

ventriloquial power — the sound seeming now in front, now behind, now near, now far ; 

 yet it was utterly impossible that the bird could have flown without my being aware 

 of it. At last the bird became silent, and I never caught sight of it at all." 



Description. — Adult male. Head, throat, and underparts rich scarlet-orange, becoming 

 slightly more yellow on the chest and gradually merging into the mere orange of the 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts ; upper back and wing-coverts brown, washed with 

 yellowish olive ; remiges and rectrices blackish brown, with a narrow margin of dull 

 orange on the outer web ; lower back with rump and tail-coverts dull orange ; under 

 surface of wings and tail whitish grey, with a little orange on the axillaries. The 

 outer wing-coverts and bend of wing are tinged with orange. Bill bluish grey, legs 

 almost black. 



Dimensions. — Total length 8'87 inches, wing 4-62, tail 2-87, tarsus 1, culmen -75. 



Adult female. Above brownish, washed with fairly bright olive-green, which is still 

 brighter on the crown, forehead, sides of face, rump, and upper tail-coverts ; throat 

 and chest much as the rump, but more white-looking ; rest of underparts greyish 

 white with a slight green wash ; axillaries tinged with green. The wings and tail are 

 similarly coloured to those of the male, but with green margins instead of orange. 

 The hook of the maxilla is less prolonged than in the male. The dimensions are 

 smaller, except as regards the tarsus and culmen. 



Young male, No. 1. The scarlet-orange is beginning to show on the forehead and, 

 slightly, on the crown ; the under surface is dull orange, with indications of green on 

 the breast; the region of the rump is duller than in the adult ; the maxilla is whitish 

 at the sides. 



Young male, No. 2. Entirely olive-green above ; throat yellower ; breast mottled 

 with green and yellow, owing to the feathers having green centres and broad buffish- 

 yellow margins ; abdomen pure buffish yellow ; maxilla similar to that of the female. 



Mr. Rothschild considers some examples from Kona to be specifically distinct, and 

 calls them B.Jlaviceps (Ann. Mag. N. H. ser. 6, x. p. 111). In these the head, neck, and 

 underparts are yellow, greener below ; the upper parts are ashy-green, brighter towards 

 the rump ; the iris is brown. Only the forehead is yellow in the female. The dimen- 

 sions are respectively smaller than in the last species. 



