340 Mr. Scott B. Wilson on a new 



is a good harbour. At Midway Island, which is uninhabited, 

 Capt. Bohm and his companions found a species of Finch 

 common among the scrubby bushes which cover its surface. 

 Tt was so tame that it could be easily taken by the hand, 

 and about sixty specimens were captured. 



After remaining here some considerable time, and refitting 

 as far as was possible under the circumstances, Capt. Bohm 

 set sail for the Hawaiian Islands, which it seems he was 

 fortunate ever to have reached, as the schooner was in a very 

 disabled condition when it touched at Niihau, a small island 

 adjacent to Kauai. Here Mr. George Gay, who manages 

 the prosperous sheep-ranch established on the island by my 

 friend Mr. Sinclair, supplied Captain Bohm with the neces- 

 sary stores, and he, in return for this courtesy, made Mr. Gay 

 a present of several specimens of the Finch from Midway 

 Island. The schooner, after this short stay at Niihau, pro- 

 ceeded to Honolulu, where Captain Bohm disposed of the 

 remainder of these interesting birds, of which he had some 

 forty specimens in all. They arrived all housed together in 

 a large cage, having been fed on biscuit and nothing else 

 during the voyage. Unfortunately I happened to be away 

 on Hawaii at the time of the schooner's arrival ; but on my 

 return to Honolulu some months later I was fortunate in 

 procuring a single specimen, which happened to be for sale, 

 and which, with considerable trouble and some good luck 

 (the bird escaped twice into the car during the railway- 

 journey across Canada), I succeeded in bringing alive to 

 England. I saw several more specimens of the same Finch 

 in cages in Honolulu. All were similar in plumage to my 

 bird, whence I conclude that the sexes are alike. My bird, 

 by means of its powerful bill, is able to force the wires of its 



United States, leaving a Kamtschatkan as a settler. On his return he 

 kept its position a secret, and his discovery was utilized by the Pacific 

 Mail Company, who intended forming a depot here for their Trans-Pacific 

 steamers in preference to Honolulu, which was thought to be under 

 foreign influence, establishing here a coaling and refreshment station." 

 (The ' Mary Bohm ' found a quantity of coal at the time of her visit in 

 1887.— S. B. W.) 



