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AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAN, ETC. 



some individuals. Wilson described the bill and feet as light pinkish, hut I never saw one 

 with pink bill or feet, but merely with a faint pinkish tinge in some specimens." (II. C. P.) 



Prom Palmer's notes it is evident that the bill is somewhat light and perhaps not very 

 hard during life, and probably changes to a kind of pinkish colour after death, as is the case 

 with many birds. Palmer's notes, however, are almost invariably taken on the spot, at the 

 moment when the bird is shot. 



Palmer found this species on the south-west side of Lanai at elevations of about 1500 feet 

 to the uppermost peaks. 



The call-note is a short and plain " tweet." 



Wilson obtained a male and a female at a spot called Lanaihale (the house of Lanai), at 

 a height of about 3000 feet, and subsequently two immature examples in a gulch at a much 

 lower elevation. 



It is perhaps not so very rare, for Palmer sent me a fine series, but the dense bush 

 and the broken country make it very difficult to obtain. In reference to this Mr. Wilson 

 writes " No words of mine can convey an idea of the difficulty and danger of collecting in 

 the mountains of Lanai; this is due to the almost impenetrable bush which covers the upland 

 plateau, to the fogs which render riding extremely dangerous, and to the rains which make 

 the nearly perpendicular mountain-trails treacherous even to the sure-footed Lanai horse ; 

 indeed, inured as I ay as to ' steep bits ' in my island travels, I must confess that the first trip 

 we made into these solitudes surprised me." 



