Some Birds of Molokat. 49 
For the next few days following my Pelekunu experience with 
the birds, I was camped at Halawa and Moanui. At the former 
place, although far from any habitation and in a rugged country, 
I did not hear nor see a single Uau. At Moanui, on the other 
hand, they were seen each evening at dusk flying over the head- 
lands close down beside the sea. Three specimens were taken 
June 5 and 6. Itisrather curious that all the birds seen flew along 
the coast toward the east, against the wind, while later on, on the 
windward side of the island, the birds were seen to return to their 
rookeries from all directions. A possible explanation would be 
that the birds prefer to follow along coast line to their nesting 
places on the opposite side of the island, rather than to take the 
more direct route over the mountains through the fog. 
A favorable opportunity for visiting the nesting colonies of the 
Uau did not come until June 14, when I made a trip down into 
Wailau—the valley lying next east of Pelekunu—for that especial 
purpose. On the way over the pali from Mapulehu, about half 
way down the Wailau trail, a half-eaten carcass of one of these 
birds was found, under similar conditions to the one noted from 
Pelekunu valley. 
At Wailau village I rallied a party of these experienced native 
bird catchers, with their Uau dogs, for a day’s hunt on the almost 
vertical cliffs of Olokui. For there, well down towards the sea 
end of this great pyramid-shaped mountain, at an elevation be- 
tween 3500 and 4000 feet, a colony of these birds have reared their 
young each season for generations. Each year, during the sum- 
mer months, the natives of the valley have formed hunting parties 
and have preyed upon the colony in search of the young Uau, 
which are regarded as an especial delicacy by all Hawaiians. 
Our start was an early and auspicious one. My men were 
each provided with a bag which was held on the back, suspended 
from the shoulders, in approved native fashion. Save for my col- 
lecting gun, we were without firearms and unencumbered. The 
day was bright, with occasional showers—just sufficient to keep 
every leaf in the moss-grown forest soaked and dripping. Only 
the most hardy and venturesome natives ever attempt this climb. 
For four hours we struggled up the steep ascent, cutting the trail 
through the tangled undergrowth, helping each other up the cliffs 
Oc. P. B. P. B. M., Vou. IV., No. 2—4. [139] 
