62 



AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAN, ETC. 



The adult female does not differ in colour from the male, as already stated by Sharpc, Cat. B. 

 iv. p. 5. I have before me nearly twenty fully adult specimens, and they do not show 

 the difference in the grey of the underparts described by Scott Wilson. 



The young bird does not seem to have been fully described till now. I therefore give a figure 

 of it as well as of the young of the other species. The young of Thmorn ls obscura (Gm.) 

 are spotted like young Thrushes ; each feather above is bordered with blackish and before 

 the blackish border is a more or less triangular buff spot ; the feathers below arc buffy 

 white and broadly bordered with blackish brown. 



JTab. Island of Hawaii. 



Tin: Hawaiian Thrush is not uncommon on Hawaii and is especially numerous in the district 

 of Kona. Its habits are very familiar. Palmer, Perkins, and Wilson describe the song as 

 somewhat resembling that of the Common Thrush of England, and they all admire it much, 

 although it appeal's to be inferior to that of the Thrush. On the Sandwich Islands it is said 

 to be by far the finest songster. It also often sings on the wing, as noticed by Perkins and 

 Wilson. Both these observers also mention a peculiar habit this bird has of shivering or 

 quivering with its wings when perched on a branch. The call-note is a clear "tweet," and 

 Wilson mentions a remarkable hissing sound which these birds uttered when approached. 



The food consists chiefly of different kinds of berries, and, according to Wilson, 

 particularly those of the Kopiko (Straussia hawaiiensis), but also of insects, which Perkins 

 saw them catching on the wing. 



No observer seems to have found the nest, but Palmer says he shot a female on 

 September 17th with an egg "almost ready for expulsion," of which, however, he gives no 

 description. This fact does not contradict Palmer's statement that "the breeding-season on 

 the Sandwich Islands is no doubt about the same as in Europe, or a little earlier, namely 

 from February to May; and the above-stated fact is either an anomaly, or perhaps these birds, 

 as an exception to the rule, may breed all the year round." 



