80 Dr. O. Finsch’s Ornithological Letter. 
mens. But D. coccinea alive, with its bright vermilion bill 
and legs, is a wonderful bird. The stomach of both spe- 
cies contained nothing more than small seeds. Male and 
female of D. sanguinea wear the same garb. Quite different 
in manner and song is Drepanis flava, of which I got both 
sexes. ‘The commonest species is Hemizgnathus obscurus. It 
goes in small flocks from tree to tree, reminding one in 
manners and its short call very much of Parws, and taking 
apparently an intermediate position between the latter and 
the Leaf-Warblers (Phylloscopus). As regards nesting I could 
make no observations, as the breeding-time was over, and 
most of the birds were feeding their young. One species, of 
which I shot an example thus occupied, would have proved 
new had it not been described a very short time ago by 
Mr. Dole (Hawaiian Almanac for 1879, p. 45) as Drepanis 
aurea). This little bird, which Mr. Dole described from 
Hawaii, is, no doubt, a Hypoloxias; and as the species is un- 
known in Europe, I give here a description of the old and 
young birds. 
HyPoLoxiAs AUREA. 
Drepanis aurea, Dole, Haw. Almanac, 1879, p. 45. 
Uniform orange; quills blackish brown, margined externally 
with the same colour, but more sordid; covers of primaries 
and secondaries on the outer webs broadly margined with dull 
orange. Bill hornish-blue, tip blackish; iris dark brown. 
Stomach containing nests of insects (caterpillars) ; first and 
third primaries longest, first scarcely shorter. 
Young (just able to fly, and fed by the former). Upper 
parts dull olive green, the outer margin of the dark brown 
quills and tail-feathers more vivid, the same as the tips of the 
secondaries, which form a pale cross band on the wing; 
lower parts pale olive-yellow, chin passing into whitish ; bill 
horn-blackish, tip darker; feet black; third and fourth pri- 
maries longest, second equal to fifth, somewhat shorter, first 
alittle shorter; tail twelve feathers. Tongue ordinary, bifur- 
cated at tip. 
These were all the birds I got; but, as mentioned above, I 
