191 IJ Grinndl: The L'ninct of the Hawaiian Islands. 183 



the United States series — those of ' ' highest ' ' plumage — the color 

 is most extended, often pervading nearly the entire body plum- 

 age. In tM^o of the Hawaiian birds, as stated in Table I, which 

 are of the orange type, there is an admixture of yellow feathers, 

 and in one of these, carmine feathers also. 



As to the history of the linnet in the Hawaiian Islands, I 

 have been able to gather the following data: Bryan (1901, p. 

 39) states: "Hawaiian Islands; introduced." Henshaw (1902, 

 p. 129) says: "This pretty finch is probably established on all 

 the islands. Upon certain parts of the islands of Hawaii and 

 Maui it is exceedingly numerous and is increasing all the time." 

 In their publications both Bryan (1901, p. 38) and Henshaw 

 (1902, p. 129) describe the colored parts of adult males as being 

 crimson, without further remarks. ]\IcGregor (1902, p. 60) 

 records that of five males secured on Maui "but one was in the 

 red plumage, the others having orange and yellow. ' ' 



As being above all others the person most likely to have in- 

 formation along this line, I addressed Mr. H. W. Henshaw, now 

 Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 

 He wrote me under date of July 5, 1910, as follows: "While I 

 was in Honolulu I tried without success to ascertain somewhere 

 near the exact year in which these birds were liberated in one or 

 more of the Islands. It is possible that among the old inhabi- 

 tants there is someone who can give the desired information, but 

 I do not know to whom to refer you for it. I think there can be 

 no doubt that they were obtained from San Francisco or nearby, 

 but of this I have no definite proof. I shot a number of the 

 species in the Olaa woods, usually by mistake for other species. 

 All the males I obtained had yellow heads instead of crimson, 

 but remembering that even in California the yellow-colored 

 birds are not rare, I did no more than wonder if the species was 

 undergoing a change of color in the very rainy climate of the 

 Olaa district. If you find that birds from Oahu also are yellow 

 I should think you have hit upon a very interesting case of 

 change of color owing to change of environment, and one worth 

 looking into." 



In response to inquiry, Mr. W. A. Bryan wrote me under 

 date of July 22, 1910, that he was unable to give any informa- 



