18 NEW ZEALAND IHllDS. 



L., 675 ; W., 2 3 ; B., '5 ; T., -8. 



Varies considerably in colour. 



1.////. — Ovoid ; wliitc, speckled all over witli violet and greyiih red ; IcngLli, '8 ; 

 breadth, "6. 



Hab. — Both Islands. 



"This recluse little species is one of our comiuonest birds, but is 

 ot'teuer lieard than sceu. It frequents the dense i'ern (Pteris aquilina) 

 of the open country, and the beds of the raupo (T\ipha aiifjustifoliaj 

 and other tall vegetation that cover our swamps and low-lying flats. 

 In these localities it nia}^ constantly be heard uttering, at regular 

 intervals, its sharp melancholy call of two notes, u-tick, u-tick, and 

 responsively when there are two or more. When the shades of 

 evening are closing in, this call is emitted with greater frequency and 

 energy, and in some drearj' solitudes it is almost the only sound that 

 breaks the oppressive stillness. In the Manawatu district of the 

 Province of Wellington, where there are continuous raupo-swamps, 

 covering an area of 50,000 acres or more, I have particularly remarked 

 this ; for, save the peevish cry of the Pukcko, occasionally heard, and 

 the boom of the lonely Bittern, the only animate souiul I could detect 

 was the monotonous cry of this little bird calling to its fellows as it 

 threaded its way among the tangled growth of reeds. 



" Like the other members of the group to Avhicli it belongs, it is 

 a lively creature, active in all its movements, and easily attracted by 

 an imitation of its note ; but, when alarmed, shy and wary. Its tail, 

 which is long and composed of ten graduated feathers, with disunited 

 filaments, appears to subserve some useful purpose in the daily 

 economy of the bird ; for it is often found very much denuded or 

 Avorn. When tlic bird is flying the tail hangs downward. Its wings 

 are very feebly developed, and its poAvcrs of flight so weak that, in 

 open laud v,here the fern is stunted, it may easily be run down and 

 caught with the hand ; but in the swamps it threads its way through 

 the dense reed-beds with wonderful celerity, and eludes the most care- 

 ful pursuit. When surprised or hard-pressed in its more exposed 

 haunts, it takes wing, but never rises high, and, after a laboured 

 flight of from fifteen to twenty yards in a direct line, drops under 

 cover again. Its food consists of small insects and their larvec, and 

 the minute seeds of various grasses and other plants." — Bulleh. 



20. Sphencsacus rufoscons. BuUer. 



(Plato X.) 



Above, wingj and tail, rufoug-brown ; below, brownish-vhito ; throat tinged with 

 yellow ; a browuish-wliite streak over the eye ; sides of the head marked with black. 

 L., 7; W., 2-5; B., -52; T., -9. 

 Hab. — Chatham Islands only. 



