Some Birds of Molokat. 57 
The young bird was not more than a day old. It was covered 
with very short, fine, creamy buff down, and looked very helpless 
and comical. The nest itself was unpretentious in the extreme, 
being simply a few dry spears of grass and a dozen feathers from 
the parent’s breast, not enough, all told, to keep the eggs off the 
wet boggy ground. Beside the nest was a half-eaten rat. 
The adult, young and eggs were taken and left that night at 
the camp. The following day, during my absence, a mongoose 
found the eggs on top of a wood-pile shelter, where I had left them 
‘temporarily, and destroyed them all. The parent-bird was in very 
worn plumage, and measured: wing 11.90, tail 4.50, culmen 1.10, 
tarsus 1.40. The young birds have now been taken from the nest 
on November 20, 1901, March 6, 1905, and May 24, 1907. These 
widely separated dates indicate that the Pueo nests at any time 
that suits its convenience. It is more abundant in Molokai than 
any other island of the group I have visited. In favorable local1- 
ties it is to be seen each evening, sometimes as many as halfa 
dozen at a time, flying about in search of food. 
Alauda arvensis Linn. 
The Skylark is now common on the grass lands of the island. 
Frequently as many as six or eight birds are in sight at a time as 
one rides or walks through the most favorable localities. The 
mongoose seems not to have interfered seriously with the nidifica- 
tion of this introduced songster, owing, no doubt, to the fact that 
it nests in the open field far away from any cover that would har- 
bor this avowed enemy of all ground nesting birds. 
Acridotheres tristis (Linn.). 
The Mina is thought to be less numerous than in former years. 
If true, it may be due to the dying out of the lantana on the islands, 
since it is known to feed voraciously on the berries of this plant. 
Birds were seen about our camp at Kamoku, always keeping to the 
open fringing woods. At Halawa, however, they were seen further 
into the interior, but at no great elevation. Nowhere were they 
observed in conflict with the native birds. ‘They are indeed so 
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