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102 AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAN, ETC. 



Dimensions of fully adult and sexed specimens. 





Wing. 



Tail. 



Tarsus. 



Oilmen. 



Under mandible 



from base to 

 (ip, measured in a 

 straight line. 





in. 



in. 



in. 



in. 



iu. 



6 



3-16 



2-05 



0-95 



1-3 



0-62 



6 



315 



2 



0-9 



1-2 



O'Go 



6 



3-15 



o 



0-9 



1-25 



0-65 



? 



3 



1-96 



0-8 



1-08 



0-55 



? 



2-05 



1-96 



0-8 



1-1 



0-55 



9 



29.3 



1-97 



0-8 



1-09 



0-55 



(Imperfect, young, and doubtfully sexed specimens were not measured.) 



Palmer found this species very scarce. All lie procured were collected on the southern 

 side of Kauai — two above Makaweli at a height of about 1000 feet, the rest at elevations of 

 3000 feet or so, in the district of Waimea, all within a range of fifteen miles. None were 

 seen elsewhere. They kept singly or in pairs, and were almost invariably seen in company 

 with Oreomyza bairdi (Akikiki). 



These birds were never observed among the foliage, but were always busy on the bark of 

 the trees, in the crevices of which they obtained their food. They were pretty lively in their 

 movements, but not at all shy, in fact less so than many other birds. Their food consists of 

 beetles and other insects, caterpillars, grubs, &c, which are usually hooked out of crevices 

 and holes in the bark and decaying trunks and branches. 



The song is a short but rather sweet warble, consisting of some half a dozen notes. 



"When shot, these birds had a strong smell, like all the other species of Heterorhynchus 

 and Hemignathus, but less so than Hemignathus procerus. This peculiar smell, unlike 

 any other known to him, but certainly disagreeable, was also noticed by Perkins in other 

 species, such as " Loxioides, Psittacirostra, Chloridops, and llhodacanthis" but most strongly 

 in Ilimatione. If this is the case, then the peculiar odour of the Hemignathi would not 

 help to confirm the theory that these birds breed in hollow trees : but why is it that on these 

 islands birds of different families should possess such an odour ? 



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