Sandwich-Island Birds. 183 



tion is strengthened by the fact of our shooting two quite 

 young birds soon afterwards." 



As I feel sure that this nest belongs to Vestiaria coccinea, 

 I may briefly describe it as a round and shallow cup, 4 inches 

 in diameter, composed of mosses and dry bents of grass, the 

 inside being lined with slender rootlets. 



The food of the Iiwi consists chiefly of honey, which it 

 finds in the blossoms of the ohia ; no doubt it also preys on 

 the small insects found in the flowers of this tree ; but I 

 should be inclined to say that it lives on honey to a greater 

 extent than does any other Sandwich-Island species ; and I 

 am led to this conclusion by the fact that a stream of honey 

 will usually drip from the bill of a freshly killed specimen, 

 which I have but rarely observed to occur in any other 

 species — once only, indeed, with Himatione sanguinea, and 

 twice with Acrulocercus nobilis. 



I have seen this bird at an elevation of 6000 feet in the 

 district of Kona in Hawaii, and I am informed that it is 

 abundant at certain seasons of the year above Kalicha, a 

 sheep-station on the same island at a higher elevation still. 

 The fact to be noted is that Vestiaria follows its food, and 

 when the ohia is over at 2000 feet it is in full flower at 

 5000 ; thither therefore it migrates. 



There is a tree, Strongylodon lucidum, found on the island 

 of Hawaii, the scarlet leguminous flowers of which mimic 

 in a most perfect manner, both in colour and shape, the 

 curve of a Iiwi's bill, and is therefore known by the natives 

 by the name of " Nukuiiwi " (bill of the Iiwi). I must also 

 note with regard to its vertical range that this bird is 

 frequently to be observed on the sea-beach, to which uncon- 

 genial region it is driven by the high winds from its forest 

 home. The same remark applies to the " Apapane," Hima- 

 tione sanguinea. 



4. Himatione sanguinea. " Apapane." 



This species, like the Vestiaria, in company with which it 

 is commonly seen, is distributed throughout the whole 

 group, and the vertical range is practically identical. Its 



