210 AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAN, ETC. 



than it otherwise would he. It is mostly found on the roughest lava, but also wanders into 

 the open spaces in the forest." Mr. Perkins never heard it sing. « Only once did I see it 

 display any real activity, when a male and female were in active pursuit of one another 

 amongst the sandal-trees. Its beak is nearly always very dirty, with a brown substance 

 adherent to it, which must he derived form the sandal-nuts." 



H C Palmer found Chloridops hma not rare at Pulehua, Nawina, and Honaunau, Kona, 

 within a range of from 15 to 20 miles, and at all altitudes from 3500 to 5500 feet, but he did 



not meet with it elsewhere. 



Palmer says it apparently wholly subsists on the kernels of the Aaka or Bastard Sandal- 

 wood tree {Myoporum santalinnm), and is more frequently found on the rough old lava-flows 

 than elsewhere, even if the Aaka is just as plentiful in other places. Palmer says that most 

 of the trees look fresher on these old lava-flows, though the Aaka looks the same everywhere, 

 and that the berries of the latter are sweeter on the old flows. Palmer says the noise of the 

 cracking of the seeds of the Aaka first attracted his attention to these birds, and whenever 

 he saw these birds one or another was cracking the Aaka-berries, and hundreds of seeds were 

 found in their stomachs. These notes of Palmer agree remarkably with those of Perkins, and 

 they were written down long before Perkins came to the island of Hawaii. Palmer, however, 

 thinks the bird is much more active than Perkins described it, for he writes :— " When I saw 

 one hopping about I was rather surprised by its activity. From the look of the bird I should 

 have judged it to be very slow in all its movements, but the one to-day convinced me that I 

 was wrong." 



Its call-note, Palmer says, or at least the one which is more often heard than any other 

 note, is a low prolonged "cheep," not at all loud, and apparently not to be heard at any 

 greater distance than the cracking of the berries. Besides this a low chirping noise was 

 heard when the bird was on the wing, and a real kind of song was heard on October the 19th, 

 consisting of several whistling notes, not very loud but clear. Another time Palmer 

 mentions a " plaintive whistling sound of a few notes." They are not shy and do not fly far 

 if shot at, and sometimes when feeding they do not take notice of the firing of the gun. 

 Palmer once (October 12th) shot as many as a dozen on a big lava-flow, and six of them 

 during Ave minutes within a distance of fifty yards. On another lava-flow about 200 feet or 

 so lower down Palmer did not obtain one, although the Aaka-trees were there just as plentiful 



and just as full of seed. 



There seems to be no regular native name for this bird. Scott Wilson calls it " Palila," 

 but this name seems to apply more properly to Loxioides hailleui. Several persons told 

 Palmer its name was " Omao," which, however, is the name for Phaornis obscura ; according 

 to Andrew's Dictionary, on the other hand, " Omao " means green or greenish, so that it is 

 not impossible that this name was originally meant for the Chloridops Icona. 



