THE OSPREY. 



71 



Since then, various nests have been found. 

 They were placed in trees at elevations above 

 the g^round varyin<;- from 10 to 30 feet and 

 mostly "near the trunk of the tree, just where 

 the smaller twitrs branch off near the topmost 

 part." The typical nest was open, shallow, 

 about 7 i>r S inches wide and 5 inches deep: 

 "somewhat loosely' constructed of twig's and 

 lined inside with leaves {Eucalyptus). The eggs 

 were 2 or 3 in number, well proportioned, shell 

 irioderateK' tine in texture; gloss just percepti- 

 ble upon svwface, variously colored dark cream 

 Id flirty yellow, irregularly blotched and spotted 



with umber, reddish-brown, and a few purplish 

 gray markings;" the long diameter i.s about 

 1.7.S (1.74-1.76) of an inch and the cross 1.17 to 

 1.18. 



The birds on or about the nests "were very 

 tame and allowed their nests to be robbed with- 

 out attempting to attack the intruder." The 

 breeding- months are said to "extend from Oc- 

 tober to January" — that is, from mid-spring 

 to mid-summer of the southern hemisphere. 

 Most of the eg-gs obtained, however were, found 

 in summer. 



thf: hikds ()p^ the Hawaiian islands*. 



I5v Li-:o.\AKii Stkinkivkk. 



Scott Wilson and Evans's splended monograph 

 iif the Hawaiian Birds has been finished at last, 

 the concluding- parts having recently been pub- 

 lished after a lapse of three years, and we must 

 congratulate Mr. Wilson upon having thus 

 brought to a successful issue the task he had 

 set himself when twelve years ago he started 

 out for Hawaii to explore ornithologically one 

 of the most interesting- and im])ortant archi- 

 pelagoes existant. 



How much the islands needed a thorough ex- 

 ploration is shown by the fact that since 1887 

 the species of PassciYS alone, all of which are 

 l^eculiar to the archipelago), have been nearly 

 doubled, and of the 24 species added since then 

 Scott Wilson is responsible for no less than 12J. 



Until quite recently the Hawaiian Islands were 

 a /t-rra iiiroi^ni/a ornithologically speaking. 

 Few of the many scientific expeditions which 

 touched there paid any attention to the birds, 

 and the few specimens which they brought home 

 were gathered mosth' at sea level. In the vari- 

 ous museums there were deposited specimens 

 belonging- to more species than were recognized, 

 it is true, but they remained unrecognized be- 

 cause at no one place the material was sufficient 

 for determining their status. Professor A. 

 Newton was alive to this fact, and to him is 

 primarily due the honor of having been instru- 

 mental in sending out Mr. Wilson and later Mr. 

 Perkins, thus collecting in Cambridge the ma- 

 terial for sifting and settling the vexed status 

 of most of the passerine forms ijihabiting the 

 archipelago. 



Before the present writer in 18(S7 published his 

 first paper on the birds of Kauai (Proc. U. S. 

 Nat. Mus. 1887, p. 75-102), no one had seriously 

 raised the question of representative forms on 

 the various islands. In that paper I repeatedly 

 expressed the belief that it would probably be 

 found that the various species are differentiated 

 into individual island forms, but due to the lack 

 of material for comparison, I failed to bring 

 out the distinctness of the corresponding forms 

 of Heniignathiis obscurus and Hiiiiafionc chloris 



in Kauai, thoug-h I clearly indicated my siispi- 

 ciotis, and made out a pretty good case for the 

 C/iasioiipis. 



The later researches of Mr. Wilson, Mr. 

 Perkins and the collectors of Baron Rothschild 

 have clearly demonstrated the correctness of mj' 

 theory showing that the Hawaiian archipelago 

 in this respect is hardly behind the Galapagoes 

 and the Antilles. 



Thus the genera Chlorodicpanis and Oreomyza 

 are represented in each o-f the principal six 

 islands by a special form, while Heiuignathus, 

 Hcfororhynchus, I.oxops. Moho and Pliceornis 

 are similarh- represented, except in one or two 

 of the smaller intermediate islands, and it is by 

 no means certain that these genera are — or have 

 been — entirely absent in the other islands where 

 we have as 3'et no record of their presence. The 

 gaps may be filled \i\ future discoveries, but it 

 is unfortunately altogether too probable that 

 most are due to the fact of the species having 

 become exterminated in recent times. In 

 former days man pursued the light colored 

 birds with relentless energj-, for their feathers 

 served as payment of the royal taxes and were 

 used in the manufacture of the costly and 

 unique royal robes, helmets and "lei's". This 

 practice undoubtedly brought to a low ebb, if 

 not actual extermination, the magnificent Dre- 

 panis paciftca of Hawaii as well as ISIolio apicalis 

 of Oahu, and if Dcpauis had other representa- 

 tive forms, except I), funcrea whose dull colors 

 probablv saved it. in the other islands, they 

 may have vanished entireU'. The cattle intro- 

 duced by white men since the discover)- of the 

 archipelago in the last century are responsible 

 for a wholesale destruction of the native forests, 

 a fact which is believed to have caused the dis- 

 apparances of man^' species of birds. Thus on 

 Oahu, out of eleven known species of Passeres 

 no less than six are considered to be extinct or 

 nearU' so, and who shall saj' how manj- more. 

 Foreign destructive birds have also been intro- 

 duced; the English sparrow and the Chinese 

 myna have nndoubtedl)^ their share in the de- 



*Aves Hawalienses: The Birds of the Sandwich Islands. By Scott B. Wilson, F. Z. S.. F. R. G. S, assisted by 

 A. H. tviins. M. A.. F. Z. S.— London: R. H. Porter. 7 Princes Street, Cavendish Square. W. 1890-99.— 4o, xxvii, 257 pp. 

 TO plates and 1 map. 



^ Kxcliidinfr the small islets to the northwest. 



tTwo of these, viz: IffniignatlniK proceruft and C/iloroilrepaniK fttejneyeri. the present writer had already recorded 

 doubtfiniy under the names of species previously reported because of lack of material for comparison, but their specific 

 distinctiveness was strontrly hinted at (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.. IHSl. p. 9-3 and p. 96. 



