some Hawaiian Birds. 125 



the adult male singing its strained song, perched on the 

 topmost bough of some dead ohia, with head upraised, and 

 the swelling of its throat visible even from afar off. Before 

 the breeding-season their call-whistle is constantly to be 

 heard, especially on the approach of fog or rain, when the 

 bird is most easily obtained. They have two other distinct 

 calls besides the whistle — the one a gentle cry, rather like 

 that of Drepanis, but softer ; the other a "scolding" note, not 

 unlike that of the Olomao [Phceornis). 



The sexes keep together even after the breeding-season, so 

 that if one is seen its mate is sure to be near at hand. 



The young too follow the parent birds, often indeed until 

 they themselves have almost arrived at their full plumage, 

 and long after they have acquired the full song of the adult. 



They have the characteristic Drepanid odour, much more 

 marked in some specimens than in others. On Molokai 

 these birds formerly occurred at much lower elevations than 

 they now do. With the destruction of forest by cattle, the 

 mountain rains and fogs have receded, and the birds with 

 them. 



As to the habits of Drepanis funerea"^ , which inhabits the 

 higher forest of Molokai, and is at present known only from 

 that district, I cannot do better than quote from my notes, 

 made on some occasions when I met with this bird, most of 

 my knowledge of its habits being contained therein. 



June \Sth, 1893. — " I had been wading all day in knee- 

 deep mud and working hard all the time with the axe and 

 clearing a path, when suddenly I heard a very different 

 sound, a cry as clear as a bell, with just the least resemblance 

 to that of the ' Oo ' {Acrulocercus) . I made sure that I had 

 come across Palmer^s new species t^ and was practically certain 

 when I saw fly onward a good-sized black bird. It pitched 

 about 25 yards ahead, but I could not see it for the density 

 of the brush. Every four or five seconds it uttered its re- 



* Newton, P. Z. S. 1893, p. 690. 



t Mr. Rothscliild's collectors had discovered a new form of " Oo " 

 (Acrulocercus bishopi) on Molokai some months before I visited that 

 island. 



