10 (Di.) 



AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAX, ETC. 



was so low that it took us some minutes to locate it. At last my assistant saw one in an 

 Ohia-tree and instantly shot it, and was lucky enough to secure the female with the second 

 barrel. From the colour of the male 1 conclude that this is the bird mentioned by Mr. Wilson 

 of an old-gold colour (L. aurea, Einsch, nec Drepanis aurea, Dole !) in his book of instruc- 

 tions to me. 



" August 2nd. — I think we secured in all five of these birds to-day. All of them were 

 hopping about among the Ohia-trees. As I was anxious to secure the bird I did not wait to 

 study its habits very closely. The next note Ave heard, in spite of the uproar made by 

 Akikiki (which are very numerous at this height), was that of an ' Akialoa ' (Heterorhynchus 

 affirm, Rothsch.). I immediately went towards the sound, and soon saw the bird on a 

 Koa-tree, the scarcest of the Maui trees, and was, after a lot of trouble, successful in 

 shooting it. This bird most resembles the ' Kauai Nukupu ' (Meter, hanapepe, Wils.), 

 but its note is almost identical with that of the Hawaiian species (Ileter. wilsoni, Rothsch.). 

 In all we shot three Akialoas and two Ou (Psittacirostra psittacea), so that I believe to-day 

 every species of bird except the Rice-bird and the Linnet were obtained. Except the Akikiki 

 (0. newtoni) they are here all far from numerous, in fact rather rare. The forest is not very 



dense, and consists chiefly of small Ohias, a few Koa-trees, and a sprinkling of Mamane. 



Unlike on Hawaii, the Ohias form the upper boundary of the forest, while on the former 



island the Koas do this. 



" August 3rd w T as spent in skinning and preparing specimens, but in the evening I shot 



three more Akakane. They constantly fly in company with Akikiki, but creep about among 



the leaves, while the latter hop from twig to twig. 



"August 6th. — Yesterday morning I left camp and started for the crater of Mount 



Haleakala, taking 5 days' provisions with me. All went well, and we reached the summit at 



noon; but not many minutes after rain fell in torrents, with vivid lightning and thunder, 



which lasted for two hours. On starting again the pack-horse fell down a precipice, and was 



so knocked about that we could not proceed, and had to take refuge in a cave half a mile 



below the summit. 



" Next morning we explored the crater. As far as we could see no forest is visible, and 

 only a few single patches of low scrub and grass. In the crater, to my astonishment, a flock 

 of Plover flew over us— the first I have seen since they migrated from these islands last May. 

 Except My nabs there are no other birds in the crater. 



" The trail right up to the top is excellent, surpassing most of the so-called government 

 roads. It lies all though open country, covered in places with dwarf scrub and small Ohelo- 

 trees (Eucalyptus spec. ?). 



" The other portions of the mountain are covered with bunch -grass. Roth the sunrise and 

 sunset were so magnificent that they defy description. 



<k I must herewith return my thanks to Mr. Mossman, of Makawao Store, whose sketch of 

 the crater and trail was most useful to me. 



"On the way down, hardly 400 feet below the summit, I shot a small bird, which turned 

 out to be an Amakihi (Ch. wilsoni, Rothsch.). This proves that this bird is found at all 

 altitudes, unlike the species of the other islands. 



"August 8th. — Shot and skinned some more of the previously-mentioned birds. I saw 

 an Akikiki (Oreomyza) feeding its young. The latter opened its bill, and the old one put an 



