OF THE HAU-AHAN BIRDS. 9 



yellow feathers has but two of the precious decorations, — the fact being that the Oo has 

 in each axil a tuft of from fifteen to twenty feathers, and the Manio has quite as many 

 in the dorso-caudal region. Hut it is time lost to repeat the many wanderings from 

 the truth that these m^-sterious birds have caused, and we may turn at once to a con- 

 sideration of the birds that furnished the feathers for the old Hawaiiaus.'" 



BIRDS FlRXISHIXi; FEATHERS. 



liwi. — First the liwi ( I'cstiaria nnriiica, Reichenbach ), Fig. 4, a, the bright red 

 bird, found all over the group, today as in former times tlie most abundant native bird, 

 although, like all other natives disappearing. I have seen it in my garden in Xuuanu 



abed 

 FIG. 5. 00 AXU MAMt): .SPKCniEX.S IX P,ISH(_)r Ml'SKUM. 



Valley about 120 feet above the sea, in fair weather, and it is often driven down to the 

 shore from the mountain ridges, which are its usual haunt, by severe storms. It is a 

 honey-sucker and frequents the arborescent Lobeliaceae so noticeable a feature of the 

 Hawaiian Flora. The adult female is of a darker vermilion than the male, and her 

 feathers are easily mistaken for those of the faded apapane. Total length, 5.75 inches. 

 The breast furnishes the main supply of feathers. 



That there may be something more definite than the mere terms red, yellow, 

 orange applied to these feathers, I have compared unfaded specimens with the color 

 illustrations given in M. Leon Lefevre's Traite dcs Mafihrs m/ora/z/rs artificiellcs., 

 Paris, 1S96, and the fresh feathers of the iiwi correspond to the roiige d'alizarine SX 



^°For the nieasiireiueuts and ornithological names I am indebted tors, has trusted too much to the modern native, who neither remem- 



chiefly to Mr. Scott B. Wilson, whose Ave^ Hawaiti'iisn: Birds of bers nor cares for the ancient lore of the islands, but will not confess 



Ihr Sa>id:L'ich /slai/ds i^ replete with careful obser\'ation and much his ignorance, passing upon the unsuspecting stranger it may be the 



stud>'. In the case of native names. Mr. Scott, as most other coUec- name of a fish or flower, if the true nante is forgotten. 



