of the sea—a mere
apology for a nest—serves to keep the one egg from rolling off
the ledge. The egg is very large for the size of the bird, and
the ground color is light buff spotted heavily with dark brown
anid purplish.

Description.—Adult. Forehead and top of head ashy white, gradually
merging into sooty black of back; hind neck and upper part of back ashy
126 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

gray; wings sooty black; tail grayish; beneath sooty black. Length about
13.50 inches.

Gygis alba (Sparrman). White Tern.

Included by Mr. Dole in his list of 1869 and found by Palmer
breeding upon Laysan and Lisiansky Islands. Doubtiess this tern
will be found to occur upon the Hawaiian group, at least upon
the northern members, as an occasional visitor.

Description—Adult. White, eye encircled narrowly with black. Bill
and feet black. Length about 13 inches.

Larus barrovianus Ridgway. Point Barrow Gull.

Mr. Bryan reports (Key to the Birds of the Hawaiian Group)
iwo specimens of this gull as having been taken on the island of
Kauai by Mr. Francis Gay and a third as being in the Museum of
St. Louis College. The'atter was procured on the island of Maui
by Brother Matthias. These birds would seem to be accidental
strays from the Alaskan coast.

Description.—Adult. Head, neck, tail and under parts white; mantle
pale pearl gray.

In winter, head and neck streaked with brownish. Length about 25-28
inches.

Larus glaucescens, Naum. Glaucous-winged Gull.

This gull seems to be a rare and irregulas visitor to the island
of Hawaii and probably also to the other islands, especially to
Oahu. Every year or two, one or more individuals are seen about
Hilo harbor, evidently having followed vessels down from San
Francisco. Apparently these wanderers never attempt to return,
but their final fate is unknown.

According to Rothschild, Prof. Schauinsland obtained a spec-
imen of this species on Laysan. .

Description.—Adult. Mantle pearl gray; head and under parts white;
primaries with small white spots at the tips; in winter top of head and

hind neck streaked with dusky. Length about 25 inches. The young
are gray more or less variegated with white.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 127

Larus philadelphia (Ord). Bonaparte’s Gull.

Rothschild records the fact that a young female of this species
was obtained by Palmer at Poli-hule lake on Kauai, March 15,
1891. So far as known at present this is the first and only
record of the bird in the islands.

Description.—Adult. Head plumbeous; mantle pearl gray; under parts

white; feet orange red. Adult in winter has a white head and flesh color-
ed feet. Length from 12-14 inches.

Larus franklinii Sw. & Rich. Franklin’s Rosy Gull.

Mr. Bryan reports a single specimen of this species as having
been taken on the island of Maui by Brother Matthias. The
specimen is now in the St. Louis College cabinet. As this gull
is an inhabitant of the interior of the American continent the
presence on the islands even of a single individual must be re-
garded as very remarkable.

Description.—Adult. Head black, with white on eyelid; mantle plum-

beus; quills bluish gray, white tipped. In winter similar, but head white.
Length about 13.50-15 inches.

‘Larus delawarensis Ord. Ring-billed Gull.

” Mr, Bryan reports a single specimen of this gull as being in the
St. Louis’ College cabinet from the ‘“Hawaiian Islands.’ Like
several other of the American coast gulls its presence in the
Hawaiian Islands is accidental. In time, no doubt, all of the
northwest coast gulls will in like manner appear as casual vis-
itors.

Description —Adult. Mantle pearl gray; lower parts, white; bill green-
ish yellow, black banded near tip. Length about 18-20 inches.

Larus californicus Lawr. California Gull.

A specimen of this gull is reported by Mr. Bryan to be in the
St. Louis College cabinet from the “Hawaiian Islands.” Its pres-
ence here, like that of the preceding species, is, of course, purely
‘accidental.
128 | HAWAITAN BIRDS.

Description—Adult. Mantle dark gray; bill yellow with a crimson
spot near end of lower mandible; scapulars and secondaries broadly
tipped with white. In winter, head and neck broadly streaked with.
brown. Length about 20-23 inches.

LIST OF BIRDS INTRODUCED INTO THE ISLANDS.

For the sake of completeness a list of the birds that have been
purposely introduced into one or more of the islands of the group,
and that have become established, is appended. - For remarks
upon this subject more in extenso the reader is referred to a
paper by the author in the Hawaiian Annual for 1900.

PLOCEIDA. WEAVER BIRD FAMILY.
Munia nisoria punctata (Temm.). Rice Bird.

Originally introduced.from the Malayan Peninsula into Oahu,
but now apparently distributed over all the islands of the group
and abundant in most localities. Where there are no rice fields
the bird is harmless enough, but it is a nuisance in the rice
patches and the cause of much loss to the planter.

_ Description. —Adult. Above chocolate brown; shafts of feathers white ;
throat deep chestnut; sides of body streaked. Length about 4.50.

FRINGILLIDZ. FINCH AND SPARROW FAMILY.
Passer domesticus Linn. European House Finch:

Apparently this undesirable little pest (little in size but great
in its capacity for mischief) is chiefly, if not wholly, confined to
the island of Oahu, where it was first introduced. It is abundant
about Honolulu. By determined and sustained effort it would
be possible to exterminate the species in Oahu before it has
secured a foothold in the other islands, and so to eliminate it as a
certain source of danger to the agriculturalist. The history of
this finch in America and the extent of the damage it inflicts are
too well known to need repetition here.

Description —Adult male. Above brown, back streaked with black;
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 129-

wing twice banded with white; throat blackhead grayish with patch of
chestnut; under parts grayish. Female duller. Length 5.50-6.25.

Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis (Say). Crimson-headed Finch.
“Linnet.” :

This pretty finch is probably established on all the islands.
Upon certain parts of the islands of Hawaii and Maui it is ex-
ceedingly numerous and is increasing all the time. The wind-
ward and rainy regions are not well suited to its habits, but in
dry climates as in Kau, Hawaii, and in some districts of Maui
the bird flourishes remarkably and may there be seen in large
flocks. Were it not for its fruit-eating proclivities, the trim form
and pleasant song of this finch would make it a welcome addition-
to the island avifauna.

Description.—Adult male. Above ashy brown, streaked with darker;

forehead lores, throat, breast and rump crimson; sides much streaked
with brown; abdomen ashy. Female duller. Length about 5.50. »

STURNIDAZ. STARLING FAMILY.
Acridotheres tristis (Linn.). Mynah.

The mynah, originally a native of India, is now widespread
ever the islands, and there is no doubt that the bird is constantly
increasing in numbers. Notwithstanding that the mynah des-
troys vast numbers of insects and in this way is of direct and.
great value in the cane-fields, in the pastures and among horses and.
cattle, there is a strong and growing prejudice in the ines
against the bird.

