98 



BIRDS OF XAUAI ISLAND, HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



:So. 110048 is an mimatiire bird in transition plumage corresponding 

 closely to the bird described by Dole as D. rosea, and I have no doubt 

 that the latter belongs to V. cvccinea as a synonym. It is difficult to 

 see how Mr. Sharpe could refer it to the genus Loxops, reprinting as he 

 does Dole's description, in which the bird is compared witli '•^ Drepanis 

 coccinea,'^ and the bill stated to be " 1 inch, curved." 



The immature bird seems to have had the bill and leet somewhat 

 brownish or dusky, while in the adult these parts are evidently beau- 

 tiful red. 



Measurements. 



U.S. 



^*t- Collector. 

 Mus. 

 Xo. 



110045 



110046 



110047 



110048 



14697 



Knndsen 



....do... 

 ....do..., 



...do ... 



Peale — 



14699 I. ...do 

 85559 \ 



Ses 

 and 

 age. 



Locality- 



Date. 



Wing, feath- 



™„., Chord 1 

 ^»''- I of ex- : Tar- 



Pra • T>OScd 8US. 



*'"'• culmen. 



ad . . Kauai, Hawaiian 

 1 Islands. 



ad ..' do 



ad -. do 



imm. do 



ad..' "Sandwich Isl- 

 ands." 



ad do 



ad do 



25 



28 

 24 

 24 



Mid- 

 dle 

 toe 

 with 

 claw. 



23 



25 I. 



18 



Hind 



toe 



without 



claw. 



23 



OREOMYZA, geu. uov. 

 (ope(of=montanus ; //u^eu = sugo.) 



This genus may be characterized as one of the nine-primaried Bi- 

 cceidce (as defined by E. B. Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., X, p. 2) distin- 

 guished (1) by having the nasal fossil partly hidden by autrorse feath- 

 ers; (2) by the absence of rictal bristles; (3) by the elongated, but 

 otherwise Loxiops-like bill ; (4) by the shortness of the first (ninth) 

 primary which is but slightly longer than the secondaries ; (5) by the 

 shortness and stoutness of the feet, the tarsus being not more than 

 twice the hind toe without claw. 



Type. — Oreomyza bairdi Stejneger. 



In some respects the present form seems to agree with Pinaroloxias 

 Shakpe, especially in the profile of the bill. I can find no other struct- 

 ural character of consequence assigned to the latter species than " the 

 culmen flattened in front of the nostrils " (Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., 

 X, p. 3), a peculiarity not at all shared in by Oreomyza. 



The most noteworthy peculiarity of the present genus is expressed 

 by the wing-formula which seems to be unique among the Hawaiian 

 members of the I)ica'ida% for all the other forms which 1 have been able 

 to examine,* viz, Hemignathus, Yestiaria, Himatmie, Heterorhynclms 



* According to v. Pelzeln, Jour. f. Orn., Ib72, p. 28, Himatione mavulata Cab., has a 

 rather short first (ninth) primary, bnt the 3(1 one is longest, and not the 4th as in my 

 birds. Cabanis's species may belong to Oreomyza as seooiul species, although its pro- 

 portions generally agree with those of H. sanguinea, judging from v. Pelzelu's meas- 

 urements (I. c). 



