[Illustration: SKYLARK]
DESCRIPTION: 7″. A nondescript buffy, streaked bird with _white outer
tail feathers_ found only in open country. The head may appear crested.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced early to most of the islands.
Kilauea—Fairly common in open grassy places, for example on the floor of
Kilauea Crater or along the Mauna Loa Strip. Haleakala—Fairly common
both inside and out of the crater.
VOICE: Look to the sky when you hear an exceedingly long, high-pitched
rolling song. The skylark sings while on the wing and its beautiful
music may last for a minute or longer.
Certainly the most remarkable thing about this bird is its song—which it
delivers while hovering sometimes hundreds of feet in the air. Just when
you think that the lofty music must end, a skylark will change to a new
series of phrases and keep this up for another minute or so. Skylarks
feed and nest on the ground. Nests attributed to skylarks made entirely
of “Pele’s hair” have been found in the Kilauea area. “Pele’s hair” is
spun volcanic glass formed during an eruption—a strange material indeed
for the construction of a bird’s nest.
CHINESE THRUSH _Trochalopterum canorum_
(also spectacled thrush)
DESCRIPTION: 9″. In the dense wet forests a large, reddish-brown bird
with _broad white “eye spectacles”_ can only be this species. The white
band around each eye extends backward to the ear. You will probably hear
this bird before seeing it.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced at the turn of the century. Now on all
major islands. Kilauea—Occasional in the wet ohia forest such as around
Park Headquarters. Haleakala—Absent from the park.
VOICE: A mockingbird-like series of sustained musical and harsh notes
that carries for a great distance. The rich phrases may be repeated
several times before a new pattern is given.
These secretive birds seem to make a vertical migration to Kilauea from
the east each summer. They are rarely observed in the park during winter
months, but that may be due to their lack of song in the non-breeding
season. In summer you will probably hear several before seeing even one,
as they are wary and keep to the underbrush, moving about very little.
RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX _Leiothrix lutea_
(also Japanese hill robin or Peking nightingale)
[Illustration: RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX]
DESCRIPTION: 5½″. One of the easiest to identify: An olive-green bird
with contrasting red and yellow markings and a _bright red-orange bill_.
The back is olive-green, throat lemon-yellow shading to red-orange in
the breast, and the wing varied with yellow, orange, crimson, and black.
Immatures are not as bright, but have the same general markings.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced to the islands from Asia mainly in the
twenties. Kilauea—Very common throughout vegetated areas.
Haleakala—Fairly common in areas of dense vegetation such as Paliku.
VOICE: No wonder these birds are sometimes called “robins”, for their
robinlike warbled song fills the air in spring and summer. If you
approach they will often begin their excited noisy call notes, a rapid
_bzzt-bzzt-bzzt_, etc., which will usually continue for some time as the
birds nervously flit about the underbrush. Another common note, usually
heard from a distance, is a sharp _wheek-wheek-wheek_ made up of 3-8
notes.
The leiothrix is strictly a bird of the undergrowth and you are likely
to find it wherever there is plenty of bush cover in moist forested
areas. Mamake, a Hawaiian nettle, is one of its favorite haunts. If one
bird is seen, there are probably several others nearby, and flocks of a
dozen or more are common in fall and winter. Fruit, seeds, and insects
comprise the food.
These birds have strange migration habits. In the fall and early winter
large flocks may suddenly appear at the summit of Haleakala where they
stay a short time and then return to lower areas. On Hawaii flocks have
been recorded at above 13,000 feet on Mauna Loa during this season, but
they are reduced by deaths caused by exposure and starvation on the
barren slopes if they do not descend soon.
Although today the leiothrix is one of the best loved birds on the
islands, its introduction here may have been unfortunate. It is known to
be a carrier of bird malaria, a disease that has probably contributed to
the continuing decline of native Hawaiian honeycreepers.