The charge is made that the mynah invades the cote of the
domestic pigeon, and even ejects the eggs and young birds. That
the mynah sometimes dispossess the pigeon of its home there is:
no doubt, although, on the other hand, it not rarely shares a.por-
tion of the cote with the proper owners, and seems to rear its:
young on not unfriendly terms with them. The object of the
mynah is not direct injury to the pigeons—for apparently it. eats
neither their eggs nor their young—but is solely to find a safe

9-H B
130 = HAWAIIAN BIRDS. .

place for their own eggs, the mynah being partial to boxes and to
cavities in trees in which'to nest.

In any event little damage is to be apprehended from the above
source, since the cote can be freed from mynahs with but little
trouble. A much more serious charge against the mynah is that
it has a strong partiality for figs and other small fruits. The
bird is and always will be a nuisance to the fruit grower.

There is still another and even more serious charge made
against the mynah, viz.: that it destroys and drives away the
native birds. It is an undoubted fact that practically all native
Hawaiian birds aré diminishing in numbers, and the belief is
widespread that the mynah is directly responsible for the dimu-
nition.

Thus Mr. Rothschild in Vol. 111 of the Avifauna of Laysan, p.
300, states that the mynah “kills and eats the young and eggs of
small birds.” Unfortunately this author gives no specific cases,
and does not mention the birds attacked. Probably, however,
native birds are the ones in mind.

More recently still Mr. Perkins (Ibis for October, 1901) affirms
that the mynah “not only attacks and drives away other birds,
but also devours their eggs and young.” He adds further (p.
580) that he has himself seen the mynah “devouring both young
and eggs of other species.” Such evidence is of course conclusive
enough, although, again, it is unfortunate that more specific infor-
mation is not given.

Of course if the destruction of eggs and of the young of smaller
Species is a general and confirmed habit of the mynah, inquirers
need seek no further for the cause of the recent decrease in the
number of native birds, and the mynah should be condemned to
immediate extermination if that be possible. I believe, however,
the above observations to be highly exceptional, and that such
acts of the mynah are very rare.

I have had the mynah under observation in town, in pasture
land and in the forest for several years, having early surmised
that the bird might ultimately prove injurious to the native
‘species, and I have never seen a mynah attack or in any way
disturb a native bird, though hundreds of times I have observed
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 131

the small native species feeding in the same trees with mynahs,
neither paying the slightest attention tu the other. Nor has dil-
igent inquiry among the natives and settlers revealed anyone else
who has seen the mynah exhibit signs of hostility towards the
native birds. -

If any of the native birds nested in the cavities of trees, there is
not the slightest doubt that they wotld be dispossessed by the
mynah. Or if there was a conflict over food, the native birds
would soon be driven to the wall by the larger and fiercer mynah.
The food habits of the mynah seem, however, to conflict very lit-
tle, if any, with the native species.

Even a species which is in the main beneficial may increase to
such an extent as to be a nttisance, and such seems likely to be the
case with the mynah. Its numbers, even at present, are startling,
and there seems to be no limit to the possibilities of its increase.
Any altitude, high or low, is suited to its tastes. It is true that
the bird shuns the denser forest, but in tracts where the under-.
growth has been somewhat thinned by cattle it is entirely at
home, no matter how far from civilization.

It is distinctly possible that it is to the immense numbers of
the mynah, which sometimes seem to fill the forest trees with
their flocks, and to their harsh noises, rather to any direct hostil-
ity or injury by them, that is due the antipathy of native birds,
if such they have. So far as my own observations go I am bound
to state, as above, that: I have never noted such antipathy. Per-
haps the native birds passively endure the hated presence of the
noisy strangers till they finally abandon a locality in sheer dis-
gust. .

All theories aside, the important fact is that the mynah was
introduced into the Hawaiian Islands, unadvisedly as most think,
that the bird has increased to an amazing extent and is still in-
creasing without sign of abatement. I have endeavored to take
as optimistic a view of its presence in the Islands as possible, for,
apparently, the bird is here to stay. For the mynah is a wary
bird, and neither the gun, traps or poison are likely ever to have
any serious effect upon its numbers. The further increase of the
132 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

bird may, perhaps, be checked, though not without much expense,
but its extermination is practically impossible.

The lesson of its introduction into the Islands is an easy one to
read, and should be profited by.

Description.—Adult. Above brown, as also breast and sides; head and
neck blackish; a bare patch of yellow behind eye; wing barred with
white; abdomen and under tail-coverts white; bill yellow. Length about
9.50.

.

ALAUDIDZ, LARK FAMILY.
Alauda arvensis Linn. Skylark.

The European skylark was introduced into Oahu several years
since, and the experiment appears to have been a great success.*
The bird is now found in several parts of the island and seems to
be constantly increasing in numbers, though not very rapidly. I
believe that the bird is found in small numbers upon Maui. A
few have been brought from Oahu to the windward side of Ha-
waii, but their fate is at present unknown.

Description.—Adult. General color brown streaked with black; chest

buffy, black streaked; outer tail-feathers nearly all white. Length about
7-50.

PSITTACIDZ, PARROT FAMILY.
Platycercus palliceps., Blue-cheeked Parrot.

The presence of this parrot in a wild state was detected by
Palmer in 1892 on Haleakala, Maui, and several specimens were
secured. In June of 1901 the writer found the bird to be by no
means uncommon in the forest on the slopes of Haleakala at an

*The introduction of the skylark into these islands is to be credited to
Hon. A. S. Cleghorn, who imported them from.New Zealand in.the latter |
part of the year 1870. This initial lot was turned over to Judge Robt. |
Moffitt, of Kahuku, Oahu, who liberated them on the high table land of
Leilehua and open mountain slopes. A subsequent colony: from and ‘
through the same source was given to the late Albert Target, who. set —
them free at Moiliili, or upper Waikiki.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 133

altitude of about 6,000 feet. This locality, above Olinda, was
somewhere near the place where the bird was found by Palmer.

Those seen by me were mostly in pairs and probably were nest-
ing, so that I did not molest them. They were usually feeding
upon grass seeds on the edges of the forest, and when alarmed
immediately took refuge in its depths. Mr. H. P. Baldwin has
a small patch of corn at Olinda, and I was told that when this
was in the ear the parrots visited the patch in great numbers to
feed upon the ripening ears.

With reference to the origin of these wild parrots, I am in-
formed that they came from a pair which were liberated years
ago at Ulupalakua, East Maui, by Captain Makee. The pair re-
mained near the premises for a long time, until in fact they had
reared a young one, when they left.

This parrot is a native of eastern Australia.

Description.—Adult. Head pale yellow; cheeks white, bordered below
with blue; feathers of the nape, back and scapulars black, broadly mar-
gined with gamboge-yellow; rump feathers and upper tail-coverts very
pale greenish blue with the bases black; under surface bluish, each

feather fringed with black; under tail-coverts scarlet; wings blue. Length
about 13 inches. (Salvadori.)

COLUMBIDZ. DOVE AND PIGEON FAMILY.

