THE ANDIAL LIFE OP THE GROUP. 325 



The curlew is by no means abundant on the large islands, but on the low- 

 lying islands to the northwest they are fairly common. The curlew are much 

 larger birds than the plover, and are such conspicuous objects when they do 

 visit the inhabited islands that the securing of a specimen is always a real 

 event. This fine game bird is easily recognized, as it is the only shore bird 

 that has a bill about three inches in length that is slightly curved downward. 

 It derives its common name from the peculiar feathers of the thighs, which 

 terminate in long bristle-like points. It is of interest to know that this species 

 visits the sea-coast of almost all of the hundreds of islands in the Pacific ocean 

 at all seasons, but curiously enough no one has ever found its nest and eggs on 

 any of them. 



The H.\wail\n Stilt. 



A bird that is occasionally seen along the sea-coast or about the salt-water 

 marshes is the peculiar Hawaiian stilt. ^ Its long neck, black back, white 

 breast and unusualy long pink legs make it a conspicuous and interesting 

 object. Unlike any of the foregoing, it is a resident of the islands throughout 

 the year. Its ancestors, doubtless, long ago gave up the habit of making the 

 useless journey away over the ocean every summer to rear their young. The 

 Hawaiian stilt, therefore, is found nowhere else in the world. As it is rare 

 even in Hawaii it is an interesting bird, since it has doubtless come to differ 

 from its near relatives by reason of the fact that it has long been isolated from 

 others of its kind. 



Black-Crowned Night Heron. 



No one who visits the sea-shore at sundown or is abroad at sunrise will fail 

 to see the long-legged, black-crowned night heron," as it flies from its home in 

 the valleys to its fishing grounds on the tide-fiats or along the mullet-pond 

 walls. While this heron lives throughout the year in the islands, it has not 

 been long enough cut off from the rest of its relatives to become a distinct 

 species, as it is still impossible to distinguish it from specimens of the same 

 heron collected in America. 



They feed almost entirely on fish, the mullet being a favorite with them. 

 In certain localities the.v levy a considerable toll on the mullet ponds in the 

 vicinity of their rookeries. They secure their food along the sea-shore, mostly 

 at night, and retire during the daytime to the thick woods in the mountain 

 valleys, where they nest in colonies. Their nests are bulky aft'airs made of 

 sticks, and often are two feet in diameter. Sometimes a dozen nests will be 

 found in a single tree. The eggs, which are pale blue in color, are as large as 

 small hen eggs. 



The old birds, with their long necks and legs, are very picturesque as they 

 crouch in the treetops or wing their heavy flight about the valleys. The black 

 back and black crown are in contrast with the fine bluish-gray color of the body 



^ Bimantniius kniidsfin. ~ .\i/cti^-'irirr yii/i-tieorax ntri-iiis. 



