DEEPANIS FUNEKEA. 



Drepanis funerea, A. Newton, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1893, p. 690. 



To the Joint Committee appointed by the Royal Society and by the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science to carry on a Zoological Exploration of the Sandwich 

 Islands, my sincere thanks are due for the privilege of including in this work, and of 

 figuring for the first time, the remarkable and in many respects very interesting new 

 species of Drepanis (as the genus is now limited) discovered by their agent, Mr. Eobert 

 C. L. Perkins, B.A., of Jesus College in the University of Oxford, who is to be 

 congratulated on this ornithological reward of his arduous labours — a reward that was 

 wholly unexpected, since the island of Molokai, on which, by dint of perseverance, he 

 found it, had been already and very recently ransacked by a collector who wanted 

 neither skill nor experience. I have only to add my regrets to those expressed by the 

 describer of Drepanis funerea that Mr. Perkins's modesty has hindered him from 

 introducing his discovery to the scientific world. 



Of this species, which is somewhat smaller than D. pacifiea, Mr. Perkins obtained 

 several examples in Molokai, at an altitude of about 5000 feet, in June 1893. He 

 marks the long-billed specimens as males, the short-billed as females. 



The following is from Prof. Newton's paper (loc. cit.) describing the species: — 



" Diagn. — Atra, remigibus manualibus externe grisei-limbatis, rostro valde decurvato, 

 maxilla mandibulam multo transeunte. 



"Long. tot. 8 ; alas 4; caud. 2*75 ; rostri culminis 2*5 ; tarsi 1*25 uncc. 



" Hab. in montibus sylvestribus insula? Molokai. 



" The sexes are outwardly alike. Mr. Perkins states that the nasal opercula and 

 the base of the bill between the nostrils are yellow, especially in the young ; the irides 

 ' pale yellowish-brown.' 



" It would be easy to point out characters that in the eyes of some writers would 

 justify the foundation of a new genus for this bird. At first sight the configuration of 

 its bill naturally suggests the genus Hemignathus ; but closer inspection shows that in 

 its breadth and height at the base it wholly agrees with Drepanis, as restricted by modern 

 authors, only differing therefrom in its exaggerated maxilla. Some inequality in the 

 length of the mandibles is, however, exhibited by D. pacifica, and the examples of the 

 new species sent by Mr. Perkins show no little variability in this respect. For the 

 rest it is distinct enough, its almost lustreless black plumage not being relieved by any 



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