120 • THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



composed of grass and feathers, and is coarsely constructed. The 

 female, as a rule, lays three eggs. 



Suh-order Clamatores. 

 With a simple vocal apparatus. 



Family Xenicidae. 

 Bill not notched at the end; no mouth bristles. Tail very 

 short, of ten feathers. Tarsi booted. New Zealand only. 



Key to the Genera. 



1. Tarsi one inch in length. Xenicus. 

 Tarsi less than one inch in length. 2 



2. Bill nearly as long as the tarsus. Traversia. 

 Bill much shorter than the tarsus. Acanthidositta 



Genus Xenicus. 

 Bill moderate. Wing with the third to the fifth quills nearly 

 equal and longest ; the second rather shorter than the seventh. 

 Legs long, the feet rather strong. Tail short. 



Key to tlie Species. 



Breast grey. X. longipes. 



Breast tawny. X. gilviventris. 



Green Wren. — Matuhi. 



Xenicus longipes. 

 Above green, top of the head purplish brown. Chin white, breast 

 grey, flanks and vent yellowish green. A broad white streak over the 

 eye. Eye dark brown. Female — head and upper back, brown; lower 

 back, olive green; below, grey; the flanks and vent, greenish j'ellow. 

 Stripe over the eye as in the male. Length of the wing, 2.25; of the 

 tarsus, 1 in. Egg — White with irregular blotches at the thick end. 

 Both Islands, in sub-alpine forests. 



The New Zealand green wren, like "Jenny Wren, the Fair," 

 is little but good. It is among the smallest of the birds of this 

 dominion, and it may often be seen creeping among the lichens 

 and mosses that decorate the stem and branches of the forest. 



