

interesting account, which his long stay on the island has enabled him to make much 

 more complete than my own. I subjoin it verbatim here : — 



" This bird is much more common and enjoys a wider range than the Nukupuu, 

 which bird it much resembles in habits. It seems to inhabit the whole forest-region 

 of Kauai ; its food consists of insects, their eggs and larvse, and we have also seen them 

 sucking honey from the Lehua flowers. Above Makaweli in January and February we 

 found it less common than at other places we visited : there they were mostly on the 

 koa trees (being the most suitable hunting-ground for them in this locality). Usually 

 there was a pair in the same vicinity, but not keeping very close together, so that when 

 one was shot we would usually get another. 



" At Kaholuamano in the latter end of February and beginning of March they were 

 more common, generally, in company with the Akikiki, feeding on the Lehua trees, the 

 pairs keeping more together. In one instance I shot a female, and the male stopped in 

 the top of the tree calling desperately. I fired at him without effect, and so intent was 

 he in looking for his mate that he immediately returned and was brought down by 

 another shot. At Halemanu towards the end of March we found them as plentiful as 

 at the latter place, but the Akikiki not being so common the Akialoa were more often 

 found apart from them ; here we first heard the Akialoa sing, although it was some 

 time before we knew for certain it was the bird whose sweet note we heard every day ; 

 once I heard one sing whilst flying from one tree to another. Near Hanalei in April 

 we found these birds not uncommon, generally in pairs chasing each other about, or 

 singing in the tops of the trees. Their chirp seemed different here ; Mr. Palmer likens 

 both the chirp and song to that of the canary. We watched a pair singing together 

 one day; the smaller and duller bird (probably the female) seemed to have fewer 

 notes than the other. 



" Females that I dissected here had the ovaries enlarged, which with before-mentioned 

 notes on the subject would denote the approach of the breeding-season. I have seen 

 these birds from the branches in the tops to the roots of the trees, probing into holes 

 and under the bark, where they find a harvest of cockroaches' eggs, beetles, and grubs ; 

 on one occasion I saw one alight on the ground and insert its bill amongst mats of 

 dead leaves and bits of wood ; have also seen them collecting insects from the bases of the 

 leaves of the halapipi tree ; have not often seen them feeding on honey. In feeding they 

 do not seem to depend much on sight ; have never noticed them to look into a crevice, 

 as the A- A, before inserting their bill. I saw one send its bill at full length into a hole 

 in a tree ; have seen them work about one spot for some minutes, but have not noticed 

 them break off any portions of bark or wood. Like the Nukupuu, it is an active bird 

 but can be easily approached within gunshot with ordinary caution. Have also a 

 strong smell when killed ; and some, shot at Makaweli, had sores on their feet like the 

 other birds in that locality at that time," 



The range, as I stated in ' The Ibis,' is from the lowest forest-zone to 3000 feet or 

 perhaps higher, the highest ground on Kauai (Waialeale) being but 4000 feet. This 



