breast and eyebrows white ; quills brown-black, margined 

 exteriorly, their base traversed by a band, and the tips of 

 the two last tertials, yellow ; inopygimn, abdomen and tips 

 of tail-feathers brownish white. 



Length, 3 inches 1 line ; bill from gape, 7 lines ; wings 

 1 inch 9 lines ; tarsi, 9 lines. 



Young male. 



Sitta punctata, Quoi/ et Gaim. Voij. de I'AstroL i. 221, 

 t. 18,/. 1. 



Head varied with black and fulvous ; throat and breast 

 white, spotted with brown ; the abdomen brownish white, 

 tinged with yellow ; back olive ; uropygium yellow tinged 

 with green ; quills black, slightly bordered outwardly with 

 greenish olive ; some of the tertials with broad lines of 

 white ; tail black, tinged with gi-een, tij) of each feather 

 brownish white. 



Length, 2 inches 10 lines; bill from gape, 5 lines; 

 wings, 1 inch 9 lines ; tarsi, 9 lines. 



The Museum collection contains four specimens of this 

 curious little bird ; two of which are the young. In this 

 state the bill is shorter and thicker than that of the adult. 

 Dr. Dieffenbach states this species to be the Piwauwaw of 

 the natives ; while Mr. P. Earl says, it is called Miru rairu 

 at Port Nicholson, and that it feeds on larvas of insects. 

 Dr. Sparrman gives the Cape of Good Hope as the habitat 

 of his bird, which must be considered a mistake. 



Subfamily 2. Ottho)iycin<B. 



MOHOUA OCHROCEPHALA. 



Muscicapa chloris, Forst. Descr. Anini. p. 87, el Ico)i. 

 ined. 157. 



Muse, ochrocephala, Gmel. Si/st. Nat. 944: Lath. Ind. 

 Orii. ii. 479. 



Ccrthia heteroclites, Quo>/ et Gaim. Voy de l\4-^fro/. 

 Zool.l-2-2S,pl.\7. 



Orthonyx icterocephalus, De Lafr. Rer. Zoo/. 1839. 



Orth. heteroclitus, De Lafr. Mag. de Zool. 1840, Ois. t. 8. 



Mohoua — , Less. Compl. Buff. ix. 139. 



Head bright yellow ; back, wing-coverts and tail yellow- 

 ish brown ; breast and abdomen yellow ; sides and under 

 tail-coverts yellowish-white, with dashes of rufous ; quills 

 blackish brown, margined with brownish yellow. 



Length, (5 inches ; bill from gape, 7 lines ; wings, 4 

 inches 1 line ; tarsi, 1 inch 1 line. 



MM. Qnoy and Gaimard tell us that " Get oiseau doit 

 grimper le long des arbres pour y prendre des insectes ; 

 cependant nous n'avons trouve dan son estomac que de 

 petites graines." They also inform us that the natives of 

 Tasman's Bay called this bird the Mohoua houa ; while 

 Dr. Dieffenbach says it is the Popokatea of the natives of 

 Cook's Straits. 



Family, Luscinid.e. 

 Subfamily 1. MaluritKP,. 

 Sphenojacus punctatos. 

 Synallaxis punctata, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de lAsirol. i. 

 225^ /. 18, / 3. . 



Blackish brown, broadly margined on each feather with 

 fulvous ; forehead rufous, with a black streak in the mid- 



dle of each feather ; wing-coverts, quills and tertials black, 

 slightly bordered with fulvous ; throat and breast white, 

 each feather with a black spot near the tip ; abdomen ful- 

 vous, marked down the shaft of each feather with brown 

 black ; tail brown, margined on the sides with fulvous. 



Length, 7 inches ; bill from gape, 9 lines ; wings 2^ 

 inches ; tail, 4 inches ; tarsi, 10 lines. 



Dr. Dieffenbach says this bird " lives in the Typha- 

 swamps and amongst ferns. Its flight is very short and 

 heavy ;" and that it is the Mata or Matata of the natives. 

 According to Mr. Percy Earl, it is the Toetoe of the na- 

 tives, and " low bushes in marshy grounds or flax-swamps 

 are its usual haunts ; flight very weak, and never seen 

 above three feet from the ground. Builds its nest on the 

 ground, formed of moss and grass, and lays four or five 

 eggs of a greenish white, with spots of a dark colour." 



The collection of the Expedition contains specimens. 



Subfamily 2. Accentorince. 

 Gerygone igata. 



CuiTuca igata, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de r Astral, i. 201, 

 t. 1, 2,/. 2. 



Olivaceous ; eyes surrounded with white ; uropygium 

 rufous ; under surface white, tinged with yellow, and with 

 green on the sides of breast ; quills brown, slightly mar- 

 gined with yellowish white ; tail black, with a white lunule 

 bordered with black on the side. 



Length, 3j inches. 



Inhabits Tasman's Bay, Cook's Straits ; where it is call- 

 ed by the natives Igata. 



Gerygone flaviventrts. 

 Plate 4, f 1. 



Olivaceous above, with the base of the feathers plum- 

 beous ; wings brownish black, slightly margined outwardly 

 with yellow ; tail with basal portion brownish olive and 

 the apical part black, with an apical white spot on the in- 

 ner web of each feather, and the outer one banded across 

 near the tip white ; front, throat and breast greyish white, 

 abdomen white tinged with yellow. 



Total length, 4 inches 3 lines; bill, 6 lines; wings, 2 

 inches 3 lines ; tarsi, 9 lines. 



The specimen was brought by the Expedition from the 

 Bay of Islands. The Museum possesses a specimen from 

 Mr. Percy Earl's collection, with which he informed us, 

 that it is named " Titiripienamu" by the natives of Wai- 

 kouaiti, South Island. It is always found on low bushes, 

 feeding on small insects. 



Gerygone? albofrontata. 

 Plate 4, f. 2. 

 Yellowish brown, with the base of the feathers dark 

 plumbeous ; forehead, streak over eyes, throat and breast, 

 white ; abdomen and sides white, tinged with yellow ; 

 wing-coverts and quills deep brown, margined with yellow- 

 ish brown ; tail with the lateral feathers black, with an 

 oblique band of rufous white, the tips brown ; two middle 

 feathers nearly of an uniform brown, except a blackish 



