Moho Nobilis Bird

English Name:  Hawaii Oo
Latin Name:  Moho nobilis
Protonym:  Gracula nobilis Av.rar.icon.descr. 1 fasc.1 p.7 pl.2
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Mohoidae / Moho
Taxonomy Code:  hawoo
Type Locality:  Insulae Sanduicenses [= Island of Hawaii] .
Author:  Merrem
Publish Year:  1786
IUCN Status:  Extinct

DEFINITIONS

MOHO
‡ (Mohoidae; Ϯ Hawaii Oo M. nobilis) Hawaiian onomatopoeic name ‘ō‘ō for the distinctive oos; "4. Les MOHOS; Moho.  Bec de la longueur de la tête, fort, recourbé, pointu, à commissure bordée, à bords rentrés. Narines ovales, pointues, longitudinales, ouvertes; plumes du front écailleuses; ailes moyennes, à troisième, quatrième, cinquième rémiges les plus longues. Queue étagée, à rectrices médiocres, pointues; tarses alongé, scutellés; doigt du milieu peu prolongé au-delà des latéraux.  PHILÉDON MOHO; Merops fasciculatus, Lath.  Gracula nobilis, Merrem, Av. ic., fasc. I, pl. 2; Melliphaga fasciculata, Temm., pl. 471." (Vieillot 1831); "Moho Lesson, 1831, Traité Orn., p. 302. Type, by monotypy, Merops fasciculatus Latham = Gracula nobilis Merrem." (Salomonsen in Peters 1967, XII, 424). The Hawaii Oo (or ‘Ō‘ō  in Hawaiian orthography) was last seen in 1934. Recent work indicates that these birds were allied to the silky-flycatchers Ptiliogonatidae and waxwings Bombycillidae.
Var. Mohoa.
Synon. Acrulocercus, Mohohina, Mohornis, Pseudomoho.

nobilis
L. nobilis  admirable, famous, renowned, noble, high-born, nobleman  < noscere  to acknowledge.
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  nobilis.  4. P. macrourus viridis, genis nudis, humeris coccineis. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p.  Psittacus viridis, alarum costa superne rubente. Aldr. orn. l. 11. c. 5. Raj. av. 30, 181. Sloan. jam. 2. p. 297.  Psittacus mediae magnitudinis. Will. orn. 112. t. 16.  Habitat in America meridionali." (Linnaeus 1758) (Diopsittaca).
● “The yellow tufts of costal feathers on this beautiful bird, furnished the material for the splendid and costly royal robes, capes, and “lei’s,” or head-dresses of the Hawaiians in former days. The bunches of feathers called hulu... are still prepared and received in payment of a poll tax to the King; they are afterwards made up principally in “lei’s”, or head-bands worn by the ladies, and are beautiful but costly ornaments; but few can afford to wear them. The mantles made of these feathers, were, until lately, considered the principal treasures of the crown; now they are not to be seen; the labour of collecting the feathers and attaching them to a network base – a labour of years – being too great” (Peale 1848) (‡Moho).
● “Its large size and the great development of the feathers of its crown and beard render it a remarkable bird to look at; and the admirable way in which the original skins were prepared justify the large price of twenty pounds which I had to pay for my first specimen” (Gould 1880-1887) (Oreonympha). 
● Adolf Friedrich Albrecht Heinrich Herzog zu Mecklenburg (1873-1969) German naturalist, collector, explorer in tropical Africa 1907-1911, Gov. of Togoland 1912-1914 (Michel Rieser & Laurent Raty in litt.) (Pternistis).