472 PASSERIFORMES : XENICIDAE CHAP. 
both sexes, the male having a black head, the female white streaks 
on that part. The outward form and habits recall those of Pitta, 
but the latter are more arboreal. The young are apparently 
spotted, unlike those of the Pittidae, which resemble the adults. 
Fam. III. Xenicidae.—This contains the genera Acanthidositta 
and 7raversia, each with one species, and Yenicus with two; they 
are remarkable New Zealand forms, in which the weak syringeal 
muscles only reach the lowest tracheal ring. The slender meta- 
tarsi are almost smooth, the claws acute and elongated; the short 
rectrices number ten, and the tenth primary is nearly equal to the 
next; the secondaries are eight. The tongue is lanceolate and 
horny. The stout-billed, long-legged Xenicus longipes has dark 
green upper parts, a brown crown, a yellowish rump and sides, black 
cheeks, whitish superciliary stripes and throat, and silky, bluish- 
erey under parts. The female is chiefly brown. 1. gilviventris 
is olive-brown on the back and cheeks, and purplish-brown 
beneath, with some rufous and a black spot on the wing. Both 
forms inhabit the South Island, and are called “ Bush-Wren ” and 
“ Rock-Wren ” respectively. The former frequents dark sub-alpine 
forests, restlessly searching the trees for insects, their chrysalids 
and larvae, and uttering a weak note or a trill. It is seldom seen 
on the ground, yet flies but little, as might be expected from 
its short, rounded wings. The compact domed nest of moss, 
placed in low forks or in tree-roots, contains five or six white 
eges with pink blotches; when built in holes it is open. The 
other species lives among débris high up the hills, being almost 
entirely terrestrial, skulking round the boulders, and eating dragon- 
flies, lepidoptera, and insects generally, with scraps of fat from any 
traveller's camp. The nest of roots, twigs, and leaves, lined with 
feathers, is placed in crevices, and contains some five white eggs. 
The similar Zraversia lyallc of Stephens Island is said to be 
nocturnal. Acanthidositta chloris, the Rifleman, is dull green above 
with yellower rump, and fulvous white below; the moderate wings 
are blackish, with green edgings and yellow bars; the eye-stripe 1s 
white ; the short rounded tail is black with hight tip. The female 
has an olive upper surface with brown markings, a yellow rump, 
and buffish under parts. This species inhabits the hill-forests of 
both the main islands of New Zealand, where it actively searches 
the trees for food with quivering wings, and utters a feeble “cheep.” 
The more or less bottle-shaped nest, placed in holes in trees, 
