~~ 
CRITICAL NOTES. 1? 
which the porch is highly developed, and both he and I have found the 
spotted eggs, which are supposed to characterise assimilis, in nests with 
porches, which are supposed to characterise flaviventris, go that this dis- 
tinction falls altogether to the ground. I have not seen the types of 
this species, and they are not now in Mr, Buller’s collection, but the 
difference in size between assimilis, as given by Mr. Buller, and flaviven- 
tris, as given by Mr. Gray, if any, is so small that it can by no means be 
taken, by itself, as sufficient to constitute a new species. The following 
are the dimensions of the two :— 
ys 
Length. Wing. Tarsus, 
G. flaviventris ... 4:25 BAO ces CO) Cerrayale 
G. assimilis cee AO 2°12 ‘75 (Buller). 
I believe that Mr. Buller himself now allows that this species cannot 
be maintained. The spider’s webs, “of loose texture and dull green 
color,” mentioned by Mr. Buller as used in building the nest, are fresh 
water alge. 
27. CERTHIPARUS MACULICAUDUS. 
Although a large number of skins of certhiparus have passed through 
my hands, I have not heen able to distinguish more than one species, 
which has always been considered to be C. Nove Zealandic, although it 
answers exactly to the description of maculicaudus, and has neither the 
white eyebrow, nor the rufous forehead which Nove Zealandic is said to 
possess. If, therefore, there should prove to be two distinct species, the 
names will have to be changed, and maculicaudus applied to the common 
brown creeper. 
28. PETROICA MACROCHPHALA, 
In the second volume of “ Dieffenbach’s New Zealand,” Mr. Gray 
describes P. Dieffenbachit as smaller than macrocephala, and with the 
yellow on the chest darker ; but of the two species that are found in the 
South Island, it is the larger one that has the darker color on the chest. 
It is, therefore, at present doubtful which of the two birds is the true 
macrocephala, but I hope shortly to receive specimens from the Chatham 
Islands, which will settle the point ; meanwhile I have thought it better 
to apply the name macrocephala to the larger species with the bright 
yellow breast. 
32. PETROICA LONGIPES. 
Mr. Gray makes P. longipes larger than albifrons, but the North 
Island bird is certainly the smaller. There is, evidently, some confusion 
among the names, as Mr. Gray, in his list in the ‘“ Ibis,” gives both the 
