528 HOOK-BILLED GREEN CREEPER. 



bent quite in the shape of a semicircle: the under 

 mandible shortest by a quarter of an inch: colour 

 of both brownish black : the nostrils covered by a 

 membrane: between the bill and eye is a streak of 

 brown : the plumage in general is olive-green, 

 palest beneath, and somewhat inclined to yellow : 

 quills and tail dusky; the last even at the end,, and 

 edged with yellow green: legs dusky brown; the 

 feathers just above the knee, or garter, white : the 

 hind toe pretty long. Inhabits the Sandwich 

 Islands in general, and is one of the birds whose 

 plumage the natives make use of in constructing 

 their feathered garments; which having these 

 olive-green feathers intermixed with the beautiful 

 scarlet and yellow ones belonging to the next 

 species, and yellow-tufted Bee-Eater, make some 

 of the most beautiful coverings of those islanders." 

 The mention of the Yellow-Tufted Bee-Eater in 

 this description induces me to remark that, per- 

 haps that bird, as well as some others, might with 

 equal propriety rank under the present genus as in 

 that of Merops; and the circumstance of the 

 yellow tuft under each wing should seem to imply 

 a strong alliance to the genus Certhia, in which, 

 that appendage is so frequently observed. 



