Extinct Birds Part 14

111 of his supplement. I may only add that of course my name, being published in December, 1894, has the priority over his, which was not published before April, 1895.

The history of _Traversia lyalli_ is perhaps the most extraordinary of any bird known. All the specimens I am aware of, viz., the eight now in my collection, the type of "_Xenicus insularis_" in Buller's former collection, one in the late Canon Tristram's collection, one in the British Museum (ex Tring), and two or more offered some years ago by Mr. Travers, were brought in by the lighthouse-keeper's cat. Evidently this feline discoverer has at the same time been the exterminator of _Traversia lyalli_, and many may have been digested by that unique cat, as in letters received from Mr. Travers I {25} have been told that no more specimens could be obtained, and Buller (l.c.) says: "Very diligent search has been made on Stephen Island for further specimens of the Island Wren, but without success, and there is too much reason to fear that this species has almost immediately after its discovery become extinct."

Habitat: Stephen Island, a small, partly wooded islet, about a square mile in extent, in Cook Strait. It is almost impossible that this bird has only existed on Stephen Island. It must have been overlooked on d'Urville Island or the "mainland," where it probably became extinct--through rats and cats, and similar pests--long ago.

{27}

MOHO APICALIS GOULD.

(PLATE 4A, 1.)

_Yellow-tufted Bee-eater_ (non Latham!), Dixon, Voyage round the World, p. 357, plate (1789).

_Moho apicalis_ Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1860, p. 381 (? Hawaii).

_Acrulocercus apicalis_ Wilson & Evans, Av. Hawaii, pt. V text and plate (1894).

_Moho apicalis_ Rothschild, Avif. Laysan, etc., p. 223 and plate (1900).

This rarest species of the Mohos formerly inhabited the island of Oahu, where specimens were obtained in 1837, near Enero, by Herr Deppe. The localities of the specimens figured by Dixon and that of the type of Gould are uncertain, but they must have been obtained on Oahu. Since 1837 we have no further traces of _Moho apicalis_.

The only specimens known are those in Berlin, collected by Deppe, two in the British Museum, and one in my Museum at Tring. The latter, which I obtained in exchange from the British Museum, is the one brought home from the Sandwich Islands by Capt. Lord Byron. There is no specimen of _Moho apicalis_ in the Vienna Museum.

Habitat: Oahu.

{29}

CHAETOPTILA SCL.

_Chaetoptila_ Sclater, Ibis 1871 p. 358.

Dr. Sclater justly proposed a new generic term for the "_Entomyza_" or "_Moho_" _angustipluma_ of former authors. This bird belongs doubtless to the family of _Meliphagidae_ or Honey-eaters, and the genus is sufficiently distinct from all others. There are no fleshy wattles anywhere. The tail is long and strongly graduated; all the rectrices are obliquely pointed at their tips. The plumage of the body is very soft, that of the head, throat and chest almost fluffy; the feathers of the chin, throat and forehead end in hair-like bristles.

We know only one species.

CHAETOPTILA ANGUSTIPLUMA (PEALE).

(PLATE 4A, FIG. 2.)

_Entomiza angustipluma_ Peale, U.S. Expl. Exp., Birds p. 147 pl. XL fig. 2 (1848--Hawaii).

_Mohoa angustipluma_ Ca.s.sin, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1855 p. 440.

_Moho angustipluma_ Ca.s.sin, U.S. Expl. Exp., Mamm. & Orn. p. 148 pl. XI fig. 1 (1858--Hawaii).

Wilson & Evans, Aves. Hawai. pt. II and plate (1891--Hawaii).

Rothschild, Avif. Laysan, etc., p. 215 and plate (1900).

This remarkable bird, belonging to the family _Meliphagidae_, used to inhabit the island of Hawaii in the Sandwich Archipelago. It has been said by Mr. Dole to inhabit Molokai, but this is evidently an error. At present n.o.body on the island of Hawaii has any recollection of its presence, and its former native name is unknown--the name "Kiowea" erroneously quoted by Mr. Dole being that of _Numenius tahitiensis_. The bird is extinct, though we do not know the reason why it disappeared.

THE ONLY SPECIMENS WE KNOW OF ARE THE FOLLOWING:--

1. The type in the Museum at Was.h.i.+ngton, U.S.A.

2. One in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu.

3. One in the Museum of the University at Cambridge, obtained in exchange from Honolulu by Mr. Scott Wilson.

4. One in my Museum at Tring, obtained in exchange from the Honolulu Museum.

The type was obtained by Peale, the three others by the late Mr. Mills on the island of Hawaii.

{30}

STRIGICEPS LEUCOPOGON LESS.

_Strigiceps leucopogon_ Lesson, Echo du Monde Savant 1840 (?); Rev.

Zool. 1840, p. 266; Suppl. aux oeuvres compl. de Buffon, Descr. de Mammif. & Ois, recemm. decouverts, p. 277 (1847--Nouvelle Hollande); Hartlaub, Beitrag Gesch ausgest Vogel, in Abhandl. Naturw. Ver. Bremen, 2te Ausgabe, als M.S. gedr., p. 40 (1896).

n.o.body has. .h.i.therto identified the curious bird described by Lesson, l.c., under the above name. From the generic characters he gives it is evident that it was a bird with a long, curved bill, lanceolate feathers on the head and throat, and long, strongly graduated tail, doubtless belonging to the _Meliphagidae_. The description of the colouration is as follows:--

"Back, wings and tail bright greenish-olive; quills brown inside; shafts of the rectrices canary-yellow from below, glossy brown-red from above; top of head and neck chestnut, each feather being narrow and streaked with white, then with fawn-colour on the top; the feathers of the throat are elongated and fringed out on their edges, very narrow and lanceolate, grey at base, white at the tips; cheeks, sides of neck and chest ferruginous, some white streaks on the feathers of the chest and in the middle of the throat; flanks and belly clear rufous, pa.s.sing into canary-yellow on the under tail-coverts. Tail from below greenish-yellow; tarsi horn-colour, bill above brownish, below yellowish with brown tip. Length about eight french inches and a half (0.23 centimetres)." (_Translated._)

This bird was said to have come from Australia. I have made enquiries, but the type seems to have disappeared. There is something in the description reminding us of _Chaetoptila angustipluma_. Unless the description is faulty, this bird came probably not from Australia, but from one of the Pacific Islands. It has not been observed since, and is possibly extinct.

{31}

DREPANIS TEMM.

_Drepanis_ Temminck, Man. d'Orn. Ed. II, I p. Lx.x.xVI (1820--"Especes: _Certhia pacifica--obscura--vestiaria_ et probablement _falcata_, que je n'ai pas vu.") Type by elimination: _Drepanis pacifica_.

The name _Drepanis_ is now restricted to the practically extinct "Mamo" of the natives of the Sandwich Islands. _Drepanis pacifica_ has a very striking black and yellow colouration; the somewhat loose-webbed under tail-coverts cover about three-quarters of the tail. The bill is long, curved, non-serrated, the upper mandible a few millimetres longer than the lower jaw. Nostrils large, covered by an operculum. First primary rudimentary, hidden by its covert. There is a silky, soft and fluffy axillary patch of feathers. The tail is slightly rounded. The metatarsus is covered with large, partly fused scutes.

Only one species known.

DREPANIS PACIFICA (GM.)