Order PASSERES.] [Eam. PARIILE. 



CEETHIPARUS N0V.E ZEALANDm 



(NEW-ZEALAND CREEPER.) 



New-Zealand Titmouse, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii. pt. 2, p. 558 (1783). 



Parus nova? seelandice, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 1013 (1788, ex Lath.). 



Parus nova? zealandia?, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 571 (1790). 



Parus zelandicus, Quoy & Gaim. Voy. de l'Astrol. i. p. 210, pi. ii. fig. 3 (1830). 



Certhiparus nova? zelandia?, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1842, p. 69. 



Certhiparus nova? seelandia?, Gray, in Dieff. Trav. ii., App. p. 189 (1843). 



Certhiparus maculicaudus, Gray, op. cit. ii. p. 189 (1843). 



Parus urostigma, Forst. Descr. Anim. p. 90 (1844). 



Certhiparus nova? zealandia?, Finsch, J. f. O. 1870, p. 254. 



Native names. — Pipipi and Toitoi. 



d supra chocolatino-brunneus, pileo paullulum obscuriore : facie laterali nucMque cinerascentibus : tectricibus 

 alarum dorso concoloribus : remigibus brunneis, primariis extus anguste fulvescente limbatis, secundariis 

 latius dorsi colore lavatis : cauda rufescenti-chocolatina, rectricibus (duabus mediis exceptis) fascia nigra 

 transnotatis : subtiis rufescenti-albus, corporis lateribus et tectricibus subcaudalibus chocolatino lavatis : 

 rostro et pedibus pallide brunneis, unguibus fulvescenti-brunneis : iride saturate brunnea. 



2 mari omninb simibs. 



Juv . vix ab adultis distinguendus, sed magis vinaceo tinctus. 



Adult. Fore part of bead, crown, back, rump, and upper surface of wings brigbt cinereous brown, inclining 

 to rufous ; quills ligbt brown, tbe outer webs tinged towards tbeir base witb rufous ; tail-feathers pale 

 rufous, and, with the exception of the two middle ones, crossed on their inner web, about half an inch 

 from the tip, with a broad band of black ; sides of head and nape cinereous grey ; throat, breast, and 

 abdomen rufous white. Bill, tarsi, and toes pale brown ; claws lighter brown. Total length 5 - 25 inches ; 

 wing, from flexure, 2 - 5 ; tail 2 - 6 ; tarsus *75 ; bill, alorjg the ridge '5, along the edge of lower mandible 

 •6; middle toe and claw '6; hind toe and claw "6. 



Young. Plumage as in the adult, but suffused with vinous brown. 



Obs. The sexes are alike, both as to size and colouring. 



This lively little species is confined to the wooded parts of the South Island*. I met with it in 

 Nelson and in Otago, but more abundantly in the Canterbury Province. On Banks's Peninsula I 

 found it particularly numerous, but I was never able to discover its nest. 



* Captain Hutton, writing from Auckland, in the North Island, states, in a letter to 'The Ibis' (1867, p. 379), that 

 Certhiparus novce zealandice is "one of the commonest birds in the bush about here;" but he was evidently confounding 

 this bird with some other species, probably the well-known Orthonyx albicilla. 



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