Turtur chinensis (Scop.). Chinese Turtle Dove.

Introduced a number of years ago and now more or less abund-
ant on all the islands. This dove is partial to a dry climate, and
hence does not thrive and multiply on the windward side of Ha-
waii and the other islands as it does in the less rainy sections. In
some localities doves are exceedingly numerous, and are much
sought after by sportsmen. They are found in the mountains to
an altitude of at least 6,000 feet.

Description.—Adult. Upper parts generally light brown; hind neck
black with white spotting; occiput bluish gray; outer tail-feathers broadly
tipped with white. Length 12-13 inches.
134 HAWAIIAN BIRDS.
TETRAONIDZ. GROUSE AND QUAIL FAMILY.

Lophortyx californicus (Shaw. California Valley Quail.

Introduced many years ago and formerly abundant on all the
islands. In’ most regions the bird has been practically extermin-
ated from the lowlands but in certain localities, as upon Hawaii,
is still abundant in the regions above heavy timber, at an eleva-
tion of 6,000 or 7,000 feet, where the mongoose, its deadly enemy,
has but a slight foothold.

Description —Adult male. Above brownish ash; occiput brown; crest
black; throat black, bordered by white line;, breast slaty. blue; belly chest-

nut, with scale-like markings. Female smaller and duller. Length about
II inches.

PHASIANIDZ, PHEASANT FAMILY.
Phasianus torquatus Gmel. Mongolian Pheasant.

Introduced from China several years ago and now well estab-
lished on Oahu, Molokai and Kauai:

Description.—Adult male. Upper parts chestnut; a white ring around
the metallic green neck; breast with metallic reflections. Female duller
and smaller. Length 20 to 30 inches.

Phasianellus versicolor Vieill. Japanese Pheasant.

Occupies about the same status in the islands as the preceding
species.
Description.—Adult. General color dark green, lower neck and mantle

variegated with buff; no white nuchal ring. Female duller and blacker.
Length 24-29 inches.

RALLIDE, RAIL GALLINULE FAMILY.
Porphyrio melanotus Newton. Alae awi.

This Gallinule seems to be rather numerous in the taro patches
and rice swamps of Oahu, having been introduced from Australia.
So far as I am informed it has not reached the other islands.
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 185

Description——Adult. Above black; below bluish; thighs purplish
brown; under tail-coverts white; bill, frontal plate, legs and feet red.
Length about 17.25.

Many years ago the domestic fowl took to the forests and soon
became as wild there, and in as complete a state of nature, as be-
fore it was domesticated. In a similar way, though perhaps not
quite to the same extent, the turkey returned to its natural wild
state, and in many regions became abundant. Both species fur-
nished excellent sport, and supplied welcome tidbits for the table.
The introduction of the mongoose changed all this, and today.
both birds have been practically exterminated by that animal,
assisted, no doubt, by wild cats and wild dogs, both the latter
being numerous in some regions. 3
TABLE SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF
BIRDS (OTHER THAN INTRODUCED)
BY ISLANDS.

3

a
10 wes fey

NAME.

X indicutes a resident species: O ex-
tinct species; ¢ migrate and accidental,

- TAVAL
IVNVY]
[rvs o10onN
«S181 PIT),
1aqj0

 

 

 

Pheornis obscura, Omao
oahensis, Oahu eee
myadestina, Kamao... ac ez. || vous, | awaits 3 2
palmeri, Puaiohi. .............. vudea doxoece|oxeccel ake leovdesll cseees
lanaiensis, Oloma...............> caiseaalllinneaeilieoecan|acerselhccaaey

Acrocephalus familiaris, Miller

 

Chasiempis sandwichensis, Elepaio oa Lead saseas faseaecl sede oneal ae sects
tidgwayi*, Chestnut colored Ele- ;

 

pa
gayi, Oahu Elepaio .
schlateri, Kauai t lepaio
Corvus tropicus, Alala............
Hemignathus obscurus, Akialoa.. .
procerus, Tiwi bceeae aieigy iatiaasieueaareas
lanaiensis, Tanai Akialoa........
ellisianus, Oahu Akialoa
Heterorynchus wilsoni, Akipolaau.
lucidus, Oahu Akipolaau........
affinis, Maui Akipolaau... ....
hanapepe, Nukupuu ............
Viridonia sagittirostris,
Solitaire..............
Chlorodrepanis virens,
Amektbis seississ jccceecs tevvenectees
wilsoni, Maui Amakihi . ee
chloris, Oahu Amakihi ..
stejnegeri, Been 8 Amakihi.. dovaia rar sivad|espess: lastagn lee tate Re eter aeeays
parva, Alawi....... ... sivicds. Neaatonl|esieves [acatvelfeateda  leoase, | eae
Oreomyza mana, | Olive Green
Creeper... ee
perkinsi, Perkin’s ‘Creeper...
bairdi, Akikiki................
flammea, Kakawahie. ... esis
newtoni, Maui Creeper........ ‘
maculata, Oahu Creeper. 3
montana, Alauhiio.........- e. KES AS esses [a
Drepanis pacifica, Mamo......
funerea, Black Mamo..

  
 

 

  

     
 

 

Vestiaria cocinea, Tiwi ........ «2...
Palmeria dolei, Crested Honey

AtOD sccvecs ccs esases scecens, wendsen: leveces | Oe. |ssacesilessese leoesey peewses looneeny vveees
Himaiione sanguinea, Akakani..|X |X} xX |XX |X UCI

  
  

fraithii, Laysan Akakani..
Ciridops anna, Ulaaihawane........
Loxops coccinea, Akepeuie..... .-

*This form does not appear in the previous list. It is the Elepaio occupying much
of the windward side of Hawaii, there replacing sandwichensis which is confined to
the leeward side of the island. Ridgwayi is more deeply colored, and the white
“markings of sandwichensis are mostly replaced by chestnut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
138 TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION.

TABLE SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS (OTHER THAN
INTRODUCED) BY ISLANDS.

