The Dolores star., 1924-11-14
Forest Chief Tells
of Hawaiian Birds
Describes Visit to the Bird
Forest.

Honolulu.-One Of the attractions
pf the territory of Hawaii is the bird
forest in the Hawaiian National park.
4 visit to the spot is described by
Charles Kraebel. assistant superlnten-
lent Of forestry of the territory. The
'orest is known locally as "kipuka
Pualu," which means An oasis of
lowering trees"
The trail to the bird forest leads
rom the Volcano house, at the edge
,f the crater of Kilauea, past sulphur
banks and steam cracks, and along the
path of Mauna LOa, through a low
growth of Hawaiian heather and
scrubby trees until. open forests and
smooth turf meet the eye. Two ancient
peach trees stand at the threshold Of
the forest. Describing the scene, Mr..
Kraebel says:
Two flashes of red across the green
branches are seen. 1t is the birds, the
scarlet liwi and the crimson apapane,
darting from tree to tree. and pausing
among the flowers of the Ohia to OBJ
tain food from the bright red blossoms.
When they have gained the tree tops
they are almost instantly lost to view,
and the keenest vision is needed TO dis
tinguish their brilliant bodies from the
equally brilliant oha flowers Plum
ing II bird in red in order to protect 1t
seems to be paradox of nature when
the bird is compelled to seek Its own
protection among the red flowers Of
tall tree.
Endless Twitter.
AN endless twitter of birds swells
into louder notes in which is heard the
sweet, insiStent song OF the apanane,
the clear 'ta-weet ta-weet, ta-weet-ah,'
OF the llwl with its remarkable flute
like quality and whistle of the
elepaio, repeating at intervals the
syllables Of its native name, and al
ways quantity accenting the pa An
other tlmid 'ta-weet,' distinguishable
through all the other bird songs Is the
call of The amakihi, the fourth of this
quartet Of birds most commonly seen
In the volcano region, little greenish-
yellow chap, quite inconspicuous in
the forest
Generations ago, when taxes on
feathers were levied by the native
birds was a real essential to life, lib
erty and the pursuit of happiness for
the Hawaiian"
Mr.. Kraebel says the most friendly of
the four native birds now seen in the
kipuka Puaulu is the elepaio which
"is wren-like in the boldness of its
approach In satisfying its curiosity
concerning forest visitors, wren-like
again in the flirt of its an-shaped tail
and the tilt of Its saucy head" Mr..
kraebel further describes the bird:
in spite of these forward qualities,
which would seem to expose such a
bird to more rapid extinction than its
fellows, the elepaio has not only re-
sisted contact with civilization. but
has adapted itself to changed cOndi-
tions and has multiplied, as so bright
and self-Teliant a bird should do. The
elepaio is garbed in modest brown
coat, which no one ever cared to use
for capes and other royal habiliments
Of the native chiefs, and so long as
there were bugs to eat, the little fly
catcher continued to thrive and grow
bold, while his neighbors, the black
mamO and the black 90. each unfortu-
nately blessed with few tufts of yell
low feathers. have long ago been
hunted to extinction to furnish gauds
for royalty"
Some Varieties Extinct.
Mr.. Kraebel says the extinction of
some birds has been due In some
cases through the inability to obtain
the highly specialized food which they
required He believes that through
centuries of evolution certain birds
developed especially constructed beaks
suited only to drain nectar from GER
tain flowers, or to crack the seeds of