156 Bird - Lore 



and on the outer extremities of the branches, where the}' are inaccessible to 

 all save creatures with wings. Moreover, a dense covering of mosses, 

 lichens, ferns and shrubs envelops all the limbs, and in them a multitude 

 of nests may be hidden and no one be any the wiser. More than once I 

 have seen birds whose nests are yet unknown, with nest material in bill; 

 but, as it happens, they have each time been on their way to distant trees, 

 and one must possess wings to follow a bird through such a tangle where 

 the sight is restricted to a few square yards. It will be long, therefore, ere 

 much is known of the inner life of Hawaiian birds. 



There is one characteristic of the woodland birds of Hawaii which is 

 so unique as to deserve brief mention. I allude to the powerful musk-like, 

 but not unpleasant, odor which attaches to the feathers of most of them. 

 Perhaps this odor is more marked in Ou than in any other species. It is 

 so strong in this species that I am sure I have detected it from living birds 

 when near by on low trees, although my sense of smell is anything but 

 acute. In a freshly killed specimen this odor is simply overpowering, and 

 is much stronger in the early morning than later in the day. At first I 

 thought it probable that the scent was connected with the oil with which 

 the birds dress their feathers, which, in a climate so wet as this, must be 

 used often and in unusual quantities. However, I have been able to detect 

 only a slight odor from this oil when freshly squeezed from the oil-gland. 



If this characteristic odor originated after the ancestors of the present 

 species reached the islands, and if it is in any way beneficial to its possessors, 

 it seems singular that it should not be shared bv all the woodland species 

 whose habits are analogous. Several species are, however, wholly without 

 it. It is possible, as I believe Mr. Perkins has suggested, that what at 

 first seems to be of trivial significance may be found to have a deeper mean- 

 ing, and that this odor may point to the ancestry and to the ancestral home 

 of some of the island birds. As the American Coerebidae, according to Dr. 

 Gadow, are the most likely group from which the Island Drepanididae are 

 derived, it would be most interesting to discover if the plumage of any of 

 the former have the same characteristic scent. In this connection it is 

 interesting to note that the Oo, Omao and Elepaio are believed by Dr. 

 Gadow to have a non -American origin and not to be Drepanine. It is 

 significant that the feathers of these species, together with lo, do not 

 possess the peculiar odor which is shared, I believe, by all the Island 

 Drepanine forms, certainly by all of them resident upon the Island of 

 Hawaii. 



I have alluded above to the songs of Hawaiian birds. In common with 

 a widespread belief, I had expected to find little music in Hawaiian woods, 

 and I was greatly surprised. Certain species of Hawaiian birds, it is true, 

 sing rarely. Thus, though I have seen perhaps a hundred individuals of 

 Akialoa {Hem. obscuriis) , I have yet to hear its song, and the same is true 