 

 

 

 

°
a = 5 = £ E a Lop =
Ss ale lslale | El ea
Rie : Al: “| 4 ae
NAME. Seas eter ie Do] | pe
7 : i ‘ : i nO
pe pr ft oe || oe
a is FF = zi eH
dra eile: oS oo
a ae ee ee a eee tae
Loxops rufa, Oahu Akepewie ........ | .--. |..-00 Jeseees I ices OP feaceeedvesi es
ochracea, Ochraceous Akepeuie.. |...... Xo. |lasedeehesswes loseacellgeacesifeumisel| sews
caeruleirostris, Ou-holowai... .. |sssss lessee |-serse I ssiae leew Xe Ilvewvssll- wesdca
Pseudonestor xanthophrys, Parrot- |
billed Koa. Finch... ......c00 cecsossee eves ds || IME | vezaue lovey |aeen, levers [sence wesnee
Psittirostra psittacea, Ou..... ........] KX | X | X | Xe |eeceeni| OX. [evaevell ossvaes
Olivacea, Oahu, Ou _...ccccce seeeeses | ceese Jeceese foroens leeeeee Oo Pl csssslleceven| conte,
Loxioides bailleui, Palila.. | NEE. | seared saresewnes Sahel] sac val Races: 4] ese [| Bitaee
Telespiza cantans, Laysan Finch. ., signet: | aie aaj|iacien sills neesl| Mamie wall eowecsif ents xX
Rhodacanthis palmeri, Hopue}
Orange Koa Finch... IX | ewsvae|eudeat eases |ensevallemerayllesseeell spieses

-flaviceps, Yellow-headed Koa
SHAMCH icc sist Ge veacarseiaed
Chloridops kona, Palila...........
Moho nobilis, O-0.....--....-++65

apicalis, Oahu O- Eaeeae rans Berit hea

 
  

bishopi, Molokai O

braccatns, O-o A-r..
Chetoptila angustipluma
Caryle alcyon,............
Buteo solitarius, Io..,.-.
Circus hudsonius, Marsh Hawk.
Pandion _ halisstus carolinensis,

 

 

 

“American Osprey............+
Asio accipitrinus sandwichersis, |
PileOs. sir snvsaiterd hentastrsmntiiss x
Strepsilas interpres, Akekeke, ... | xX
Charadrius squatarola, Black-
bellied Plover......----........ T
Gominicus fulvas, Kolea......... tT
Numenius tahitiensis, Kioea....... tT
Heteractitis incanus, Ulili.... .... T
Limosa lapponica baueri, Pacific
Godwit.........-.0004. eset sa canted
Calidris arenaria, Hunakai.....-..| T
Tringa acuminata, Sharp- tailed
Sandpiper...............6.055- vedas
Tringa maculata, Pectoral Band +
DIPCiscaccs, teacrerwunnaenisen
Galllongo delicata, Wilson’ s Snipe. | ft
Himantopus knudseni, Kukulu-
BCOss arises ace & Saewmawey sc ||seedes
Crymophilus fulicarius, Red Phal- ;

 

 

xX | X
eines xX/|xX
ae tld
Pei t
vee
Di Aatee ie:
aegeee xX | X

 

 

 

aeeeas

seeees

 

 

 
HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 189

TABLE SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS (OTHER
THAN INTRODUCED) BY ISLANDS.

 

Ss
ba
q
a

“TIVAV EL
OHVO
“avaAVYy

NAME.

c
&
ale
FE
e

se" * OWHITNT

(STST Talg,, THHLO
HHL LO NVSAV'Y

 

Crymophilus lobatus rea
Phalarope ................
Pennula millsi, Moho. §
BANGWICHENSIS., 00.011. —sssveeee seeees
. Porzanula palmeri, Laysan Crake. .
Fulica alai, Alae Keokeo.........
Gallinula zaleata sandwichensis,
Alae Ulasnsicssces — neiaavad ccesseye KG eevee xX/1X x
Ardea sacra, AUkWU. vse eee ole Phe saaalliseres ssisavelloee-cue
Nycticorax nycticorax griseus, Au-
kuu Kabili.........ck ccsesees cceeeeeee Rp Me | RR RN ewes
Plegadis guarauna, Glossy Ibis... .|......|......|eeeeee NM flees suvete
Bernicla sandwichensis, Nene........ Ke || Oo eaneion lenwietell be aves a pateal| SRaveen
Branta nigricans, Black Brant...... |... To [Suede agenes gate [sarees
bar eens minima, Cackling

 

Chen “Tiyperbaten, Lesser Snow
GOOG: ic sccccnves axiderecraey, eberaeea Sevecel Hl eee ll aawes sesseliaetes sins Tt
Anser albifrons gambeli, White-
fronted Goose. . wc. 1. ce eee | oT
Dafila acuta, Pintail...........- eee +

 
 
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spatula clypeata, Koloa Moha.......| +
Anas americana, Baldpate. ... at
boscbaa, Mallard .. si -
earolinensis, Green-winged Te sates aaaees T
wyvilliana, KO OAs vids eeseccasceviacs x ie oe Lidl soiree
laysanensis, Tia ¥ SAI TOA ci cecsses. pesaver'|acanse: votes. /oasecdl exeseee ppeceza'| essay x
Mergus serrator, Red- breasted
Merganser. T decceeellicezess T teeelinns teens |) See
Clarltonsite albeola, Bufiie-head.... |...... oT Wiswees leoveves|eeeee: stvecfiewas|  T
Fregata aquila, [wae ....csce sscesssecee [esos Pee ce i ted ae t
Phacrocorax pelagicus, Pelagic
COLMOLAtIb ee esses cccanssccensrcceen: LPP sence |ersse recess [iveesslleeecs « lees ¥en t
Sula cyanops, Masked Gannet...... tT
piscator, Red-footed Booby....2... | cc cece |eeeee cree | To] eee t t
Bula, Booby........ 2+ -scssssee cooeeree wteelfeasess t
Phethon. lepturus Koae.............. ee tivactva te
rubricauda, Red-tailed Koae... Fel ageeel) sieee | eae tees xX/xX| X
Puffinus cuneatus, Wedge-tailed
Puli as..sccccsss seersasssinseres voessene fa ai aXe Teaees X
newelli, Newell’s Puffin..... ... 0... Jee X hee | aeecs
nativitatis, Christmas Island
Shearwater .. we X
Oceanadroma castro, “Ake Ake. ..... Xx
fuliginosa, Sooty Petrel. .... . x
Bulweria bulweri, Bulwer’s Petrel. xX

 

 
140 TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION,

TABLE SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS (OTHER
THAN INTRODUCED) BY ISLANDS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Z|°g

PIBIEI S| eli) #| ae

a4/q/4]/8 a) mh] aw

B/P)R RIS) ale | ae
NAME. : fi fi fe > ee

4 . * 7 wy

mfew ye : 5 a

: : ; 3 ‘ ay

Pl LA 2

}
Aestrelata phaopygia sandwichen-

S1S', UMA Uses oa sevaiycttseeed cerestecrexs- |) OX 7 Xx x
hypoleuca, salvin’s White-breast-

, 0D Petrels. .....00. 00 dees: slsadaasen, || hescooi|acece:¥ tacks aos | a nasal aaese al) lavanane’ [ae veuein t
Diomedie immutabilis, White Al-

DALTONS 000 isci: assiees nciawesngsence [oodles x [b pvedecsee ewiee |! OS x

nigripes, Brown Gooney.......... | ft |. tc] #s ate dase’ fot x
Sterna fuliginosa, Ewaena .. ....... wave Selhcvanel > Deg he DE? | G2 x
lunata, Pakalakala .......... ... aitex ans gills oceania (ao apeens x
paradisea, Arctic Tern..... . els Lites reas lone’ | wees
Sterna melanauchen... ..... ......00 0 t iia Gaeeal| oth ||! ee Wl eae
Anous stolidus, Noddy Tern......... | + X |X| X/....] xX
hawaiiensis, Noio.......... — se | X ee xX | xX|xXj|xX p.¢
Gygis alba, White Tern....... «2. [esse Nimclliccse|wawdleais|| eS
Larus barrovianus, Point Barrow

