72 Director's Annual Report. 
at—namely: that £a/aana has been separated as a species on char- 
acters that are of doubtful sub-specific value. Was it not for the 
definite geographical factor which enters in for consideration, the 
form would hardly have impressed the original describer as being 
worthy of designation as a sub-species. 
The Amakihi is the second species in abundance on the island, 
and was met with throughout the forested districts generally, often 
coming well down to the coast line on the weather side of the 
island, where conditions are favorable. ‘The species is sociable by 
nature, usually feeding in small companies or at least, never 
singly. Their call note is a fine clearly whistled ‘‘Tse-et.’’ This 
is usually given when for any reason an individual becomes de- 
tached from the flock or separated by any distance from its mate. 
The call note, as with most all the mountain birds, is given more 
frequently during foggy, cloudy weather, for obvious reasons. 
‘They are sure to be found where sunny slopes covered with open 
woods are interspersed with plenty of bushes and low shrubs. 
In such situations, if food is abundant, they become fairly estab- 
lished in their habits, often feeding over the same range a number 
of times each day. ‘Their song on such occasions is usually fre- 
quent and identical, I believe, for both sexes. It consists simply 
of a repetition of ‘‘’I's—chee—chee—chee—chee—chee-chee’’, trilled 
without variation, in a surprisingly loud and penetrating voice, 
which always impresses one as being forced and metallic in quality. 
Though generally favoring woods of the character described, 
they are to be met with in all sorts of places. I have found them 
—usually in isolated pairs, it is true—in the darkest and wettest 
parts of the forests, where flowers were almost wholly wanting. 
In such places they were feeding on the limbs and leaves of the 
trees high over head. At other times, they are plentiful on the 
low bushes growing on the sharp, and more or less dry and barren 
ridges. Or again, they will be met with on the outskirts of the 
forest feeding on the flowers and leaves of whatever species of tree 
or shrub was at hand, not even shunning the introduced species, 
as Lantana and Guava, which crowd well into the edge of the for- 
ests in some places. In their feeding, however, there is a prefer- 
ence shown for the Ohia both in and out of flower. lLobelias, 
especially the flowers, were seldom visited. But the white bloom, 
[162] 
