HAWAIIAN BIRDS. 121 



ing birds. Their white underparts, which can be plainly seen, and 

 the peculiar character of their flight convince him beyond much 

 doubt that the bird is none other than one of the petrels. 



The birds fly a hundred yards and more above the earth, clear- 

 ing the tops of the tallest palms, and the height has so far rendered 

 futile all attempts to secure a specimen. Some of the natives sol- 

 emnly declare, with a significant shake of the head, that they do 

 not know the bird at all, that it has no name and has never been 

 seen by human eye. Others, better informed or less superstitious, 

 affirm with much positiveness that the bird is none other than the 

 uuau ; others believe it to be the ao ; while others still are equally 

 positive that it is the koae. The question can be settled absolutely 

 only by obtaining a specimen — no easy task. 



Description. — Adult. Above brownish slate, darker on wings and tail; 

 head black; feathers of hind neck and upper tail-coverts white beneath 

 the surface; forehead, lores, cheeks and under parts white; sides and 

 flanks lightly barred (or not) with dusky; bill black; tarsus and upper 

 half of foot flesh color; lower half of toes black. Wing, 10.75-11 inches; 

 bill, about 1.20 inches. 



^^strelata hypoleuca, Salvin. Salvin's White-breasted Petrel. 



"Palmer met with this rare petrel only on Laysan, where he 

 found four moulting specimens in the daytime in deep burrows. 

 They were completely dazed when taken out of their hiding 

 places, and behaved as if they were quite blind. According to 

 Mr. Freeth, their breeding-season was now over, June 16-26, but 

 they came ashore in large numbers earlier during .their breeding- 

 time. They are quite nocturnal like other species of this genus." 



Description. — Adult. Feathers of the forehead up to the middle of the 

 head deep slate-color, broadly margined with white, and white at base; 

 feathers just above the bill, lores, and entire under surface white; occiput 

 and hind neck deep slate-color ; feathers of the inter-scapular region back, 

 and upper part of rump slate-color, with pale cinereous margins ; lower 

 rump deep slaty. * * * Length about 13 inches. (Rothschild.) 