GODS Ssaseaes edscegn aveveesen wee celine + | ¢ t +
glaucescens, Glaycous-winged ;

GQ Ss eveccaves seeceviexancawaias. asneece t a | seteiore t
philadelphia, Bonaparte’s GuJl.. |. ..!....).. L =| ae
franklinii, Franklin’s Rosy Gull. |. - t seslserceallhivae Sisstotel [A aes
delawarensie, Ring-billed Gull. . t al OF doseediccacal sees
californicus, California Gull..... t Sts shaaraieiae a6

 

The above list contains 125 species, including residents, migrants and strays, together
with afew that are extinct or practically so. 11 additional species have been intro-
duced into one or more islands, and now are more or less firmly established. There
are 60 species of woodland Passeres that are endemic and are peculiar to the islands,
these being distinctively the Hawaiian Birds,
INDEX.

Acridotheres tristi S, Mynah obs

129
Acrocephalus familaris, Miller
Bird Giro cesta webtawersucts $2502 33
strelata. hypoleuca, Slavin’s
white breasted Petrel .... 121
——phaeopygia | sandwichensis,
WUE ior cGnticamnaran sens 119
Akakani; Apapani ............. 56
Ake-Ake, Hawaiian Stormy Pet-
PO) iscos xc winesewe sas vers 118
Akekeke; Turnstone, Strepsilas
pinterpres ..... cece eee eee 86
Akepeuie; Loxops. coccinea ..... 58
curiosity of ......... 60
——Oahu; Loxops rufa ........ 61
—Ochraceus; Loxops. ochracea 62
Akiapolaau, Heterorhynchus wil-
GON ’ cies igewasqaneas oe eee 40
——Woodpecker functions of ... 40
Akikiki, Oreomyza bairdi ...... 48
Alae Awi, Porphyrio melanotus. 134
—Keokeo, Fulica.alae ........ 99
—Ula, Hawaiian Gallinule .... 100
Alala, Hawaiian Crow .......... 36
Alauhiio, oreomyza montana .... 51

Alauda arvensis, Skylark
-Its introduction (see note)

Alawi, Anauanii ............... 46
Albatross, White, Diomedea im-
mutabilis ............005 122
Amakihi Hawaii ............... 43
—— Maul, yee cioaeeheneness 45
———Oaht as via tsoanweeans iokes 45
——Stejener’s .........ce cece 45
American Osprey, Pandion hali-
-aetus carolinensis ........ 85
——White-fronted Goose ....... 108
Anas americaga, Baldpate ...... 109
——boschas, Mallard ... : 109
——carolinensis, Green- winged
al ecgie wdosantena see ohne 109
——laysanensis, Laysan Teal ... 111
——wyvilliana, Koloa........... 110
Anous -hawaiiensis,.Noio ....... 125
—stolidus, Noddy Tern ...... 124
Anauanity es520escs wae aac 46
Annual migratory birds sherawat’ 7,8
Anser .albifrons. gambeli,. Amer-
ican white-fronted Goose.. 108!-

 

Apapani; Akakani ............. 56
Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisea.. 123
Ardea sacra, Aukuu ............ IOI
Asio accipitrinus sandwichensis,

Short-eared Owl; Pueo... 78
Aukuu, Ardea sacra ............ 101
—Kahili: Black crowned Night

Hletom.. pass 442s vaveencns 102
Baldpate, Anas americana ...... 109
Battle of the Owls, Hawaiian

Myth) jeu.s eee nee feces eaves 78
Belted ee Ceryle alcyon: 77
Bernicla sandvicensis, Nene .... 103
Bird catchers ....... doves © 2A
—_ — restrictions | in 1 olden

TING 2.8 ss otsieuik Va Coie 52, 70
Black-bellied Plover, Charadrius

squatarola ............... 87
——Brant, Branta nigricans .... 107
— Crowned Night Heron, Au-

kuu Kahili .............. 102
—Mamo. Drepanis funeria... 53
Blonde bird.collection .......... 25
Blue-cheeked Parrot, Platycereus

palliceps ..... 132
Bonaparte’s Gull, Larus "philadel-

phia .... . 127
Booby, Red- footed. “Sula ‘piscator 113
2—, Stila: sida wees weree 114
Bos’n, Koae ....! 114
Branta canadensis n minima,  Cack-

ling. Goose .......-...00 00s 107
—nigricans. Black Brant .... 107
Bridled Tern, Pakalakala ....... 123
Bristled-thighed Curlew, Kioea.. 91
Brown Gooney, Diomedia ni-

PTIPES: sevacwa ck ewworsaass 122 |
Buffle-head, Charitonetta albeola. 111
Bulweria bulweri, Bulwer’s Pet-

Fel! Andarnahaw auc gat eins 119
Buleo solitararius, Io .......... 80.
Cackling Goose. Branta cana-

densis. minima ........... 107

)| California Gull, Larus californi-
127

ao yaley Quail, | Lophortyx ¢ ‘cal
ifornicus . baw . 134 -
142

Calidris arenaria, Hunakai; San-

Oerling” scaie weds ouee deanna 93
Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis,

Crimson-headed Finch ... 129
Ceryle alcyon, Belted Kingfisher 77
Chactoptila angustipluma ....... 76
Charadrius dominicus’ fulvus, Ko-

1A shiek ga on tition tea ten aan 88
——squatarola, Black bellied

Plover ssucesaye rans esac 87

Charitonetta albeola, Buffle-head 111

Chasiempis gayi, Oahu Elepaio.. 35
—sandwichensis. Elepaio .... 33
—schlateri, Kauai Elepaio .... 35
Chen hyperborea. Lesser Snow |
GOOSE: 5 ess sianiga eae oa 107
Chinese Turtle Dove, Turtur
chinensis ...........ceeee 133
Chloridops Kona, Palila ........ 69
Chlorodrepanis chloris, Oahu
Amakihi ......... 6.000005 45
——parva, Alawi; Anauanii .... 46,
——stejnegeri. Amakihi ....... 45
—virens, Hawaii Amakihi .... 43
—wilsoni, Maui Amakihi ..... 45
Christmas Island Shearwater,
Puffinus nativitatis ....... 118
Circus hudsonius, Marsh Hawk. 84
Ciridops anna, Ulaaihawane .... 57
Cook’s collections .............. 24
Corvus tropicus, Hawaiian Crow,
AV Ala saiiiesehautinnscaes ye kin 36
Crested Honey-eater, Palmeria
GOlel is 2dmeapadeed ins beas 54
Crimson-headed Finch. “Linnet’’: 129
Crymophilus fulicarius, Red Pha-
larope: caidsadtirccunie ies aes 95
Dafila acuta. Koloa mapu...... 108
Deforestation of Hawaii........ 9
—— Result: of aici sss ss sisaregures 18
Destruction of Hawaiian For-
ESES astral adn Grosse aus tenake , 10
Diomedea immutabilis, White Al-
batross: ssesces esis weawass 122
—nigripes, Brown Gooney .... 122

Disastrous effects of inbreeding. 12, 13
Diseases of Hawaiian Birds ....

stiles ne tds Mele 20, 21, 60, 61
Distribution of Birds, Table of.. 137
Dole’s Accipiter Hawaii ....... 84, 85
— Synopsis of birds of Hawaii-

an Islands
Drepanis funeria, Black Mamo ..
——pacifica, Mama

 

HAWAIIAN BIRDS.

