Occurrence of <I>Tringa maculate</I> and other American birds in Hawaii

202

Getieral Notes. _f.^"'f- LApnl

s Occurrenceof Tringa maculata and Other

American

BirdsinHawaii.

— The

followingbriefnotesare in linewith those publishedbvthe writer in 'The

Auk'

for July, 1900,and tend to

show

that agreater

number

of American littoralspecies find their

way

annuallytothe Hawaiian Islands than hitherto has been supposed.

Tringamaculata.

Pectoral

Sandpiper.

—

Mr.GeorgeC.Hewittshot aspecimenof this SandpiperatKaalualu on the

Kau

coast, Oct.14, 1900.

Later in the

month

he procured asecond exampleinthe same locality, kindlysending bothspecimens in alcoholtothe writerfor identification.

This, I believe, is the first record of the bird in the islands. Yor the present,at least,

we

mustregarditspresence hereas accidental.

Charadriussquatarola.

Black-bellied

Plover.

— A

specimenof this Ploverwas shot by Mr. Hewitt late in October near Kaalualu. This is^

the first recorded instanceof the occurrenceof the bird inthe Hawaiian Islands,though no doubtitscasualappearanceistobelooked forin flocks ofits relative,the GoldenPlover.

Calidris arenaria.

Sanderling. —

I mention this species merely to note thatMr. Hewitt shot a specimen onthe

Kau

coast in October, and that early inthe

same month

two individualsvisited the HiloBeach and remained there for

more

than a fortnight where Iwatched

them

daily feedingunconcernedlywithinafewyards of the houses.

As

I haveelse- where stated, the species is tobe regarded as an annual winter visitor, thoughin smallnumbers.

Bernicla,sp.^.?

—

^{InOctoberat least}twodistinctbandsof

American

Geese wereseenon a

number

ofoccasions near Hilo,anda

number

werekilled, noneofwhich,however,

was

thewriterfortunate

enough

tosee. Probably therewere twelveorfourteen individuals altogether. Both B.nigricans andB. tninima are quoted by Wilson (Birds of the Hawaiian Islands, Introduction, _p. xxv) from Kauai on the authority of Palmer, Mr.

Rothschild's _collector. In timeno doubt all the species of geese from the westcoast ofAmericawillbe recorded fromtheislands as accidental visitors. That anyconsiderable

number

of geesewill ever seek winter quarters in the islands is

more

than doubtful, since suitable feeding groundsof sufficientextentarenotfoundhere.

Dafila acuta. Pintail.

—

^I cannot learn that this duck is ever very

common

on the island ofHawaii. Itis, however,tobe classed withthe Shovellerasan annualwintermigrant, though by no

means

so

common

as that species.

A

fewareobtainedeach yearbysportsmen.

Graculus, sp^.'

— A

^cormorant

^made

^its appearance the last

week

in

November

inHiloHarbor, where, apparenth- it has established head- quarters,wandering from herealongthe coast to the south for several miles. Mr. Pratt,

who

has seenandshot cormorantsin California

many

times, is

my

informant,and he has seen the individual in question sev- eraltimesatclose range. Itis, of course, impossible to conjecture the species.

—

^H.

W. Henshaw,

Hilo, Hawaii.