have accepted Fleming's Vestiaria, taken from the specific name applied by Latham, 

 and derived from the use of the feathers in forming the ornamental garments. 



This beautiful species, generally distributed throughout the entire Sandwich archi- 

 pelago, is by far the most conspicuous of its birds, on account of the gorgeous scarlet 

 of the plumage, which is greatly heightened in brilliancy by contrast with the deep 

 black of the wings and tail. It is especially well known to every Hawaiian, less from 

 the attractiveness of its colours than from the fact that its breast-feathers were largely 

 used in the fabrication of the famous feather-robes l of ancient times — worn by the 

 priesthood and chiefs alone ; and thus its various names occur in many an ancient 

 tale of chivalry, and in the " meles " or songs, which every native loves so well 

 to chant. 



The immature birds are not so familiar to the islanders as the adults and are 

 often regarded by them as belonging to a distinct species, called in the Hawaiian 

 tongue " Iiwi Popolo " or " Iiwi Polena," — an error which Judge Dole shares in his well- 

 known " Catalogue of Hawaiian Birds," where he describes a specimen in the earlier 

 state of plumage under the name of Drepanis rosea ; nor is it a matter of astonishment 

 that he has gone astray, seeing that the spotted yellowish plumage of the young shown 

 in the upper figure of the second Plate is so very unlike that of the older bird. 



The call-note of the " Iiwi " is peculiar, and is very powerful for so small a songster 

 — ta-weet, ta-weet, ta-wee-ah, its flute-like clearness being unsurpassed by that of any 

 other Sandwich-Island species. The bird has, in addition, a somewhat sweet and plain- 

 tive song, which I heard on a few occasions, usually soon after sunrise ; the note first 

 mentioned is, however, by far the most characteristic, and is that most frequently heard. 

 I regret to say that I did not succeed in obtaining the eggs, but I found a nest about 

 which there appears to be little doubt. Perhaps it will be well to quote from my notes 

 made at the time: — 



" There are a number of stunted ohia trees (Metrosideros) growing right among the 

 clinker-beds of a comparatively recent lava-flow, which is as yet destitute of any 

 herbaceous vegetation, save for a few ferns growing here and there in the crevices of 



1 In the ethnological collection of the British Museum are three large mantles, two of which are mainly 

 composed of the red feathers of the Iiwi and the yellow feathers of the 0-0 (Acrulocercus nobilis), while the 

 third, of which the bulk is made of the black tail-feathers of the domestic cock, has a narrow margin of the 

 plumage of the two above-named species interwoven in an angular pattern ; these mantles are each about 

 5 feet long and 8 feet across the bottom. There is a fourth, somewhat shorter, though of the same width, 

 made likewise of red and yellow feathers ; this is in by far the best state of preservation, the colours being of 

 nearly as bright a tint as in freshly-killed birds. Besides these robes there are in the collection several 

 "leis" or feather- wreaths, some fabricated entirely of the red feathers of the present species, others of red 

 green, yellow, and black feathers arranged in rings in vailing order, which are accompanied by three gigantic 

 masks formerly worn by the priesthood at their ceremonies, and also, I believe, by chiefs in time of war. 

 These truly monstrous-looking objects consist of a framework of fibre, covered entirely with the red feathers 

 of the Iiwi ; the mouth is set with fish-teeth, and for eyes they have a fragment of pearl-shell with a round 

 knob of black wood in the centre. I noticed at the same time several smaller capes, in which the feathers of 

 Vestiaria are used. 



