8S 



AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAN, ETC. 



As neither Palmer, Perkins, nor "Wilson found this bird, there is every reason to believe 

 that it is extinct. On the other hand, collecting in the dense forest and rugged mountains 

 of Oahu is so difficult that— as Palmer himself says— one might be months or even years 

 busy in collecting and yet fail to find a very rare bird. 



Mr. Wilson places Gray's Drepanis ellisiana as a synonym under Hemignathus olscurus 

 (Gmcl.), and gives as his reason that Gray partly referred II. obscura to the female of 

 Vestiaria coccinea and partly to his Drepanis ellisiana. 



This is entirely erroneous, and proves that Mr. AYilson misquoted Gray, for the latter 

 states, in his ' Catalogue of the Birds of the Tropical Islands of the Pacific Ocean,' that 

 Certhia obscura, Gm., is the female of Vestiaria coccinea, while Certhia {Hemignathus) obscura, 

 Licht. nec Gm., is his Drepanis ellisiana-, therefore I regret to have to reduce Mr. Wilson's 

 name, Hemignathus licht ensteini, to synonymic rank and to reinstate Gray's ellisiana. 



A figure and accurate description will appear in the Third Part of this work. 



