Avian Introductions—FISHER 
63 
The person responsible for introduction of 
the mynah is also credited with the importation 
of the Rice-bird (Munia punctulata ), which is 
now numerous on all the islands. It became a 
pest in the rice fields, but this is a minor dis¬ 
credit now because of the decline of rice as an 
important crop in the islands and not because 
of any foresight at the time it was introduced. 
The Kentucky Cardinal, imported because of 
its brilliant color and song, is now considered 
detrimental by some fruit growers. This situa¬ 
tion, in contrast to the usual situation in con¬ 
tinental United States, is probably brought about 
by the relatively large populations of cardinals, 
discussed previously, and the relatively small 
acreages devoted to fruits in the Territory. It 
simply means that in Hawaii more birds are 
present per unit of fruit grown. Consequently, 
the percentage of damaged fruit is greater. One 
cannot, however, condemn the bird entirely on 
this evidence, for it may aid in controlling cer¬ 
tain insects. 
The European Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 
was considered by many to be a pest when it 
became established in New Zealand. Although 
this bird is present in the Hawaiian Islands, it 
seems unlikely that it will become a major 
nuisance as long as it continues to frequent open 
grassland; on most of the islands the area of 
suitable habitat is relatively small and is not in 
juxtaposition to truck farms. However, on the 
island of Kauai this species is regarded as a 
scourge to newly planted lettuce in the truck 
farming country. If the skylark should become 
more and more reliant on seeds of cultivated 
plants, or if the truck farms should expand to 
include part of the range of the skylark, or 
even extend to the edge of the range, it seems 
likely that the species will be on the pest list. 
The Red-billed Leiothrix was established for 
its pleasing song. As mentioned previously, it 
has been found to be a carrier of avian malaria. 
It is now considered undesirable by various fruit 
and vegetable farmers. 
The Linnet (Carpodacus mexicanus ) has al¬ 
ready acquired the Hawaiian name of "Ai- 
nikana” (papaya eater) because of its proclivity 
to eat papaya, a staple fruit of the islands. At 
present, however, the papayas damaged are 
usually those considered overripe for human 
consumption. 
The ecological balance of the various or¬ 
ganisms in an area, which is established by 
natural processes over long periods of time, has 
been so altered in Hawaii that years will be 
necessary for any sort of equilibrium to be 
reached, and it will never be attained if in¬ 
discriminate introductions do not cease. Most 
of the importations have been of this category. 
Little care or thought has been given to the 
complexities of an organism’s behavior, other 
than that it is esthetically pleasing, or that it 
might destroy a certain plant or animal as part 
of its activity. 
We in Hawaii must change our concepts re¬ 
garding importations. We must not accept birds 
on the simple basis that someone wants them 
and that no objection has been raised. We 
should express our concern about continued, 
unstudied introductions, especially in view of 
past experiences here and elsewhere. The re¬ 
sponsibility for proving the "need” for a certain 
species should lie with the importer, and he 
should bear the burden of a complete investiga¬ 
tion by competent authorities over a period of 
time. This would prevent many introductions 
and would of course make all importations dif¬ 
ficult. I feel that our general attitude should be 
that we want no more exotics. 
However, if importations for transplanting 
and for cage purposes are to continue, a definite 
program of control should be set up. Such a 
program might include the following points: 
1. The first step toward importation should be 
a study of the various aspects of the species 
in its native habitat. If the species has been 
established in other areas foreign to it, the 
effects of introduction there should be noted. 
In many instances much information could 
be gained simply by a survey of the litera¬ 
ture on the species involved. 
