

in Hilo) having told me that in that neighbourhood Mr. Mills had procured the 

 birds. Mr. Severance, moreover, had kindly given me a letter to Hawelu, the landlord 

 of ' The Halfway House ' — the man who actually shot the original specimens; this 

 house is halfway between Hilo and the Volcano of Kilauea, and is very finely 

 situated on the outskirts of the forest, commanding a splendid outlook over the 

 sea, while a fine clump of tall Eucalyptus trees close at hand adds greatly to its 

 picturesqueness. 



The weather was very wet at the time of my visit ; nevertheless I went out shooting 

 every day, and when I visited the forest, HaAvelu and other natives, encouraged by the 

 promise of a large reward, scoured the country round for the Moho, but to no purpose. 

 However, owing to the fact of my having no dog, and Hawelu but a poor one, our 

 chances of success were not great ; and in my opinion the bird may, nay probably does, 

 still exist on the scrub-covered plains between Olaa and Kilauea. Moreover, Hawelu 

 told me that the mail-carrier had seen the bird cross his path within the last three 

 years ; on the same authority, the Moho outruns any dog possessed by the natives, and 

 it is possible to track it by its cry — a whirring sound resembling the rising of a bevy of 

 Quail, while its nest is made on the ground. 



The five specimens were all procured by Hawelu in the scrub-covered lava-flats 

 about five miles south of the Volcano House, but more information than this I could 

 not obtain, and my intelligent informant is now a leper on Molokai. The aspect of 

 the region where the Moho was found much resembles a Scotch moor, with a short 

 densely-growing Vaccinium in the place of heather ; this is intermingled with a species 

 of Carex and the Ukiuki x (Dianella ensifolia), a bright silver-leaved plant bearing 

 a blue berry — the whole forming the thickest of cover. The only trees in this 

 region are scrubby stunted Ohias, though here and there are thickets of fern inter- 

 spersed with small bushes. 



I may add that the late King Kalakaua was most anxious to procure specimens 

 of the subject of the present notice, and had for some years before my visit offered 

 the natives a large reward for them. Olaa used to be a noted locality in olden times 

 for bird-catching, and his late Majesty, through his Chamberlain, Mr. C. P. Jaukea, 

 gave me a written permission to shoot specimens of the Mamo (Drepanis pacifica) 

 and O-o (Acrulocercus nohilis) there, believing that I should meet with both of them 

 as well as the Moho ; he afterwards expressed great disappointment at my failing in 

 my object. 



Description (taken from the specimen at Cambridge).— Upper parts rufous brown, 

 somewhat lighter upon the forehead, the outer primary being marked with reddish buff 

 on the outer web ; sides of the face, chin, and throat whitish ; the rest of the under- 

 pays rufous or ruddy buff, becoming much browner around the thighs ; the feathers, 

 near the vent, which meet beneath the place where the tail should be, with subterminal 

 buff cross-bars. Beak brown ; feet now almost white. 



1 My father has flowered this (since my return) from seeds I brought home. 



9. 



E 



