﻿106 
  Mr. 
  R. 
  C. 
  L. 
  Perkins 
  on 
  

  

  the 
  table-land, 
  I 
  frequently 
  observed 
  them 
  sueking 
  the 
  honey 
  

   of 
  these 
  blossoms, 
  and, 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  Himatione 
  sanguinea, 
  

   on 
  the 
  same 
  tree, 
  certainly 
  as 
  high 
  as 
  7000 
  feet 
  up 
  that 
  

   mountain 
  — 
  at 
  an 
  altitude 
  where 
  in 
  the 
  morning 
  the 
  ground 
  

   was 
  covered 
  with 
  hoar-frost. 
  

  

  But, 
  besides 
  feeding 
  amongst 
  the 
  foliage 
  and 
  flowers, 
  both 
  

   these 
  birds 
  are 
  very 
  commonly 
  seen 
  to 
  feed 
  on 
  the 
  trunks 
  

   and 
  branches 
  of 
  trees 
  living 
  and 
  dead, 
  picking 
  off 
  the 
  insects 
  

   and 
  tapping 
  at 
  the 
  bark 
  and 
  rotten 
  wood. 
  The 
  yellow 
  species 
  

   also 
  comes 
  down 
  to 
  feed 
  on 
  the 
  po/ia 
  plants. 
  Whether 
  it 
  eats 
  

   the 
  fruit 
  I 
  cannot 
  say 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  probable 
  that 
  it 
  feeds 
  on 
  the 
  

   insects 
  {e.g. 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  Brachypephis) 
  that 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  

   the 
  fruits 
  of 
  this 
  plant 
  ; 
  but, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  it 
  is 
  possibly 
  

   the 
  holes 
  in 
  the 
  fruit 
  that 
  attract 
  the 
  beetles, 
  for 
  these 
  holes 
  

   are 
  generally 
  larger 
  than 
  the 
  size 
  and 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  beetles 
  

   would 
  account 
  for. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  the 
  nest 
  in 
  several 
  trees, 
  

   and 
  at 
  very 
  different 
  heights 
  in 
  these 
  trees. 
  It 
  is 
  lined 
  with 
  

   roots, 
  and 
  has 
  many 
  fruit-capsules 
  of 
  the 
  poha, 
  dry 
  and 
  

   more 
  or 
  less 
  skeletonized, 
  woven 
  in 
  the 
  outside. 
  

  

  Vestiuria 
  coccinea 
  is 
  extremely 
  common 
  and 
  wide-ranging, 
  

   far 
  more 
  so 
  than 
  the 
  crimson 
  HimatioJie, 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  

   prefer 
  the 
  higher 
  forest. 
  The 
  Vestiaria 
  even 
  comes 
  into 
  the 
  

   lots 
  in 
  front 
  of 
  the 
  hou-es, 
  visiting 
  the 
  peach 
  and 
  rose 
  trees, 
  

   and 
  on 
  one 
  specimen, 
  which 
  was 
  knocked 
  over 
  by 
  a 
  native 
  giil 
  

   -with 
  a 
  stone 
  Avhile 
  visiting 
  the 
  latter 
  blossoms 
  and 
  brought 
  to 
  

   me, 
  I 
  found 
  several 
  specimens 
  of 
  a 
  flattened 
  parasitic 
  fly, 
  

   perhaps 
  identical 
  with 
  the 
  smaller 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  

   Owl. 
  At 
  any 
  rate, 
  in 
  form 
  it 
  is 
  superficially 
  quite 
  the 
  same 
  

   sort 
  of 
  thing. 
  

  

  But 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  Kona 
  the 
  most 
  interesting 
  in 
  habits 
  is 
  

   the 
  shorter-billed 
  Hemignathus 
  [H. 
  obscurus) 
  . 
  The 
  mere 
  sight 
  

   of 
  so 
  extraordinary 
  a 
  form 
  could 
  hardly 
  fail 
  to 
  awaken 
  in 
  any 
  

   one 
  a 
  keen 
  desire 
  to 
  witness 
  the 
  manner 
  of 
  its 
  feeding, 
  and 
  this 
  

   I 
  have 
  many 
  times 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  accomplish. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  

   bird 
  from 
  rather 
  below 
  4000 
  feet 
  to 
  some 
  hundreds 
  of 
  

   feet 
  above 
  that 
  altitude, 
  and 
  most 
  probably 
  much 
  higher 
  

   still. 
  It 
  is 
  most 
  partial 
  to 
  the 
  larger 
  acacias, 
  running 
  up 
  

   and 
  down 
  the 
  limbs 
  and 
  trunks 
  with 
  equal 
  casic, 
  and 
  also 
  

  

  