16 (Di.) AVIFAUNA OF LAYS AX, ETC. 



is overgrowing the lower portions of the land, oppressing the native vegetation. Along the 

 coast were scattered here and there a few houses, partly empty and almost one-half of the 

 others wore occupied by Chinamen. 



On December 9th Palmer made his first trip to the hills, but did not procure any birds. 

 The forest consists, lie says, all of dwarfish Ohias with much undergrowth of climbing ferns. 



The 10th and 11th of December rain fell so constantly and heavily, that Palmer did 

 not go out for collecting; on the 12th of December a trip was made, but with no success. 

 " Apapane "was seen in numbers and a few « Iiwi " and « Amakihi " (Himatione wiUoni) s 

 but nothing collected. The very dense undergrowth made collecting very difficult. 



On December 16th Palmer was guided by Dr. Mouritz, who showed much kindness to 

 him in many ways, to one of the highest peaks of the island, and there it was where he shot 

 the first specimen of that beautiful new '« O-o " which I named Moho bishopi. 



Owing to the extremely dense undergrowth and the low trees, together with the deep 

 and sometimes inaccessible ravines, it is very difficult to collect this fine species, and it was 

 not before the 26th of December that a second specimen of it was procured. Stormy and 

 rainy clays with some bright and fine ones between prevailed to the end of 1802, and the 

 collection increased but little. Nearly all the collecting was done on a trail cut for the 

 purpose. 



The highest bills on Molokai were, in Palmer's opinion, not high enough to produce a 

 different fauna ; from which surmise he concluded that all the birds are inhabitants of the 

 forests from the lowest valleys up to the highest peaks. This assumption was probably the 

 reason for Palmer's failure to discover Drepanorhamphus funereus. Of all the birds obtained 

 and observed on Molokai, Palmer says the Apapane (mmatione sanguinea (Gm.)) is the most 

 numerous. Phceornis is not at all rare, though, on account of the habit of keeping in the low 

 undergrowth, is much oftener heard than seen. The Amakihi is not very rare in the lower 

 parts of the island, the Crimson Kakawahia (Oreomyxa Jlammea (Wilson)) more seen in higher 

 elevations. The rarest and finest bird of the island is the O-o (Moho bishopi, Rotlisch.). It 

 was found in the lower and upper forest-region, but more in the latter. Below on the fish- 

 ponds both Fulica alai and Gall inula sandvicensis are fairly common. 



The first week of January 1893 was almost entirely spent in search of the Moho bishopi, 

 and as many as five specimens, besides some other birds, Avere shot, which Palmer considers 

 a very good success, especially as some days heavy gales and continual rain made collecting 

 almost impossible, and, indeed, Palmer says he was very glad that his tent was not swept 

 away by the water. 



Prom Pukoo Palmer went to Halawa, in the district of Koolan, where he collected on 

 the hills above. The forest here was much higher than near Pukoo, and many Oliias were in 

 full bloom. The flower-trees were full of Apapane (Himatione sanguinea) and Iiwi 

 ( Vestiaria coccinea) ; Phceornis too was more numerous here, but of Oreomyza jlammea 

 (Wilson) and Psittirostra only a few Avere seen. Moho bishopi was rare. 



Not far from Halawa a projecting and low V-shaped peninsula could be seen, covered 

 with houses and with gigantic perpendicular cliffs behind, the home of the Lepers, the cause 

 of so much of the notoriety which Molokai gained through the deplorable death of 

 Father Damien. (See Schauinsland, " Em Besuch auf Molokai," in Abb. nat. Ver. Bremen, 

 xvi. 3, 1900.) 



