Sori/c Birds of Molokai. 51 



would occasionally be answered by some unwary bird, thus dis- 

 closing its whereabouts, but as a rule they failed to respond. 

 Earlier in the season, during the aclual mating, the call is more 

 generall}- given and answered by the birds throughout the day, but 

 by the time of our visit the birds were mated and sitting together 

 in the burrows. On several occasions two birds were pulled from 

 the same burrow. Later on, I was informed, when the single 

 glossy white ^%% is laid, it is a common occurrence to find one or 

 the other parent birds sleeping outside the burrow, while its mate 

 sits on the nest within. 



July is given as the time when the ^^^ is laid. The young in 

 the down\- stage, are always taken in late September and October. 

 October 10 is the day usually selected by the natives as the most 

 favorable time for coUedting the downy young. These are com- 

 monly pulled from the holes by means of a stick which is split 

 at one end. The split end is twisted into the down of the bird 

 and in this manner it is easily pulled forth. But the adults must 

 be captured and dragged out by the hand. As has been said, 

 the young birds are especially prized as food. In former times 

 they were reserved for the chiefs alone, being tabu to the com- 

 mon people. 



As a result of the day's expedition, twenty-one Uau were taken, 

 eighteen of which were made into skins. Compared with former 

 years, this was a very iinsatisfactory bag. In June, 1906. the same 

 men, with the same dogs, and with much less effort, secured sixty- 

 three birds. The cause in the decrease in numbers was not far to 

 seek. Along the trail, as we ascended Olokui, we found the re- 

 mains of three birds that had been killed and eaten by mongoose. 

 It was a common thing when following the dogs, to have them 

 lead us to deserted burrows, the occupants of which had been de- 

 voured but a few feet from their homes. In one hole we found a 

 female mongoose with a flourishing famil)' of five little ones, that 

 had taken possession of an Uau burrow after its occupant had been 

 killed. From the foregoing data, when taken in conneclion with 

 the wide distribution of the mongoose in the group, it seems cer- 

 tain that the I'au is doomed to rapid extermination. 



Turning to the series of eight males and twelve females, all 

 in the full adult plumage, I am impressed by the remarkable 



[141] 



