HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 87 



The first stragglers pat in an appearance about the middle of 

 August. In 1900 I shot some twenty of these first comers and to 

 my great surprise found all of them to be plump and in fine order 

 for the table, while some were very fat indeed. All these birds, 

 with one exception, were fully adult and the majority were males. 

 Moreover they were in much the same plumage as when they left 

 for Alaska in May ; that is, they were in the red and black plumage 

 characteristic of the nuptial season. The young birds did not be- 

 gin to appear till at least a fortnight later, and when they came 

 were thin and poor. 



The akekeke roost at night upon rocky points and little islets 

 by the shore, where they are reasonably sure of being undis- 

 turbed and, about daybreak, leave for the pastures and freshly 

 ploughed cane-fields where they feed all day. They and the plover 

 destroy vast numbers of a small worm, called by the natives ''pe- 

 lua," which eats the freshly sprouted grass, and many other in- 

 sects. On this account they are protected by some, but not all, 

 the planters. Comparatively few akekeke remain in the islands 

 all summer and, as stated elsewhere, these consist of the immature 

 birds and the cripples. In some localities, however, the akekeke 

 may be seen in large flocks all summer long, as near the crater 

 of Kilauea, and many roost in the crater itself. 



So far as I can learn the akekeke never has been known to 

 breed in the islands. 



Description. — Adult. Upper parts black and rufous; much white on 

 head; rump, throat and belly white. Length 9-10 inches. Bill 8-9 inches. 

 In juvenile dress the fufous is wanting; breast dusky. 



CHARADRIID^. PI-GVER FAMILY. 



Charadrius squatarola (Linn.) Black-bellied Plover. 



The occurrence of this plover in the Hawaiian Islands rests, so 

 far as the author knows, upon a single individual shot by Mr. 

 George C. Hewitt in the fall of 1900 at Kaalualu, coast of Kau, 

 Hawaii. Th&t this is an isolated case is hardly to be believed, and 

 it is more than likely that a few black-bellied plovers reach the 



