44 Director's Annual Report. 



taking good care to keep themselves well screened behind thick 

 bunches of leaves, for they are a suspicious and wary bird. After 

 watching this bird for some time I hardened my heart and added 

 him to the collecftion in the Museum. I have found five nests of 

 this species, but as yet no eggs. The nests are visually in the ohia 

 trees. A fresh nest taken February 23 measures 5X5 in diameter 

 on the outside, and 2.25X2 on the inside ; depth, i.io. This nest 

 was found in an ohia tree about 20 feet from the ground; elevation, 

 1300 feet. The outside of the nest was of moss interwoven with 

 small leie roots, with a foundation of small twigs ; the inside was 

 of fine hair-like dried fibres of leaves which looked almost like horse- 

 hair. With a good microscope I carefully examined the stomach 

 contents of ten Apapane ; remains of insecfts and larvae together 

 with bits of stamens and pollen from the ohia were found in all. 



The Apapane is a bright crimson in color, brighter on the 

 head ; slightly gray shading into white on lower belly, and under 

 tail-coverts white ; tails and wings, black. Our series of twenty 

 specimens will not corroborate Mr. Wilson's statement in the "Aves 

 Hawaiienses" that "the females differ from the males in having the 

 general crimson of the plumage of a distincftly lighter shade, while 

 the crimson on the outer edge of the secondaries is of the same 

 .shade as the rest of the plumage, whereas in the males it is of much 

 lighter tint." In the birds before me all the fully adult specimens, 

 both male and female, have the edging of the secondaries the same 

 color as the mantle; while in the immature of both sexes the edging 

 of the secondaries has a yellowish color ; they probabh- do not lose 

 this sign of immaturity until the second year, as I have taken birds 

 that were nesting which still showed a faint trace of orange-yellow- 

 ish on their secondaries. In general color the difference in the 

 sexes is so slight as to often be unappreciable. 



A young female just beginning to assume the first indica- 

 tion of red was taken February 27. The general color of this 

 bird was grayish tinged with dirty ochraceous ; belly and un- 

 der tail-coverts, white ; a slight trace of crimson appearing on 

 head and mantle ; edgings on the outer webs of the secondaries and 

 wing-coverts, reddish buff ; base of lower mandible, yellowish ; a 

 slight white marking near the end of the outer webs of the second, 

 third and fourth primaries as in adult birds. This specimen meas- 

 ured as follows : L,ength, 5; spread of wing, 7; wing, 2.53; tail, 



