THE ANIMAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 309 



these are ocean waifs — youiiu' and uiH'xpeiMciiccd bii-ds -lluit Imvc losl thcii' 

 way in an attempt to migrate for Ww first time along- the American coast on 

 their way to their winter homes in the Soutli. Sncli l)ii-ils are rare in the 

 islands and are seldom seen ontside of museums. They are usually, though 

 not always, common west coast species of g'ulls and terns^ and ducks.- Birds 

 of these families are well adapted hy nature to enjoy life on tlie ishuid shores 

 and reefs, and one is led to wonder why some of them, in times pMst. have not 

 taken up a residence and settled down to a fishing life, and become abundant 

 along Hawaii's coasts, now sadly destitute of sea-bird inhabitants. 



Unfortunately for the bird student, only a few of the species that I'egu- 

 larly frequent the waters about the islands ever come close enough to the 

 shore to be identified more exactly than to say that they are large or small sea 

 birds. Of the limited list tliat may be said to be common about the group, 

 there are as many as four species that nest in holes which they find or makf 

 in the faces of the high cliffs in the mountains in the large inhabited islands. 

 They may be seen occasionally in the daytime flying over tlu' land. I)u1 gener- 

 ally only their curious calls can be heard, as they ai'e nocturnal in habit and 

 are seldom abroad during the day. 



Tropic Birds. 



The white-tailed tropic bird •* is the species most commonly seen during the 

 daytime. It is a beautiful white bird, and in fine weather, in favored locali- 

 ties, as many as half a dozen may be seen at once, gracefully floatinu' about the 

 cliff's at the head of the principal valleys of the islands. They la\- but a single 

 large, cream-colored egg — thickly blotted, splotched and mottled with rich brown 

 — which they deposit in a nest of loose straws, tucked in a crevice in the face 

 of the cliff'. The young nestling diff'ers from the adult in thai the liody and 

 head are mottled black and white. In this stage they resemble the younu of 

 the red-tailed apecies ^ which occiu's on the low sand islands of the northwest 

 chain. The adults ditt'er from the red-tailed species, as their name suggests, in 

 having their long tail white, or salmon color, instead of deep red. Th(» jilumage 

 of both species was much used in Hawaii in times past in the inannl'aetui-e of 

 the native kahilis that are elsewhere describetl. The birds wei'e also used as food 

 by the natives. 



Petrels and Shearwaters. 



The Hawaiian petrel,"" Xewell's sheai-watei-.'' anel the Hawaiian stormy 

 petrel' are all small or medium-sized, dark-colored sea-birds with hnoked bills; 

 they nest in holes in tlu^ nujuntains. .\lt hough the\' and their hal)its were 

 well known to the Hawaiians, A\iio were ex])ei-t naturalists, tiny JiaNc con- 

 tinued to be very rare specimens in collections, owing to their night-flying" 

 habits and the almost inaccessible places in which they nest. The\- were a 



^ Laridtr. - Anafidrr. ^ Phaethon li'ptKriix. * Phncthon rubriraiida. 



^ dEstrelata sa ndwicliciinis. '^ I'lifli loix tii-irclli. "Oceanodroma cryptoleuciira. 



