AVIFAUNA OF LAY SAN, ETC. 



175 



first time used in connection with a wrong generic name, or else an older synonymous name 

 could in the same genus also stand as a specific non-synonymous name. With the same 

 right he might then conclude that his Bimatione dolei, being not recognized as belonging 

 to another genus, must not be used in the new genus Falmeria. Mr. Wilson then raises the 

 question of " justice " to " distinguished authors " ; hut surely it is not out of a sense of 

 "justice," but for the reasons of practical usefulness that we have to consider nomenclatorial 

 questions, and we are confident that Dr. Finsch himself would never have desired to make 

 himself the author of Dole's t( aurea." I was, of course, not aware of the fact that Finsch 

 had described Maui specimens when adopting Dole's name aurea in the ' Ibis,' or I should 

 have mentioned it ; but it was before Wilson's examination of the " type " of Dole's " aurea " 

 that Finsch said it was a Loxops. Evidently Finsch must have had some information about 

 Dole's types, and, though Wilson informs us first that he has actually compared the specimen 

 in the Mills collection, and found it to be a young Loxops coccinea, the fact that Dole gave 

 " Hawaii " as its home was enough to reject it for the Maui representative form. The fact 

 that I learnt from Mr. Wilson's work " what the Drepanis aurea of Dole really was " had 

 nothing to do with my naming Loxops ochracea, and, thankful as we must be for the 

 examination of the "Drepanis aurea" we cannot, on the whole, admire Wilson's original 

 work in the genus Loxops much, since he distributed three species of it in three genera, 

 and failed to recognize the fourth form, by which he misled me to rename it "Loxops 

 wolstenholmei" All these mistakes arc, however, duly corrected in the later parts of the 

 ' Aves HaAvaiienses.' 



That excellent observer, Mr. Perkins, describes the call of Loxops ochracea and the other 

 species of the genus as a plain " keeivU^ " uttered once or repeated, and constantly to be 

 heard. They seek," he proceeds, " their food amongst the leaves, especially at the ends of the 

 branches, more rarely on the limbs themselves. It consists largely of caterpillars ami small 

 spiders. They also suck the nectar of the ohia flowers (Metros idcros) ; this I saw them do 

 but rarely, and only two of the species, L. aurea (sic!) and L. ccerttlei rosl ris. Most often, 

 when seen amongst the blossoms, they were merely seeking insects, thereby attracted ; but 

 several times I shot specimens with the beak dripping, and on tasting the fluid found it to 

 be, beyond doubt, the nectar of these fevers. Prom the other green birds, the green young 

 and females of Loxops are readily distinguihsed, at any height, by their more forked tails, 

 which, combined with their short, thick beaks, give them a very finch-like aspect." On one 

 occasion Mr. Perkins saw " a pair of this bird building, high up in a tall ohia tree, toward the 

 end of a branch. They came down to the ground for material, stripping off the brown down 

 that covered the young fronds of some stunted ' pulu ' ferns." On another occasion he 

 " watched a pair sporting on the wing, now ascending, iioav descending, but gradually rising 

 upwards till they became mere specks in the sky. It must have been several minutes before 

 they finally alighted at no great distance from their starting-point. Both were splendid 

 males." 



With regard to the plates in Mr. Wilson s book, I must say that the figures on his first 

 plate, which are taken from Dr. Pinsch's Maui specimens in the Berlin Museum, arc good, 

 but the upper figure on his second plate, which is meant for L. ochracea, is too red and 

 appears smaller than the lower figure, which is said to bo L. rufa, while in fact the latter is 

 smaller and more reddish. Possibly the lower figure should be ochracea and the upper rufa, 