Elepaio, chasiempis sandwichen-

1S) “sonar eee cas wee eee 33
—ceuriosity of ............06. 34
—~—hunting ground of ......... 34
——its place in Hawaiian myth-

.. COPY + sissscvxecraaviecas 34
Environmental changes disastrous ©

to Hawaiian birds ....... Io
European House Finch. Passer

domesticus ...........00- 128
Ewaena. Sooty Tern .......... 122
Extinct Dirds .............0000

.-12, 14, 19, 32, 51, 66, 73, 76
Faunal Zones ..........0000eeee 16
Feather cloaks or mantles ..... 51, 52

Finch, Crimson-headed, “‘Linnet” 129
——European house, Passer do-

MICSHCUS 6 is actieweun gees 128
——. Laysan, Telespiza cantans.. 67
——,.Orange Koa. Rhodacanthis
palmeri ..............0005
—, Yellow-headed Koa, Rhoda-
canthis flaviceps ..........
Forest Trees ...........00- 9, 18, 19
=——— LONE 66 odesiccawyeneces 2 18, 19
Franklin’s Rosy Gull, Larus
franklinii ................ 127
Fregata aquila, Iwa ............ 112
Fulica alai. Alae Keokeo ....... 99
Gallinago _ delicata. Wilson’s
STIPE Ls aiiaalaee ees we are 04
Gallinula galeata sandwicensis, ~
Alde ula. secccaciciias sas 100

Gannet, Masked. Sula cyanops . 113

Glaucous-winged Gull. Larus
glaucescens ...........60 126
Glossy Ibis, Plegadis guarauna.. 103
Golden Plover (Pacific), Kolea. 88
Gooney. Brown, Diomedia ni-
SQTIPES se ecics ciiewswus sess 122

Goose, American White-fronted. 108

—cackling, Branta canadensis

minima ..........0-.. v.«. 107
-——Hawaiian. Nene .......... 103
——Lesser Snow. Chen hyper-

bored, wonewresss seemewedee 107
Green Solitaire, Viridonia sag-

ittirostris ............0000 43
Green-winged Teal. Anas caro-

MLR ENSIS.. aces eases s-d,0 s.prersprenas 109
Gull, Bonaparte’s, Larus phila-

delph 1a. soyewmamied eye es bases 127
—California, Larus californicus 127
INDEX,

 

Franklin’s Rosy, Larus
franklinii ........... ee eee 127
—Glaucous-winged. Larus glau-
sCOSCENS: ps ieis sce ds augiennngeaas ies 126
—Point Barrow, Larus barro-
WNINAUS. “5. eau dae tee ss 126
——Ring-billed. Larus delawar-
SEMSIS, 3 eo stvis aialinagenwern eid aa 127
Gygis alba. White Tern ....... 126

Hawaiian Akialoa, Hemignathus

SODSCUMS. ncuceaaueeesceate 37
——Birds,. Renewed activity in

study Of picccaxcxieceaaws 28

—— .——Diseases of .......... 20
——Environmental changes

disastrous to ...... 10

— Inbreeding of ...11, 12, 13
—Meager knowledge of. 3,6
——Mongoose a formidable

 

way foe Of assvsecadee 17, 105
— —Origin of ............ 21
—— -——Probable future of ... 14
——Crow, Alala................ 30
——-Forests, Destruction of .... 9
—Gallinule, Alae ula ......... 100
——Goose, Nene ............00- 103
——Myth, Battle of the Owls... 78
—-Owl, Pueo ...........0500e 78
— Stormy Petrel, Ake-Ake .... 118
Hawaii Amakihi, Chlorodrepanis
VITENS ey sctioapieainewe- caves 43
—as an ornithological field... 7
Hemingnathus ellisianus ....... 39
‘Janaiensis 12... cece eee 39
—obscurus, Akialoa .......... 37
——procerus, Tiwi .............. 38
Heteractitis incanus, Ulili ...... 92
Heterorhynchus affinus ......... 42
——hanapepe, Nukupuu ........ 42
Ye JUCHUUS sawaeea ie ce ieee wavs © 41
—wilsoni. Akiapolaau ....... 40
Himantopus Knudseni, -Kukulu-
EO. ag dda atineinenconeanww 95
Himatione fraithii, Layson Aka-
RAM access pee ch344 sarees 57
— sanguinea, Akakani; Apapani 56
Hopue, Orange Koa Finch ..... 68
Hunakai, Sanderling............ 93
liwi, Hermignathus procerus ... 38
——POpOlO oe ee ce eee e ee eeeeeee 23
——, Vestiaria coccinea ........ 53
Inbreeding, its disastrous effects

II, 12, 13

 

-Lowland Zone

Introduction .............00000%
Io, Buteo solitarius ............
twa, Man-o’-War Bird .........
Japanese Pheasant, Phasianellus

versicolor sss issiceseeexss
Kakawahie, oreomyza flammea .
Kamao, Pheornis mydestina ....
Kauai Elepaio, Chasiempis schlat-

CEL» haere hese auct ue ania ones
Kingfisher Belted, Cerycle alcyon
Kioea, Bristle-thighed curlew ...
Knudsen’s collections of natural

TAIStORY® 265 vs cee aisucssymaceautie
Koae, Red-tailed Tropic Bird...
—., Salmon-tailed Tropic Bird,

Bos’n.
Koa Finch, Orange, Hopue
— —, Parrot-billed
—  —Yellow headed .......
Koa forests, probable extinction

Oli onisndintnannmumlan Sears
Koloa, Anas wyvilliana

——, Golden Plover ............
——Mapu, Pin-tail Duck .......
—moha, Shoveller ...........

