248 
APPENDIX, 
No. III. 
OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH 
ISLANDS; 
SELECTED FROM THE PAPERS OF A. BLOXHAM, ESQ. 
OF BIRDS. 
There are very few of the hard-billed birds in the Sandwich 
Islands; but there are some species, probably peculiar to these 
Islands, which feed principally on the juicy flowers of the Eugenia 
Malacensis. 
From three different species of these birds the feathers are pro¬ 
cured which are used in making the war-helmets and cloaks, and the 
chaplets and other ornaments of the Sandwich Islanders. The yellow 
feathers are most rare, and are found upon a bird whose general colour 
is black, excepting a tuft of yellow feathers under each wing and the 
tail: these are given by the common people as tribute to the chiefs, 
and are now frequently so scarce, as to be sold at the rate of a dollar 
for five feathers. The bird from which the red feathers are procured 
is more common. 
These birds are caught with a strong bird-lime, made by boiling 
the milky juice which exudes from the bark of the bread-fruit tree. 
The bird-lime is spread on the branches of the Eugenia, where the 
birds come to feed, and they are thus taken without injuring their 
feathers*. 
* In the following list the descriptions of most of the birds which have been de¬ 
scribed by former naturalists are omitted. 
