30 MacCaughey, The Hawaiian Elepaio. [j a u n 



1000 and 3000 on all the three islands. This wide altitudinal range, 

 which embraces a number of climatic zones, is greater than that of 

 any other native woodland bird, and strikingly indicates the versa- 

 tility and generalized character of this bird. 



Aside from the primitive inter-island or pan-Hawaiian migra- 

 tion the Elepaio does not give any evidence of migration. Within 

 historic times the range has sensibly diminished. There are no 

 observable migration movements within the present range of the 

 species. 



Habitat: The Elepaio is essentially a bird of the humid and 

 mesophytic forests, and is abundant in all parts of its range. It 

 avoids such habitats as arid treeless sections, wind-swept summit 

 ridges, and the very hygrophytic summit bogs, although even in 

 the latter situations it sometimes occurs. It is most plentiful 

 in the protected wooded ravines and on the valley slopes, especially 

 in the somewhat open formations, where the sunlight penetrates, 

 the humidity is not super-excessive, and insects abound. 



Typical situations are the forests in the Waimea, Na Pali, and 

 Hanalei districts of Kauai; the Waianae and Koolau Ranges of 

 Oahu, especially in the Punaluu district ; and the forests of Kona, 

 Hamakua, and Kohala, Hawaii. The author has studied the 

 species in all of these localities. 



It ranges from the ground to the summits of the tallest trees 

 (nearly 100 ft.) Its average elevation is 6-20 ft. from the ground 

 in the shrubbery and tree-crowns. It is not a ground-loving bird, 

 although it frequently descends to the ground in search of insects. 

 The Elepaio, on the other hand, is not distinctive of the treetops, 

 although when the lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) is in bloom, 

 the bird haunts the flowery crowns in quest of the insect visitors. 



During an eight-weeks' pedestrian tour of the island of Hawaii 

 the author noted the prevalence of the Elepaio in the extensive 

 koa and lehua forests. In many regions the bird appears to be 

 more abundant on the leeward than on the windward side of the 

 island. 



Next to the lehua the Elepaio's favorite haunt is probably the 

 mamake (Pipturus albidus), because of the large insect fauna 

 characteristic of that shrub. Seventy-five or more species of insects 

 and their parasites have been reported as inhabiting the mamake; 

 nine species are not known to occur on any other plant. 



