

VIKIDONIA SAGITTIROSTBIS. 



Viridonia sagittirostris, Rothschild, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, x. p. 112 (July 1892) ; id. 

 Avif. Laysan, p. 109, pi. (1893). 



Me. Rothschild described this new species in the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History' for 1892, in the following words : — 



" Fam. Meliphagidse. 



" Vieidonia, gen. nov. 



" Bill slightly curved, stout at the base, attenuating towards the tip, which is sharply 



pointed ; wing rather broad, the first quill slightly shorter than the sixth ; no bastard 



primary ; tail rather short, nearly even at the tip ; legs and feet stout ; culmen about 



equal in length to the tarsus. 



" Viridonia sagittirostris, sp. n. 



" Adult male. Upper parts bright olive-green, rather paler and brighter on the sides 

 of the head and upper tail-coverts. Underparts bright yellowish green ; wings blackish 

 brown, the primaries narrowly and the secondaries more broadly margined with 

 yellowish green ; tail blackish brown, with yellowish-green margins ; under surface of 

 the wings dark ashy, the quills margined with dull white on the basal half; margin 

 of the wing tinged with yellow. Bill black ; legs black ; iris brownish grey. 



" Total length about 6 - 5 inches, culmen 0'9, wing 3 - 3, tail 2T, tarsus - 91. 



" Adult female. Resembles the male, but is rather duller in tinge of colour both on 

 the upper and underparts. 



" Hab. Mauna Kea, Hawai, Sandwich group." 



This bird was discovered in 1892 by Palmer, when collecting for Mr. Rothschild, on 

 the slopes of Mauna Kea, above Hilo ; it frequents high trees and masses of creepers 

 in the densest forest, generally at an altitude of from 500 to 1500 feet, is shy and 

 fairly active, and utters a high clear call-note, rather like that of the Mamo, varied by 

 a regular whistling trill. The song is not unlike that of Chlorodrepanis, but has two 

 or three loud notes at the end. Only four specimens were obtained in the first 

 instance, but Mr. Perkins secured several on his visit to the islands in 1896, one of 

 them at an altitude of 2000 feet. The stomachs of those he shot were filled with 

 crickets of the genus Paratrigonidium. 



