AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAN. 



5 



3. TELESPIZ A CANTANS, Wih. 



LAYSAN PINCH. 



Telespyza cant cms, Wils. Ibis, 1890, p. 311, pi. ix. ("Midway Island "). 



Adult male. Peathcrs of the head deep brown, margined with greenish yellow ; feathers of 

 the rest of the upper surfaee deep brown, broadly margined with pale brown, this latter 

 colour more or less strongly tinged with yellowish green, apparently more so in fresh 

 plumage ; rump and upper tail-coverts nearly or quite uniform brown ; wing-coverts 

 like the feathers of the back ; primaries deep blackish brown, with narrow yellow outer 

 margins ; secondaries of the same colour, but with broad pale brown outer margins ; tail- 

 feathers deep brown, margined with greenish yellow ; throat and breast yellow, with deep 

 brown shaft-stripes ; flanks and sides of abdomen and thighs similar but more brownish ; 

 abdomen and lower tail-coverts brownish white. Under wing-coverts white, with a 

 yellow tinge. 



The female does not differ from the male, but some specimens (apparently older ones) have 

 the breast almost uniform, like that figured by Wilson in £ The Ibis ' and the one shown 

 in the foreground of my Plate, and if in abraded plumage the upper surface does not 

 show much of the yellow tinge, but looks almost sandy brown, broadly streaked with 

 deep brown. 



Colour of the soft parts as in T. flavissima, Eothsch. 



Total length about G to 6*5 inches, wing 3-1 to 3*26, tail 2'1, culmen 0'55 to 0-09, height of 

 bill at base 0*49, tarsus 1. 



Sab. Wilson (/. c.) states that this species conies from Midway Island, but Palmer found it 

 common on Laysan Island, and did not see it on Midway Island, where he collected 

 several days and where he says there are no land-birds whatever. 



Of the two Pinches the following notes occur in the collector's log-book : — 



" Common all over the island of Laysan. They are quite omnivorous, eating insects and 

 other birds' eggs, and seem fond of bathing in water. Mr. Preeth says he has seen a small 

 flock feeding on a dead Albatross. The nests we obtained were built of grass and small twigs 

 and were placed in the scrub or in the tussocks of grass. I found only one and two eggs, 

 but I came across a nest containing two young and one egg, and one of Mr. Preeth's men 



