guished, at any height, by their more forked tails, which, combined with their short 

 thick beaks, give them a very Finch-like aspect. 



" The young generally follow the parents (some going with the male, and some with 

 the female), who feed them most assiduously even after they appear well able to shift 

 for themselves. 



" The difference in colour of the sexes is very marked, while the male of L. aurea 

 is dimorphic (yellow or red), though with occasional intermediate forms. L. ccerulei- 

 rostris of Kauai, so far as colour is concerned, has claim to be considered the primitive 

 form, both sexes largely retaining the green plumage, which only appears in the female 

 and young of the red species on the more southern islands. 



" On one occasion I saw a pair of L. aurea building, high up in a tall ohia tree, 

 toward the end of a branch. They came down to the ground for material, stripping 

 off the brown down that covered the young fronds of some stunted ' pulu ' ferns. On 

 another occasion I watched a' pair sporting on the wing, now ascending, now descending, 

 but gradually rising upwards till they became mere specks in the sky. It must have 

 been several minutes before they finally alighted at no great distance from their 

 starting-point. Both were splendid males." 



Dv. Finsch thus describes his types : — 



" Uniform orange ; quills blackish brown, margined externally with the same colour, 

 but more sordid ; covers of primaries and secondaries on the outer webs broadly 

 margined with dull orange. Bill hornish-blue, tip blackish ; iris dark brown. 

 Stomach containing nests of insects (caterpillars). First and third primaries longest, 

 first scarcely shorter. 



"Young (just able to fly, and fed by the former). — Upper parts dull olive-green, the 

 outer margin of the dark brown quills and tail-feathers more vivid, the same as the 

 tips of the secondaries, which form a pale cross band on the wing; lower parts pale 

 olive-yellow, chin passing into whitish ; bill horn-blackish, tip darker ; feet black ; 

 third and fourth primaries longest, second equal to fifth, somewhat shorter, first a little 

 shorter ; tail twelve feathers. Tongue ordinary, bifurcated at tip." 



The red form, which is here figured on the same Plate as the orange, only differs in 

 the brighter coloration; but it should be observed that the lower figure (from Dr. Finsch's 

 type) shows a somewhat intermediate bird, not so yellow as in some cases. 



The question of the trivial name which this species should bear is one that may 

 interest those fond of nomenclatural puzzles. It is beyond all doubt the Hypoloxias 

 aurea of Dr. Finsch, admirably described by him in 1880. But he, by a very pardon- 

 able mistake, wherein he was followed in 1885 by Dr. Sharpe, referred it to the 

 Drepanis aurea of Judge Dole, which, as I have already mentioned, I had ascertained 

 (from examining the type while I was in Honolulu) to have been founded on an 

 immature specimen of the Hawaiian species, Loxops coccinea. It is therefore open 

 for some to urge that the term aurea is precluded to any other species of Loxops ; 

 but, on the other hand, it is to be observed that this term originally appearing in 

 connexion with Drejpanis was a wholly inaccurate generic assignment, while as used by 



