86 



BIRDS OF KAUAI ISLAND, HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



length of the wing, if it had grown to its fall length, wonld not have 

 fallen far behind the largest. 



Cassin referred the Hawaiian bird to A. galapagoemis (Gould), but 

 with no good reason. The most distinguishing character of the latter 

 is the dusky streaks on the legs, a feature not at all iudicated in any 

 of the Hawaiian specimens before us. 



Measurements. 



TJ.S. 



Nat. Mas. 



No. 



110034 



110035 



110036 



13890 



Collector. 



•Wing molting. 



Sex and 



age. 



Locality. 



Date. Wing 



Tail- 

 feathers. 



Knndsen 



do.. 



do.. 



Peale 



ad. 



ad. 



$ad. 



ad. 



Kanai. Ha-waiian Islands 



do 



do 



"Sandwich Islands" — 



*304 

 (*) 



t290 

 300 



144 



140 



two 



138 



t Wing and tail feathers very much abraded. 



Chasiempis sclateri Ridgway. 

 Sclater's Spotted-winged Flycatcher. Amakahi. 



10^2.— Chasiempis sclateri Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., IV, March 29, 1882, p. 337. 

 1885.— Chasiemjris sandwichensis Sclater, Ibis, 18S5, p. 19 (nee Gmel.). 



There exists a vague notion amongst ornithologists, or rather a theory, 

 that the bird which Gmelin designated as Muscicapa sandwichsensis is 

 the male and his M. maculata the female of the same species of Chasi- 

 empis. There seems also to exist a theory that the Hawaiian Islands 

 ought not to have more than one species of Chasiempis, these Flycatchers 

 having been denied the privilege of differentiating into separate forms 

 in their respective islands, like the birds of the Antilles or the Gala- 

 pagos. As a consequence, not only have the above two names been 

 lumped together, but any Chasiempis comingfrom the "Sandwich Islands'' 

 must bear the name Ch. sandwichensis, whether the original description 

 ats it or not. The theory will have it so. What does it matter that 

 Latham describes his bird as having "a white line over the eye," when 

 in another specimen the " feathers over the eye are chestnut " ? Or what 

 does it matter that the collector marks the specimen as a female when 

 the theory is that it ought to be a male? Following this theory I 

 should have saved myself great trouble by simply saying that I have 

 received from Mr. Knudsen four Ch. sandwicheyisis, two males with 

 white rump and two witb tawny rump, notwithstanding the fact that 

 they do not fit Latham's (or Gmelin's) description, and in spite of Mr. 

 Knudsen's positive statement that the two white-rumped birds are 

 male and female and the two tawuy-rumped specimeus likewise male 

 and female, as ascertained by him by dissection. But, on the contrary, 

 I shall have to ask the forgiveness of my colleagues for introducing no 

 less than three new names, and for recognizing five different Hawaiian 

 forms, at least provisionally. 



