(PLATE 26, FIG. 3.)
_Pennula millei_ (misprint for _millsi_) Dole, Hawaiian Almanac 1879 p.
54 (reprint in Ibis 1880 p. 241. "Uplands of Hawaii: named in honour of
Mr. Mills, spec. in Mills's Coll., nearly extinct"); Rothsch., Avif.
Laysan, etc., p. 241 pl. LXXVI.
_Pennula ecaudata_ apud Wilson & Evans, Aves. Hawaii., part V, text and
plate.
All we know of this bird are the five specimens caught by an old native
bird-catcher named Hawelu for the late Mr. Mills of Hawaii. Two of these
are now in my Museum, one in Cambridge, and two in the Bishop-Pauahi Museum
in Honolulu. There can be no doubt that this bird is now extinct. All
recent attempts to find specimens have been futile. Mr. Palmer, whom I sent
a specially trained dog, also failed to find even traces of it. It lived
formerly in the country between Hilo and the volcano Kilauea, in places
where thick grass, _Vaccinium_ and _Dianella_, forms the thickest cover
possible. In former times the "Moho" was a dainty on the tables of the
Hawaiian kings, but its disappearance is probably due to the introduction
of the obnoxious mongoose and to bush fires. {138}