Birds on Molokai— R ichardson 
229 
FlG. 3. Ohia lehua forest on Olokui looking across 
to east wall of Wailau Valley. 
were white-eyes and a Pekin nightingale ( Leio - 
thrix lute a). 
Even on Olokui our observations were not 
extensive enough to rule out the possibility of 
the existence of other native forest birds. The 
restricted area of rather uniform native habitat 
makes it seem likely that such birds, if they do 
exist, are very rare. However, the probably 
smaller number of individuals of tropical species 
and their not infrequently vagrant habits would 
necessitate a longer stay than ours before a 
reasonably sound conclusion could be reached. 
Woodside was almost certain he heard the song 
of an iiwi (Vesteria coccinea ) from the south 
wall of Wailau Valley, so this species should be 
sought with particular care in the future. 
A striking change was evident in the vegeta- 
tion on the south rim of Wailau Valley. The 
southeastern half of Molokai slopes relatively 
uniformly and not very steeply to the south. 
Remnants of native forest cover some of the 
higher areas and it was chiefly here that the 
Hawaiian Bird Survey was conducted. How- 
ever, on the broad slopes down to Mapulehu 
and on large areas on each side of our route, 
the native forest has virtually disappeared. 
Dead or scraggly ohia lehua trees represent what 
was apparently the dominant forest. Grasses 
have taken over much of the now-open slopes. 
No sign of native birds was seen during our 
descent from the rim of Wailau, and undoubt- 
Fig. 4. Ohia lehua on Olokui. Fern at lower left 
is uluhe ( Dicranopteris linearis). David Woodside 
in tree. 
