EAWAIIAJf BIRDS. 69 



Rhodacanthis flaviveps, Rothschild. Yellow-headed Kba Finch. 



This species was described by Mr. Rothschild from two spec- 

 imens obtained by Mr. Palmer in Kona in the same locality in- 

 habited by the previous bird. The present form is supposed to be 

 smaller and with much yellow and green in it.s plumage. Notwith- 

 standing these differences, until more specimens have been pro- 

 cured, the exact status of the bird can hardly be regarded- as 

 settled. 



Description. — Adult male. Head, neck and underparts apple-yellbw^^ 

 brighter and richer on the head and neck, and greener on the under 

 parts. Upper ' parts ashy green, becoming bright green on the lower 

 back, rump and upper tail-coverts; wings and tail dull blackish brown, 

 the feathers margined with green. Female duller and greener. Length 

 about 7-5 inches. (Rothschild.) 



Chloridops kona, Wilson. Palila. 



This remarkable finch is one of the. most local of all Hawaiian 

 birds, and is confined to the Kona district of the island of Hawaii. 

 Mr. Perkins seems to have enjoyed better opportunities for ob- 

 serving its habits than anyone else, and the following is taken 

 from his account of the species in the "Ibis." The palila "though an 

 interesting bird on account of its peculiar structure is a singularly 

 uninteresting one in its habits. It is a dull, sluggish, solitary, 

 bird, and very silent- — its v/hole existence may be summed up in 

 the words 'to eat.' Its food consists of the seeds of the fruit of 

 the aaka (bastard sandal-tree, and probably at other seasons of 

 those of the sandal-wood tree), and as these are very minute, its 

 whole time seems to be taken up in cracking the extremely hard 

 shells of this fruit, for which its extraordinarily powerful beak 

 and heavy head have been developed. * * * -phe incessant 

 cracking of the fruits when one of these birds is feeding, the noise 

 of which can be heard for a considerable distance, renders the 

 bird much easier to get than it otherwise would be. It is mostly 

 found on the roughest lava, but also wanders into the open spaces 

 of the forest." 



