Domestic fowls are
supposed to be indigenous. Wild geese are numerous among the
mountains of Hawaii, and plovers, snipe, and wild ducks, are found
on all the islands. A handsome owl, called the owl-hawk, is common.
There is a paroquet with purple feathers, another with scarlet, a
woodpecker with variegated plumage of red, green, and yellow, and a
small black bird with a single yellow feather under each wing.
There are few singing birds, but one of the few has as sweet a note
as that of the English thrush. There are very few varieties of
moths and butterflies.
The flora of the Hawaiian Islands is far scantier than that of the
South Sea groups, and cannot compare with that of many other
tropical as well as temperate regions. But all the islands are rich
in cryptogamous plants, of which there is an almost infinite
variety.
Hawaii is still in process of construction, and is subject to
volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tidal waves. Hurricanes are
unknown, and thunderstorms are rare and light.
Under favourable circumstances of moisture, the soil is most
prolific, and "patch cultivation" in glens and ravines, as well as
on mountain sides, produces astonishing results. A Kalo patch of
forty square feet will support a man for a year.
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