Some Birds of Molokat. 61 
and could look down into the valley below. From where we stood 
one could have thrown a stone into the stream we had left, so 
nearly vertical was the rock wall we had scaled. From this point 
we kept on the ridge, cutting our trail a considerable distance into 
the mountains before night came on. On our return to camp late 
that night, we abandoned the stream entirely and opened a new 
trail down the main ridge. 
Owing to the injuries resulting from his fall, my boy was unfit 
for duty the following day. In his stead an old, well informed 
mountain-going native was engaged. By an early hour we were 
at the farthest point reached the day before. For six hours, in 
the rain and fog, through a tangle of ieie and uhi (Smilax) vines, 
over, through, and under the moss-covered trees and roots, we 
forced our way still further up the ridge into the interior. It was 
the most uncomfortable sort of weather, and taken altogether it 
was exceedingly disagreeable, disheartening work. All day long 
we had not seen a single bird that could not have been collected 
in an hour’s time by patiently waiting under any one of the flower- 
ing ohia trees we had passed by in the early morning on our way 
up the trail. 
In the middle of the afternoon, I took the trail knife to give 
the old guide a chance to rest, for he had been chopping on the 
path since early morning. We were working in a particularly 
dense and unpromising jungle of ieie, when I heard a clear, gentle, 
even, inquiringly whistled ‘‘H-o-a’’ called by some bird not more 
than fifty yards away. It was a moment of intense excitement. 
There was little doubt in my mind but that the note was that of 
the bird I had so long sought. Making signs to the native to 
hurry to me with the gun, I began to imitate the whistle call as 
best I could. To my delight the curious black bird with the won- 
derfully curved bill, the object of my seeking, flew down and lit in 
a tree within ten feet of me! It was evident that curiosity aroused 
by my chopping had brought the bird to the spot to investigate. 
Actively hopping and flitting from limb to limb, scarcely 
stopping a second, eyeing me sharply all the while, it persisted in 
keeping so close to me that I could not with safety fire even my 
auxiliary barrel. Yet the restlessness of the bird made it appar- 
rent that I must fire soon or lose my chance, for it the bird got 
fifty feet from me in the tangle of trees and vines on the side of the 
pace 
