

the Zoological Society on the 15th January, 1889 by Professor Newton (ut supra), who 

 then referred it to Latham's " Dusky Rail," which had not since been recognized, but 

 soon after informed me that he believed it to be identical with the previously designated 

 Rallus ecaudatus of King. I obtained the specimen, which I subsequently presented 

 to the Museum of my University, through the kindness of Mr. Bishop, it being one of 

 five, procured nearly thirty years before by the late Mr. Mills and preserved in his 

 collection, where they were described by Judge Dole (locc. citt.) as belonging to a new 

 species, which in his second paper on Hawaiian ornithology he ascribed to a new genus 

 in the following terms : — 



" Pennula millei 1 . Moho. Not previously described. 6^ in. long. Bill f in. 

 long, black, straight, sides compressed, curved at tip. Tail not visible. Wings rudi- 

 mentary, hidden in the long, loose, hairy feathers. Plumage dark, dull brown, ashy 

 under the throat ; feathers loose, hairy, long. Lower part of tibia naked. Legs long, 

 set far back. Toes 3 front, 1 back. Habitat, uplands of Hawaii. Nearly extinct. 

 Specimen in Mills' Coll. 



" I feel confident that this remarkable bird belongs to the Rallidoe, but am unable 

 to fix its place more definitely. It is the only bird which the natives call Moho, which 

 word is nearly synonymous with the New Zealand word Moa, which is their name for 

 the gigantic wingless bird of that country. Regarding it as a new genus I have taken 

 the liberty of naming as above, gladly thereby recognizing Mr. Mills' valuable services 

 in preserving specimens of this bird, and giving others opportunities of studying it." 



Mr. Sclater (loc. tit.), in remarking on the above passages, pointed out that this was 

 the bird " with rudimentary wings " mentioned in a letter from Mr. W. H. Pease, the 

 well-known authority on the conchology of the Hawaiian and other Pacific-Island 

 groups, an extract from which the late Dr. J. E. Gray had communicated to the 

 Zoological Society in 1862 (ut supra) as follows : — "There is a wingless bird of small 

 size living in the Island of Hawaii, which the natives call ' Moho,' which is now 

 nearly extinct, having been killed off by the wild cats and dogs within late years ; 

 I have seen but a single specimen." 



Though the bird is not " wingless," Mr. Sclater's identification is doubtless correct, 

 and it is quite likely that Mr. Pease's information may have been based upon one of 

 Mr. Mills's specimens. If so, it may indicate the time about which they were procured, 

 and that, should the species be (as is supposed) really extinct, would be a matter of 

 some interest. The inference would seem to be that at the date of Mr. Pease's letter 

 (20th November, 1861) Mr. Mills possessed only one specimen, and that the other four 

 which I myself saw were obtained subsequently. Two of them have since passed into 

 Mr. Rothschild's collection, and the remaining two are still in that of Mr. Bishop. 

 No further examples have been secured, though it is doubtful whether any extended 

 search has been made. In the month of November 1887 I visited Olaa, where I 

 resided some ten days at ' The Halfway House,' Mr. L. Severance (an old resident 



1 A printer's error for millsi. 



