THE ANniAL LIFE OP THE GROUP. 307 



however, for supposing this to be the true cause. There may be eases, about 

 settlements esi:)ecially, where the mynah has been known to interfere with the 

 nests and eggs of certain birds, particularly those of the English sparrow, a 

 species with which its habits bi'ing it m sharp and direct contact; but so far 

 as till' opinions of the best observers and my own experience go, the mynah. 

 when he finds himself in the forest, lives at peace with the native birds. The 

 general habits of the forest birds differ widely from those of the mynah, and 

 their nesting and food habits are so different that the two seldom come into con- 

 flict. 



The Skylarks. 



The English skylark ' was introduced into Hawaii purely for sentimental 

 reasons, because of its beautiful song. Many persons who have settled in 

 Hawaii came directly from England, and were familiar with the profuse strains 

 of this songster in their native land; naturally, the lark is a favorite with 

 them. These birds, now fairly connnon in the pastures and on the open fore- 

 hills of the principal islands of the group, are descended from birds brought 

 by the Hon. A. S. Cleghorn from New Zealand, where the bird had been suc- 

 cessfull.v introduced from England by early colonists. 



The lark is a dnll-brownish liird, well known to every one who strolls along 

 the jiaths that lead intu the mountains. Oflen tliey will lie startled into song 

 from the roadside by the rumble of a carriage or the tread of a pedestrian, 

 and, singing, they will mount higher and higher into the sky, carrying their 

 song with them, u|), up, until both singer and song are lost to sight and ear. 

 The.y are not content w itii merely lilting their song to the heavens, but will 

 sweetly and skilfully coax it back with them to earth again. It often happens 

 that a half dozen of these blithe singers will mount skyward at the same time, 

 dropping after them a veritable showei- of song that could but delight the most 

 careless cross-country rambler, and bring him home again glad that there is in 

 Hawaii such a bird as the skylark. 



Pme.vsants. 



The several species of game-birds that have been introduced into Hawaii 

 are of special interest to the sportsman. To the credit of many of our fore- 

 most citizens of a generation or more ago, pheasants and quails were brought 

 to Hawaii at jirivate expense and liberated. New breeding stock has been 

 brought in, from time to time, and the welfare of the game-birds so guarded 

 by law that they have increased, particularly on the islands of Kauai and 

 Molokai, until they are sufficiently abundant to make game shooting an en.joy- 

 able sport. 



Two species of pheasant are now well naturalized in Hawaii. The ring- 

 neck or Chinese pheasant * came originally from China, but as it has been 

 extensively reared in England and America, usually as a eagc-bird, it is dif- 



