Description claude

was an extinct finch endemic to Laysan island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, first recorded in 1828 and named in 1892. As a Hawaiian honeycreeper, its ancestors came from Asia. The bird measured 13–15 cm long with wings of 64–69 mm, displaying bright scarlet vermilion plumage with golden orange tints on head and breast, orange scarlet upper parts, and dusky gray lower abdomen fading to brownish white. Wings, tail, bill, and legs were dark brown with black iris. Immature birds were brown with paler lower parts and green wing-covert edges. It inhabited the remote 3.6 km² coral island throughout but was most abundant in tall grass and low bushes near the lagoon. This active, nectarivorous and insectivorous bird foraged on flowers and ground, eating nectar, caterpillars, and moths. It nested with fine grass and rootlets, laying four or five glossless white eggs with blotches. The species declined after domestic rabbits destroyed Laysan's vegetation in 1903, with the last three individuals perishing in an April 1923 sandstorm after their habitat became barren.