﻿104 
  Mr. 
  R. 
  C. 
  L. 
  Perkins 
  on 
  

  

  it 
  svvallows 
  in 
  very 
  large 
  pieces. 
  I 
  think 
  that 
  the 
  enormous 
  

   development 
  of 
  the 
  abdominal 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  body 
  must 
  be 
  

   connected 
  with 
  this 
  habit. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  both 
  male 
  and 
  feuiale 
  

   feeding 
  the 
  full-grown 
  young, 
  and 
  as 
  I 
  could 
  find 
  nothing 
  

   but 
  the 
  large 
  pieces 
  of 
  koa 
  beau 
  in 
  the 
  latter, 
  I 
  conclude 
  

   that 
  the 
  young 
  are 
  fed 
  on 
  pieces 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  swallowed 
  

   by 
  the 
  parents, 
  without 
  mastication. 
  The 
  young 
  male 
  soon 
  

   acquires 
  the 
  peculiar 
  whistle, 
  for 
  I 
  have 
  shot 
  one 
  in 
  almost 
  

   perfect 
  song 
  in 
  quite 
  immature 
  plumage 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  skull 
  

   still 
  cartilnginous. 
  It 
  does 
  not 
  restrict 
  itself 
  to 
  the 
  koa 
  

   bean, 
  but 
  varies 
  its 
  diet 
  by 
  feeding 
  on 
  lepidopterous 
  larvse, 
  

   just 
  as 
  the 
  Psittacirostra 
  does 
  ; 
  for 
  this 
  purpose 
  it 
  generally 
  

   descends 
  into 
  the 
  aaka 
  or 
  bastard 
  sandal-wood 
  trees, 
  and, 
  

   as 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  that 
  bird, 
  I 
  liave 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  crop 
  of 
  

   Hhodacanthis 
  larvse 
  with 
  conspicuous 
  "warning" 
  colours. 
  

   When 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  feeding 
  on 
  the 
  koa 
  beans 
  its 
  bill 
  is 
  often 
  

   much 
  stained 
  with 
  their 
  green 
  juice 
  and 
  green 
  fragments. 
  

   The 
  female 
  I 
  have 
  heard 
  to 
  utter 
  a 
  rather 
  deep 
  single 
  

   note 
  when 
  alarmed. 
  On 
  one 
  occasion 
  when 
  1 
  had 
  shot 
  a 
  

   male 
  I 
  heard 
  his 
  mate 
  repeatedly 
  utter 
  this 
  note, 
  and 
  she 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  to 
  do 
  so 
  for 
  some 
  five 
  minutes, 
  but 
  seemingly 
  possessed 
  

   some 
  ventriloquial 
  power 
  — 
  the 
  sound 
  seeming 
  now 
  in 
  front, 
  

   now 
  behind, 
  now 
  near, 
  now 
  far 
  ; 
  yet 
  it 
  was 
  utterly 
  impossible 
  

   that 
  the 
  bird 
  could 
  have 
  flown 
  Avithout 
  my 
  being 
  aware 
  of 
  it. 
  

   At 
  last 
  the 
  bird 
  became 
  silent, 
  and 
  I 
  never 
  caught 
  sight 
  of 
  it 
  

   at 
  all. 
  

  

  The 
  Pallia 
  {Chloridops 
  kona) 
  , 
  though 
  an 
  interesting 
  bird 
  on 
  

   account 
  of 
  its 
  peculiar 
  structure, 
  is 
  a 
  singularly 
  uninteresting 
  

   one 
  in 
  its 
  habits. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  dull, 
  sluggish, 
  solitary 
  bird, 
  and 
  

   very 
  silent 
  — 
  its 
  whole 
  existence 
  may 
  be 
  summed 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  

   word 
  "to 
  eat." 
  Its 
  food 
  consisting 
  of 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  the 
  fruit 
  

   of 
  the 
  aaka 
  (bastard 
  sandal- 
  tree, 
  and 
  probably 
  at 
  other 
  

   seasons 
  of 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  sandal- 
  wood 
  tree), 
  and 
  as 
  these 
  are 
  

   very 
  minute, 
  its 
  whole 
  time 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  taken 
  up 
  in 
  cracking 
  

   the 
  extremely 
  hard 
  shells 
  of 
  this 
  fruit, 
  for 
  which 
  its 
  extra- 
  

   ordinarily 
  powerful 
  beak 
  and 
  heavy 
  head 
  have 
  been 
  developed. 
  

   I 
  think 
  there 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  hundreds 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  white 
  

   kernels 
  in 
  those 
  that 
  I 
  examined. 
  The 
  incessant 
  erackinff 
  of 
  

  

  