Knudsen’s Stilt, Kukuluaeo ....
Kukuluaeo, Himantopus knud-
SON. sanaeav- ene canes baidaea
Larus barrovianus, Point Barrow
GUL ssiitigtas's soaty sox'e apse
—californicus, California Gull.
——delawarensis, Ring billed
Gill adit eoasicncemieve-ceecara
——franklinii, Franklin’s Rosy
Gull) eis sence acactseoes
——glaucescens, Glaucous-winged
Goll ccc iccnccadanedaeur
See celia Bonaparte’s
iSeean aaa Himatione
Than s-s.catachosscmedswe

——Crake, Porzanula palmeri ..
-——Finch, Telespiza cantans....
—Teal, Anas laysanensis .....
Lesser Snow Goose, Chen hyper-

borea
Limosa lapponica baueri, Pacific

Godwit .............0.025
Localization of certain birds ....

| Lophortyx californicus, Califor-

nia Valley uel

134

126
127

127
127
126
127

57

67
III

107

93
12
——Amakihi,. Chlorodrepanis
Ghllneis . gees cose :

144 .
Lower Forest Zone ............ 18
Loxioides balleui, Palila ....... 67
Loxops ceruleirostris, Ou-holo-
Wal. goci-aneenhed v2 oes cain 62
——coccinea, Akepeuie ........ 58
———ochracea,, Ochraceus Akepe-
WIE’ 5s sewiuiedel Wan es 460 62
——rufa, Oahu Akepeuie....... 61
Mallard; Anas boschas ......... 109
Mamo, Drepanis pacifica ....... 5I
Man-o-War Bird, Iwa ......... 112
Marsh. Hawk, Cirus hudsonius.. 84
Masked Gannet, Sula cyanops ..-113
Maui, Amakihi, Chlorodrepanis
Wilsoni oo... cece eee eee e ee 45
Merganser serrator, Red- breasted
Merganser. ......eeeeeeee 111
Middle Forest Zone ...........5 18
Miller oe Acrocephalus fami-
lar iSicwecv ee esenk weetameeees 33
Moho apical Oahu O-O....... 73
——bishopi, Molokai O-O ...... 73
—braccatus,, O-O A-A ....++- 74
——nobilis, O-O .......-.-e eee 70
——, Pennula millsii ..........- 96
Mongolian. Pheasant, Phasianus
torquatus 00... eee eee eee 134
Mongoose ....... 17, 96, 104, 105, 110
-Munia, nisoria punctata, Rice
Bird. icc.deawwns: eceesaa wee 128
Mynah, Acridotheres tristis .... 129
—, Effect of, on native birds.. 131
— Decrease .of native birds
through, questioned isan 130
Nature Study now pacenret 3
Nene,. Hawaiian. Goose... «+. 103
—, its breeding season “and
grounds ... veeee 105
—, young difficult to rear ere 104
Newell's Puffin, Puffinus.newelli. 117
Noddy Tern, Anous stolidus .... 124
Noio,.Anous hawaiiensis ....... 125
Northern Phalarope,; Phalaropus
Jobatis: os 5 fecaseghsiciaanyss artes 96
Nukupuu,. Heterorhynchus hana-
PEPE aces cud bay somueieceirsdoes 42
Numenius. tahitiensis,. Kiaea .... 91
Nyoticorax . See griseus, —
Aukuu. Kahili .. sees 102
Oahu Alkepenie, icon rufa.. 61

45

 

INDEX.,

——Creeper, Oreomyza maculata 50
——Elepaio, Chasiempis gayi.... 35
——Ou, Psittirostra olivacea ... 66

 

—tThrush, Phzornis oahuensis. 31
Obstacles to field study ......... 8
Oceanodroma.castro,. Ake-Aké.. 118
——fuliginosa, Sooty Petrel .... 119
Ochraceus Akepeuie ........... 62
Olive-green. Creeper, Oreomyza
Mana. “sss ssaemaesnes ae ahs 46
Olomao, Phzornis lanaiensis ./. 33
Omao,. Pheornis obscura ....... 29:
—curious habit of ..........-. 30-
O-O A-A, .Moho braccatus ..... 74
—, Moho nobilis ............. 70.
—, Molokai, Moho bishopi .... 73
——, Oahu, Moho apicalis ...... 73
Orange Koa. Finch, Hopue...... 68
Oreomyza bairdi, Akikiki ...... 48
-——flammea, Kakawahie ....... 49
——mactlata, Oahu Creeper .... 50
—mana, Olive-green Creeper.. 46
——montana, Alauhiio ......... 51
——newtoOmi ........cc ccc cece 49
——-perkinsi, Perkins’ Creeper .. 47
Origin of Hawaiian Birds....... 21
caution! Field, Hawaii as
Ede the desea 2 artisans 7
— noe in-the islands,
History of ............... 24
——knowledge of Hawaiians.... 22
— studies, Obstacles-to-........ 8
Osprey,- American ............. 85
Ou-holowai, Loxops feeriileinose
TIS esis as Qa deiewe wee aes “62
—, Psittirostra psittasea Sikes 64.
—, si Senesiee of island birds 64
Pacific: Godwit, Limosa lapponica
SHAS tis sa se yada eurnee 6 93:
-—Golden Plover, Kolea ...... 88
Pakalakala; Bridled Tern ...... 123
Palila, Chloridops kona ........ 69
, Loxioides ‘bailleui......... 67
Palmeria dolei, Crested Honey
ater: <i oeinve atectuees 68 G00 54.
Pandion . baliaetus carolinensis,
American. Osprey \......5.. 85
Parrot-billed Koa Finch ........ 63
-Blue-cheeked, pee
T  apallieepa ac . 132 -
Passer. . _domesticus, "European
House’ Finch a Geicnjeugintete age. L2G

—~, Oahu, .Psittirostra. olivacea. 66.
HAWAITAN BIRDS,

ae sandpiper, Tringa macu-
ALE. sracpanoces 8 ea Vow evened alee
Pelagic cormorant, Phalacrocorax

pelagicus
Pennula millsii, Moho
-—sandwichensis
Perkins Creeper, Oreomyza per-

kinsi

94

—(R. C. L.) important collec- -

tions
Petrel, Bulwer’s, Bulweri bulweri
——., Hawaiian Stormy, Ake-Ake
——,, Salvin’s White-breasted ...
——, Spoty, Oceanodromo fuligi-
nosa
Phezeornis lanaiensis, Olomao ....
——myadestina, Kamao
——oahuensis, Oahu Thrush ....
~—obscura, Omao; Kamao ....
—palmeri, Puaiohi
Phaethon lepturus, Koae;
mon-tailed Tropic
Bos’n,
—rubricauda,. Koae; Red-tailed
Tropic Bird
Phalacrocorax pelagicus, Pelagic

