104 



fined to the South Island, where it is quite as common as the preceding species is in the North. 

 A narrow neck of sea completely divides their natural habitat, — a very curious and suggestive 

 fact, inasmuch as this rule applies equally to several other representative species treated of in the 

 present work. 



i 



The habits of this bird are precisely similar to those of its northern ally ; but it is superior 

 to the latter in size and in the richer colour of its plumage, while its notes are louder and its song 

 more varied and musical. A flock of these Canary-like birds alarmed or excited, flitting about 

 among the branches with much chirping clamour, and exhibiting the bright tints of their plumage, 

 has a very pretty eff'ect in the woods. 



A life-size drawing of this species, by Mitchell, appeared long ago in the ' Genera of Birds ; ' 

 but the attitude is unnatural, the bird being placed on the ground instead of a tree. 



The nest is thus described by Mr. Potts : — " Measuring across the top 3 mches 3 lines, with 

 a depth of 1 inch 4 lines, it is a beautifully compact structure, cup-shaped, composed principally 

 of moss very closely felted, and neatly interwoven with spiders' webs. In the hollow trunk of 

 the broad-leaf it is sometimes found, and occasionally in a decaying black birch." Mr. Potts, 

 junior, found a nest of this species containing two young birds; it was built of moss, grass, and 

 sheep's wool, with a few feathers intermixed, and was placed in a cluster of young shoots on the 

 side of a black birch, and in the vicinity of a shepherd's homestead. 



On comparing the nest of this species with that of Orthonyx alMcilla^ it appears to exhibit 

 more care and finish in its general construction, although composed of the same materials. The 

 eggs are of a regular oval form, measuring -95 inch in length by -7 in breadth, and are white, 

 with obscure spots of reddish brown over the entire surface. 



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