work, the ' General History of Birds,' being figured on both occasions ; he should have 

 had before him a specimen from the Museum of Sir Ashton Lever, procured during 

 Cook's last voyage, and still preserved in the Derby Museum at Liverpool, which is 

 unquestionably that delineated in Yiellot's 'Oiseaux Dores,' being copied from a 

 drawing sent to the author by Parkinson, then owner of the Leverian Museum. 



The specific title ohscurus dates from Gmelin's Certhia obscura of 1788, and has only 

 since been altered in error, as by G. K. Gray in the case mentioned below ; while it 

 will be seen that both Vieillot and Lesson identified King's " Akaiearooa " with our 

 species. The generic appellation, on the other hand, has experienced similar vicissi- 

 tudes to those of allied forms from the same region, alternating between Certhia, 

 Melithreptus, Vestiaria, Drepanis, and Hemignathus ; but when once it became evident 

 that Temminck's Drepanis included within itself several distinctly separable genera, it 

 followed that the only one of the above names applicable to the present group of 

 birds was the last, originally bestowed by Lichtenstein on examples obtained by 

 Deppe in Oahu, and considered by him to be identical with those from Hawaii, 

 though they now prove to belong to a different species which I have named H. lichten- 

 steini. G. B,. Gray, who in more than one case erroneously considered the green 

 birds to be the females of the red, referred II. ohscurus partly to the female of 

 Vestiaria coccinea, partly to his Drepanis ellisiana, which, therefore, must rank as a 

 synonym. 



This species — peculiar, so far as my observations go, to the Island of Hawaii — 

 occupies the lower forest-zone from about 1100 to 2500 feet, and is most plentiful 

 among the tall ohia trees. Like its larger relative — II stejnegeri on Kauai, — it prefers 

 decayed timber in which to search for its food, and invariably chooses a rotten or half- 

 dead tree for its hunting-ground, no doubt on account of its slender bill, which requires 

 soft material to work upon. It is also very partial to the great tree-ferns which in the 

 forests of Hawaii reach a height of more than 30 feet, and, as the sombre colour of its 

 plumage is very nearly that of their foliage, it is most difficult to observe, and is at 

 the same time more quiet and unobtrusive in its habits than any other member of the 

 genus ; in fact, had it not been for its clear and characteristic call-note, I doubt whether 

 I should have noticed it at all. It must — at least in the several localities I visited 

 and at the time of year I saw them — be considered a scarce bird : and whilst I was at 

 Olaa in the district of Puna — a place renowned in ancient times for its bird-catchers — 

 an old native, Hawelu, an excellent observer and well skilled in the almost forgotten 

 art, told me that it was extremely rare. During a long stay in the higher forest- 

 region in Kona, I did not notice it, and believe, as I remarked above, that it is con- 

 fined to the lower forest-zone. 



Description. — Adult male. Head and upper parts generally uniform dull greenish 

 olive, rather brighter on the rump ; lores dusky, with a yellow mark over the eye ; 

 throat, sides of face, and breast dull olive-green, lighter on abdomen and under tail- 



