194- Mr. Scott Wilson on some 



bird of the Hawaiian forests in its movements, and from its 

 short tail and compact form bears a decided resemblance to 

 our Nuthatch (Sitta europaa). Its note is a simple twit, 

 twit, twit, repeated constantly. 



It seems to range to the elevation of 3000 feet. 



Some examples of this bird have the forehead white, and 

 Dr. Stejneger, in a letter to Professor Newton, raises the 

 question of there being two distinct species. I do not think 

 there is more than one species, as all my examples were 

 obtained in one locality ; but at the same time the variation 

 in plumage does not seem to be due to sex. 



16. PsiTTIROSTRA PSITTACEV. " Ou." 



This well-known species is distributed throughout the 

 group, and I obtained specimens from every island, save from 

 Oahu, where I have good reason to believe it has become 

 extinct, or else extremely scarce. I do not detect any appre- 

 ciable difference between specimens from the various islands, 

 although I think those I obtained on Lanai are brightest in 

 plumage. The size and shape of the curiously-formed bill of 

 this species varies considerably, especially in the males, in 

 some of which the maxilla is remarkably elongated and de- 

 curved. 



Next to Vestiaria coccinea it is perhaps the most notice- 

 able of the forest-birds of the islands, the bright yellow head 

 and neck of the adult males rendering them very conspicuous 

 in their straight dashing flight from tree to tree. The imma- 

 ture males and the females, which want this distinctive feature, 

 might easily be mistaken for the sombre-clad Phceornis obscura, 

 but the constant twittering the Ou almost invariably makes 

 while feeding at once betrays its identity. Freshly killed 

 examples possess a peculiar scent, which I did not observe 

 as belonging to any other forest-dwelling species, and which 

 is probably due to their extremely varied fruit-diet. Neck- 

 laces (" leis^) used sometimes to be made from the bright 

 green feathers of the back and underparts of this bird, but they 

 were commonly used in combination with the black feathers 

 of Acrulocercus nobilis and the scarlet feathers of Vestiaria 



