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HIMATIONE NEWTONI. 



Himatione newtoni, Rothschild, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, i. p. xlii (1893). 

 Oreornyza newtoni, Rothschild, Avif. Laysan, p. 115 ; Perkins, Ibis, 1895, p. 122. 



As will be seen from the above, this straight-billed form was discovered in Maui by 

 the collectors of Mr. Rothschild, who accordingly described it in 1893 and considered 

 it to be closely allied to H. montana of Lanai. 



Mr. Perkins's remarks on the habits of the birds of this genus are of such interest 

 that I think it advisable to reproduce them here, some of the species having already 

 been treated in former parts of the present work. He says : — 



" They are pre-eminently insect-eaters, hunting for these on the trunks and branches 

 of the trees. Their cry is a monotonous ' chip, chip,' which they utter very voci- 

 ferously when their haunts are intruded upon. It is a little different — rather less 

 sharp — in the species found on Hawaii and Kauai (0. mana and 0. bairdi). 



"The two Oreomyzce peculiar to Maui and Lanai (0. newtoni and 0. montana) have 

 a distinct song, short, rather vigorous, but very rarely heard. Apparently they sing 

 only when intensely excited, as, for instance, when one male has been successful in 

 driving off another intruding upon his domain l . On such occasions 1 have seen the 

 victor rise spirally upwards to a height of from twenty to fifty feet, pouring forth its 

 little song while on the wing, then suddenly darting down again to the concealment of 

 the brush. Very rarely indeed I detected the same species feeding on the nectar of 

 the lehua flowers, and shot them with the beak dripping therewith. 0. mana of 

 Hawaii generally frequented the tall koa trees, also coming down into the underbrush 

 of bastard sandal ; 0. bairdi, of Kauai, was mostly seen in the lehuas ; the other 

 species largely frequented the low brush, being frequently seen amongst the fern- 

 fronds and even on the ground. They feed much on caterpillars and small moths, 

 which they find on the trunks and branches, climbing along the undersides of the 

 latter and up the largest of the former with equal ease. Large moths, when caught, 

 they hold down with their claws, tearing off the wings before eating them. To Owls 

 they have the greatest aversion, and when one flies overhead they become greatly 

 excited, all those in the neighbourhood joining in the clamour. I have seen some 

 twenty or thirty Oreomyzce gathered around one of these birds, which was sleeping on 

 a dead branch, but they kept at a respectful distance, and did not venture out of the 

 brush. It is highly probable that in past times they were largely preyed on by the 



1 " This refers more especially to Oreornyza montana. 0. newtoni I heard sing more frequently." 



