some Hawaiian Birds. 123 



one flies overhead they become greatly excited, all those in the 

 neighbourhood joining in the clamour. I have seen some 

 twenty or thirty Oreomyzce gathered around one of these 

 birds, which was sleeping on a dead branch, but they kept at 

 a respectful distance, and did not venture out of the brush. 

 It is highly prol)able that in past times they were largely 

 preyed on by the Owls, the favourite food of which they 

 possibly were, as they lack the objectionable odour of the 

 other green birds, and the latter never seemed similarly 

 frightened. As to the Owl [Ash accipitrinus) itself, it now 

 preys mostly on the introduced mice, which abound, espe- 

 cially on the lower slopes and plains, but at times it may be 

 seen hawking for small birds in parts of the forest where 

 mice are quite absent. Moreover, it was probably much 

 more abundant in past times, as it was never destroyed by 

 the natives, who considered it a most powerful god. The old 

 navigators speak of its great abundance and tameness ; but 

 since the settling of the country by white men it has been 

 largely destroyed (though still abundant), since it is given to 

 carrying off the newly-hatched chickens. To this day few 

 natives will shoot at one of these birds. 



To one species referred to this genus by Mr. Rothschild 

 in his book [' The Birds of Laysan,' &c.) I have not alluded. 

 This is the Himaiione parva, of Kauai, which has neither the 

 habits nor appearance of Oreormjza, but belongs rightly to 

 the genus in which it was first placed. It is to a great 

 extent a honey-sucker, like its congeners. The slight dif- 

 ference between it and them in the wing-formula is quite 

 insufficient to detach it from its allies. It also has the nasal 

 opercula bare, as in the other members, not overhung with 

 antrorse feathers, like Oreomyza. But, apart from this, the 

 formation of the tongue at once shows its proper place. In 

 Himaiione and Loxops this is elongated, very narrow, and 

 terminates in a brush. The lateral margins are bent 

 upwards, to meet in the middle line above, and form a 

 tubular canal, for about half the length of the horny part of 

 the tongue. In Oreomyza the tongue is very short and 

 comparatively broad, the sides but slightly raised, and not 