Bird,

cormorant ........-ee eee
Phalarope, Northern, Phalaropus
TOBatus: © va vx wruaige away ese
——, Red, Crymophilus fulicarius
Phalaropus lobatus, Northern
Phalatope <ssccsvees sa eaas
Phasianellus versicolor, Japanese
PHEASANE cic cane nee eeees
Phasianus torguatus, Mongolian
Pheasant. «23 vsaeseceae ass
Pin-tail Duck, Koloa mapu .....
Platycercus palliceps, Blue-

cheeked Parrot
Plegadis guarauna, Glossy Ibis
Plover, Black-bellied, Charadrius
squatarola
——., Pacific Golden, Kolea
Point Barrow Gull, Larus bar-
rovianus
Porphyrio melanotus, Alae awi ..
Porzanula palmeri, Laysan Crake
Powers of adaptation to new con-
ditions
Pseudonestor xanthophrys, Par-
rot-billed Koa Finch
Psittirostra olivacea, Oahu Ou ..
——psittacea, Ou . seve see veils
Puaiohi, Phzornis palmeri

118
121

119
33
31
31
29
32

114

116

112

96
95

96
134

134
108

132
103

87

126
134

 

 

145

Pueo (Hawaiian) Short-eared
¢ OWL ensekccees oswadewees 78
Puffinus cuneatus, Uau Kane.... 117
—newelli, Newell’s Puffin .... 117
——-nativitatis, Christmas Island
Shearwater .............. 118
Quail, California Valley, Lophor-
tyx californiens .......... 134
Rainfall and Temperature ...... 18
Red-breasted Merganser, Mer-
ganser serrator .......... Ill
— footed Booby, Sula piscator . 113
——Phalarope, Crymophilus fuli-
CATIUS sections dsauchaute eae 05
Rhodacanthis flaviceps, Yellow-
headed Koa Finch ....... 69
——palmeri, Hopue; Orange Koa
FUniGhh, frie e's-h cca g ete vinsaceccbaieass 68
Rice Bird, Munia nisoria punc-
hab ai os scat ceehrancinmnoee 128
Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawar-
C1ISIS Gecko tunssar eae seas 127
Salvin’s White-breasted Petrel.. 121
Sanderling, Hunakai ........... 93
Sandpiper, Pectoral, Tringa ma-
CUA GAs «ected Suanassoe od eadarme ane wre 94
——sharp-tailed, Tringa acumi-
Mata’ jitocice oy yretersic Bain Oe 94
Scotorhythra idolias, Span-worm 9
Shearwater, Christmas Island,
Puffinus nativitatis ....... 118
Short-eared Owl .......... 17, 78, 79
Shoveller, Koloa moha ......... 108
Skylark, Alauda arvensis ....... 132
——, its introduction (see note). 132
Snipe, Wilson’s, Gallinago deli-
GOI <cieete seek nwes danas 94
Sooty Petrel, Oceanodroma fuli-
PINOSA: areranevaceneaw acon ay 119
Tern, Ewaena ...........-. 122
Span-worm damages to the koa. 9
Spatula clypeata, Koloa moha,
Shoveller siicwasccneccecen 108
Stejener’s Amakihi ............. 45
Sterna fuliginosa, Ewaena; Sooty
PP QGi «x dscuaaieceig oa Gk ea eee 122
-—lunata, Pakalakala; Bridled
Pein. aihintdewineg-vadee ae 123
—melanauchen ............... 124
——paradisza, Arctic Tern ..... 123
Stormy Petrel, Hawaiian, Ake-
PRE le ccccioaibisesaatene eee 4 118
146 INDEX.

Strepsilas interpres, Akeke; Turtle Dove, Chinese, Turtur
Touchstone ..........5+5 . 86 chinensis ...........0005-

Sula cyanops, Masked Gannet .. 113

 

piscator, Red-footed Booby . 113
—sula, Booby 114

Table of distribution of birds,

other than introduced ..... 137
Tatler, Wandering, Ulili ....... 92
Teal, Green-winged, Anas caro-

UWMORSIS: sate. seisesve sted sec voniace 109

, Laysan, Anas laysanensis.. I11
Telespiza cantans, Laysan Finch. 67
Temperature, average range ...17, 18
Tern, Arctic, Sterna paradisza.. 123

 

—RBridled, Pakalakala ........ 123
—Noddy, Anous stolidus ..... 124
——Sooty, Ewaena ............. 122
——White, Gygis alba .......... 126
Townsend’s observations...... 26

Tringa acuminata, Sharp-tailed

Sandpiper 9.
—maculata, Pectoral Sandpiper 94
Tropic Bird, Red-tailed, Koae .. 116
—Salmon-tailed, Koae .. 114
Turnstone, Akekeke

 

 

Uau Kane, Wedge-tailed Puffin. .
Ulaaihawane, Ciridops anna ....
Ulili, Wandering Tatler
Upper Forest Zone
Uuau, Astrelata

~  sandwichensis

" phasophygia

Vestiaria coccinea, liwi
Viridonia  sagittirostris,
Solitaire

Green

Wandering Tatler, Ulili
Wedge-tailed Puffin, Uau Kane.
White Albatross, Diomedea im-
mutabilis
Tern, Gygis alba
Wilson’s Snipe, Gallinago deli-
cata

 

4| Wingless Bird .......... Seo sbrees

Woodpeckers needed

Yellow-headed Koa Finch, Rho-
docanthis flaviceps

133
117
57
92
19
119
53
43

92
II7

122
126

94
40
ESTABLISHED 1870.

THOS. G. THRUM,
Stationer, Book-seller and Publisher

1063 FORT STREET, HONOLULU.

 

THE HAWAIIAN ANNUAL.—The recognized reference hand
book of Hawaii published each December for the following year,
devoted to Statistics, Research, and general information relating
to Hawaii’s progress, An 8vo. of 200 or more pages. Price 85
cents by mail. Issues prior to 1890 (as is also 1896) are scarce
and out of print, and have long commanded a premium.

EARLY NORTHERN PACIFIC VOYAGES.--—A narrative of
several trading voyages from 1818 between the northwest coast,
Hawaii and China, by Peter Corney, with Preface and Appendix
of Confirmatory Letters by W. D. Alexander; 12 mo. cloth, 13g
pp. price $1.00,

HAWAIIAN GRAMMAR,—A short synopsis of the most essen-
tial points, by Prof. W. D. Alexander; 60 pages, paper cover,
price 60 cents.

’” HAWAIIAN FERNS.—A synopsis by Edward Bailey; 62 pages,
paper, price 75 cents,

BIRDS OF THE HAWAIIAN ISL‘ANDS, with notes on their
habits, by H. W. Henshaw; an 8 vo. of 146 pages, paper cover,
which here speaks for itself. Price $1.00 each.

THE ISLANDER.—A literary weekly of 34 numbers, issued in.
1875; of special value for its papers on Land Matters of the Ha-
waiian Islands by C. J. Lyons. Price by mail $2.50, bound, or
$2.00 unbound.

Address with remittance.

THOS. G. THRUM,
Publisher, etc.,

P. O. Box 205. Honolulu.
 

FROM PRESS OF
HAWAIIAN GAZETTE COMPANY

HONOLULU

 
Se
oe