AVIFAUNA OF LATSAN, ETC. 



201 



THE GENUS RHODACANTHIS. 



I created this genus in 1892 (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. x. p. Ill) for the two thick-billed birds 

 from Hawaii which I called Bh. palmeri and Bh. flaviceps. When I established Bhodacanthis 

 I conld not compare it with Mr. Wilson's Telespiza, which I believed to be more distantly 

 related, but compared it merely with Bsittirostra and Chloridops. I fonnd, however, after- 

 wards that Telespiza was so closely allied that I was inclined to unite the two genera ; but if 

 I do so 1 cannot keep Loxioides separate, as Bhodacanthis differs from Telespiza about as 

 much as Loxioides does from Telespiza. 



The only two species of Bhodacanthis known are large birds, with wings and tail longer 

 than in Telespiza, the bill more elongated, with the cutting-edges sharper and their line more 

 curved, the nostrils more bare of feathers, with a distinct operculum over the upper half and 

 somewhat more dorsally situated. In the wing the third, fourth, and fifth primaries are 

 nearly equal and longest. The plumage is soft and full. Habits arboreal; nidification not 

 yet known ! 



The two species differ as follows : — 



A. Wing more than 4 inches. 



a. Head and throat orange-red R. palmeri, $ ad. 



Head and throat olive-greenish R. palmeri, ? & juv. 



B. Wing less than 4 inches. 



c. Head yellow R. flaviceps, $ ad. 



d. Head olive-greenish R. flaviceps, ? orjnv. 



