78 THE ANIMALS OP NEW ZEALAND 



The Chatham Island warbler is slightly larger than the New 

 Zealand species. Its nest is more closely felted than that of the 

 grey warliler, and is composed mostly of small fern-roots, moss, 

 dead leaves, lime, soft grass, and spider's webs. The nest is also 

 more rounded in shape, and is stronger. There are generally four 

 eggs. 



New Zealand Tits. 



Genus Petroeca. 



Tail considerably shorter than the wing, square at the end. 

 Second primary longer than the secondaries ; tip of the wing 

 formed by the fourth to the sixth quills. Feet moderate. The 

 tarsus less than the middle toe and claw. 



The Yellow-breasted Tit. — Ngiru-ngiru. 



Petroeca macrocephala. 



Male — Head, neck, and back black, with a white spot over the bill: 

 below yellow, bright on the breast, getting paler on the abdomen. Wing, 

 brownish black; some of the primaries and the secondaries with a band 

 of white. Tail, blackish brown, the three outer feathers with a band 

 of white. Eye black. Female — Above brown, with a small white spot 

 over the bill; throat brownish white, abdomen yellow. Wings and tail 

 like the male, but the white on the wings tinged with yellow. Young — 

 In each sex coloured like the adult, but the tints are not so pure, and 

 paler. Length of the wing, 2.9 in.; that of the tarsus, 0.9 in. The 

 female is rather smaller. Egg — -White, with spots of purplish grey, 

 often forming a ring near the larger end. Length, 0.75 in. South 

 Island of New Zealand, Chatham Islands, Auckland Islands. 



The New Zealand tits, like those of the Old Country, are bold 

 to the extent of impudence, but they are also very friendly and 

 sociable. They are perpetual motion personified, as they are 

 never at rest. 



The southern, or yellow-breasted, tits are sprightly and 

 graceful little birds. "They may often be seen playing 

 together," says Mr. W. W. Smith, "and chasing each other 

 through the branches, gently fluttering their wings, erecting their 

 crests, and uttering a suppressed twitter, as they sit eyeing each 

 other on the boughs, or clinging to the stems of the trees, and 



