109 



guishable as " old nests ;" but this is not the case with the nest of the species under consideration. 

 The cavity or chamber is deeply lined with soft feathers ; and to keep the interior clean and pure, 

 the young birds may be seen elevating their bodies to the edge of the orifice on the side of the 

 nest, and ejecting the alvine discharge to some distance. Thus the nest is kept in perfect con- 

 dition for continued use in the manner suggested, or for the rearing of a second brood. At the 

 close of the breeding-season it may be observed that this bird has the shafts of the tail-feathers 

 denuded, often to the extent of a quarter of an inch, the result, no doubt, of its laborious and 

 protracted building-operations. 



I have examined a large number of their nests in various parts of the country and in almost 

 every variety of situation ; and while invariably exhibiting the pensile character, they are, as a 

 rule, referable to one or the other of two distinct types — the bottle-shaped nest with the porch or 

 vestibule, and the pear-shaped form without the porch. This peculiarity, coupled with the signi- 

 ficant fact that in some instances the eggs were pure white, in others speckled or spotted with 

 red, led me at one time to suspect the existence of two distinct but closely allied species ; and a 

 manifest difference in the size of some examples tended to strengthen that view. In my ' Essay 

 on New-Zealand Ornithology' (1865) I described the two forms of nest, and proposed to distin- 

 guish the builder of the large pear-shaped structure as Gerygone assimilis. It may yet be neces- 

 sary to recognize the existence of a larger and a smaller race, although the subject requires further 

 investigation. It may be considered settled, however, that the ascertained difference is not such 

 as to justify a specific separation. The two forms of nest above alluded to were thus described in 

 my ' Essay' (p. 9) : — 



" That of the smaller species is a compact little nest, measuring about 6 inches by 3"5. It is 

 ' bottle-shaped,' full and rounded at the base, and tapering upwards to a point, by which it is sus- 

 pended. It is composed of a variety of soft materials — spiders' nests, dry moss, grass, vegetable 

 fibres, &c. The spiders' nests consist of a soft silky substance, by the aid of which the materials 

 composing the nest are woven into a compact wall, with a smooth and finished exterior. The 

 entrance, which is situated on the side of the nest, is so small as barely to admit the finger, and 

 it is protected from the weather by a very ingenious contrivance. It is surrounded by a protect- 

 ing rim or ledge, composed of extremely fine roots interlaced or loosely woven together and 

 firmly secured to the groundwork of the nest. This facing is arched at the top so as to form a 

 vestibule or porch, while at the base it stands out boldly from the Avail, and is nearly an inch in 

 depth, thus furnishing a firm and secure threshold for the bird in its passage to and from the cell. 

 The interior apartment or cavity is about two inches deep, and is thickly lined with soft feathers ; 

 and the nest forms altogether a well-proportioned and symmetrical structure, testifying alike to 

 the skill and industry of the modest little builder. The nest of the other species is of a some- 

 what similar size ; but it is fuller in the middle than the one described, and is pear-shaped towards 

 the apex instead of tapering. The materials composing it are of coarser texture, there is less 

 execution or finish about it, and the ingenious porch, the peculiar feature of the one, is altogether 

 wanting in the other." 



A specimen of the nest, with porch entrance, in Dr. Sisson's possession, measures nine 

 inches, and is produced downwards to a point, instead of being rounded as in the typical 

 examples. 



