200 



ORXITHOLOGY. 



Numerous specimens of this plain but interesting little species are 

 in the collection, and are remarkably uniform in their characters, pre- 

 senting only differences of minor importance. It appears to inhabit 

 exclusively the Society Islands. 



This bird has frequently been confounded with the young of Todi- 

 ramphus tuta (Gmelin), which is the same as T. sacer, of the same 

 author, and resembles it very considerably. The two species are, 

 however, quite distinct, and are not difficult to distinguish from each 

 other, on comparison, the present being the smaller. Other points we 

 hope to render intelligible in a synopsis of the species of this genus in 

 the pages succeeding, with the assistance of figures given in the Atlas 

 to our present volume. 



In adult plumage, this is one of the most easily recognized birds of 

 the genus Todinimplms, and is one of the plainest in plumage, having 

 no pretensions to that beauty of plumage which characterizes nearly 

 all the species of this group. It is, too, a species not very nearly re- 

 sembling any other when adult, except as above stated, bearing some 

 resemblance to the young of T. tufa. 



Under the head of this species, Mr. Peale gives the following : 



" A party from the Exploring Squadron crossed the Island of Tahiti, 

 from Point Venus, Matavai Bay, following the course of the River 

 Popino, and crossing Lake Waharea to the opposite coast at Wairidi. 

 Tlie route was both difficult and dangerous, owing to the incessant 

 rains which fall on the upper parts of the mountains, and nourish a 

 profuse vegetation on places so steep that it appears to us impossible 

 that the heavy trunks of the feia or wild plantains, arborescent ferns, 

 other plants, and even trees, should find sufficient soil to support their 

 roots. By these, in some places, we were obliged to climb in positions 

 which were really frightful, but were gratified by seeing the breeding- 

 places of sundry sea-birds, including the ^Ethereal Tropic bird. Petrels, 

 and the pretty Thcdamidroma pacifica, all of which secure their eggs 

 and young in holes, while on the less steep ridges, we found Wilkes's 

 pigeon, doves, and many smaller birds. 



" In the secluded valleys, the dead silence which generally prevailed 

 was now and then disturbed by the garrulity of a homely bird, the 

 subject of our present description, as it flew from one dead tree to 

 another, where, watching for its prey, which consists of insects, it is 

 usually silent." 



We have to regret that w^e find so little recorded by the naturalists 



