So?iic Birds of Molokdi. 55 



they have disappeared. Doubtless the few pairs that in the past 

 have found a congenial habitat along the streams at the Halawa 

 end of the island have been preyed upon by the mongoose. 



Nycticorax nycticorax naevius ( Bodd ) . 



On May 30 I shot an adult male Auku Kohili from a tree be- 

 side the Honouliwai stream well up into the mountains. The bird 

 is not common at the higher elevations — only two or three being 

 seen there. But towards dusk, on the beach, especially at Moanui 

 and Mapulehu, they were common flying from the valleys to fish 

 from the walls of the mullet ponds along the coast. 



Mr. O. Tollefson's son relates that while he was returning from 

 the mountains one day along the Honouliwai stream, he saw at 

 some distance ahead of him an Auku sitting on a rock in the 

 stream, evidently still-hunting for fish. As he was watching the 

 bird a mongoose came out of the shrubbery along the stream and 

 pounced on the solitary fisherman. The bird and the animal en- 

 gaged in a desperate struggle, resulting in the death of the Auku 

 before the boy could interfere. Although he gave immediate 

 chase, the mongoose succeeded in dragging its prey from boulder 

 to boulder out of the stream and into a crevice in the rocky bank, 

 from which it was impossible to dislodge the animal. 



Gallinula sandvicensis Streets. 



This species is common on the island, being seen in the taro 

 ponds in Wailau, Pelekunu and Halawa valleys. 



Fulica alai Peale. 



I did not find the Alae keokeo, but am told that it is to be seen 

 on the mud flat at Palaau, a locality I was not able to visit. 



Himantopus knudseni Stejn. 



The Kukuluaeo or Hawaiian Stilt is a resident species at 

 Palaau where the voung have been taken in June. 



[i45] 



