76 Director's Annual Report. 
in the shrubs to within a foot or so of the ground, and it is prob- 
able that on rare occasions they do alight on the ground, although 
I have never seen them do so. 
A good series of fairly well identified nests was taken, but the 
eggs were not secured and remain as yet unknown. ‘The best 
specimen (Mus. No. 4691) was secured in the middle of the Halawa 
forest on May 27. I had climbed into an Ohia tree to take a sur- 
vey of the surrounding country, when my attention was attracted 
by the disturbance being made by a fine red male Kakawahia, ac- 
companied by its mate and three immature birds. They came up 
close to me and were loud and determined in their ‘‘chirks’’. Look- 
ing about for the cause, I found it in the shape of a nest but a few 
feet from me. It appeared to be just completed. It is made up of 
moss neatly woven together, and measures 4.00 inches in diameter 
by 2.75 inches deep. ‘The interior is lined with the blackish root- 
like stems of dead moss and a few fibres from disintegrated Ieie 
leaves. The bowl is just over 2.00 inches across by 1.50 inches 
deep. A horizontal fork of an Ohia limb some fifteen feet from 
the ground has been used as the site. 
I conclude that the young birds following the adults were from 
a late brood of the year before, and doubtless would themselves 
not breed until the following fall or spring; though one of the 
young was well advanced in assuming the plumage of the adult. 
The second nest (Mus. No. 4694) was also taken from an 
Ohia tree. It was collected at Mapulehu June 9g, and is in every 
way similar to No. 4691, except that it was placed in an upright 
crotch. 
A third nest, in an unfinished condition, was taken on Kilo- 
hana in the wet forest on April 30. The old bird was seen carrying 
the moss of which the exterior is composed. ‘The site was an up- 
right fork of a small Kawau tree about eight feet from the ground. 
Psittirostra psittacea (Gmel.). 
It is my intention in a separate paper to discuss at some length 
the Museum’s choice series of almost a hundred skins of the Ou 
that have been collected on the large islands of the group. It is 
felt that certain questions that have been raised concerning this 
interesting genus can then be cleared up. For the present it is 
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