156 Mr. E. P. Ramsay on some New Zealand Birds. 



December. The eggs, which are three or four in number, have a 

 pure white or cream-coloured ground, with spots of light yellow- 

 ish- and wood-brown, crowded together at the larger end, but 

 scarcely forming a zone. In length they are 6i, by 5^ lines in 

 breadth. 



Mr. Huntley forwarded me a nest of this species in December 

 1862, which contained, in addition to four eggs of its proper 

 owner, one of Eudynamis taitensis, as stated above. 



Creadion carunculatus (G. R. Gray, loc. cit. p. 227). 



Tieke of the natives. 



I found birds of this species by no means rare among the 

 thickly-wooded ridges and gullies in the neighbourhood of 

 Wellington ; and from the same locality I have frequently re- 

 ceived its nests and eggs, kindly forwarded to me by Mr. 

 Huntley. These nests are very bulky; in diameter 4 inches at 

 the base, at the top 3 inches, by 2 inches deep. They are open, 

 composed of roots and small twigs, and are lined with the long 

 scales from the base of the fronds of the tree-ferns. Although 

 the exterior is rough enough, the inside is warm, and neatly 

 finished. The usual site chosen for the nest is among densely- 

 matted clusters of vines, and very frequently it is carefully 

 hidden among the thick tufts of a coarse grass-like plant, which 

 grows on, and hangs down in masses from, the forks of the 

 larger trees. 



The eggs are three or four in number, having a white or light 

 cream-coloured ground, with yellowish-brown and dark wood- 

 brown spots, chiefly on the thicker end, besides some obsolete 

 spots of faint lilac. In some the markings are equally dispersed 

 over the whole surface ] in others they are crowded together, or 

 form a zone. Many specimens are much pointed at both ends; 

 others have the larger end very much rounded. They vary 

 from 11 to 13 lines in length, and from 7 to 8i lines in 

 breadth. 



Platycercus auriceps (G. R. Gray, loc. cit. p. 229). 



This species is to be found in tolerable numbers both in the 

 Middle and Northern Islands. In the neighbourhood of Auck- 

 land I have repeatedly flushed it from among the long grass, 



