mi Director's Annual Report. 



in the shrubs to within a foot <>r so of the ground, and it is prob- 

 able that on rare occasions thej do alight on the ground, although 

 I have never seen them do so. 



A good series <>l fairly well identified nests was taken, but the 

 eggs were not secured and remain as yet unknown. The best 

 specimen (Mus. No. i<>oi > 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 

 1>\ 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 9, 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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