282 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
Genus—<Acanthisitta. 
17. Acanthisittr chloris, Sparrm. 
Wren, Titipounamu, Pi-wau-wau.—Often builds in a small hole 
of atree. I know one old konini which is resorted to yearly for 
this purpose, and that, too, almost to a day—the nest may be 
found in an open wood near the top of a range, or in the sheltered 
gully. The wren exhibits some caprice in the choice ofa site for 
its home, and thus prepares pleasant surprises for those who take 
delight in learning the ways of animals. More than once I have 
known it to occupy the mortice-hole ofa stockyard post ; also to 
utilise the skull of a horse, to build between the slabs of a bush 
hut or whare, or make its nest in thatch. In my notes of the 
breeding habits of New Zealand birds there was figured a nest 
built in a roll of bark that hung and swung in some convolvulus. 
Like many another species, this tiny bird would probably become 
familiar with man if it was permitted, and the bird-murderer 
shamed into becoming a student of nature, rather than a specu- 
lator in the value of bird’s skins. On the 14th September I saw 
three pairs building. The nest is a peculiar structure, made of 
very fine sprays, rootlets, fern fibres, grasses, dead and skeleton 
leaves, and a few feathers. As the small entrance leads to an 
oblong or pear-shaped nest, which is all covered in except 
the opening, what ingenuity of constructive contrivance is 
shown by this little creature in arranging its varied materials, 
bringing the structure into the required shape, all within the 
narrow precincts of a small hole in a tree or post. From the 
difficulty of working in such narrow bounds the labour is long 
continued, and the tiny birds may be obzerved week after week 
industriously carrying material, and disappearing within their 
little den to build and form their dwelling. Some specimens of 
the nests measure six inches in length, with a breadth, from the 
curled fern-rootlets that bind round, and serve to strengthen the 
entrance, of four inches. Occasionally weka feathers are freely 
introduced. In resorting toa hole that has been already used 
for breeding, it does not repair or remove the old structure, but 
the new nest is begun on the top of the old decayed material. I 
have never seen both birds carrying material at the same moment, 
the bird not working, constantly utters its feeble cheep cheep note, 
but is never far from its mate. The materials are collected and 
brought home at longer intervals than is the case with several 
other species. I have known it build in a hole not more than 
thirty inches from the ground. 
Eggs ovoid or ovoido-conical, pure white ; seven and a quar- 
ter lines in length, with a breadth of six lines ; four, sometimes 
five, are found in a nest. The breeding season commences in 
August. I have observed a nest with young in January. 
Genus—Orthonyx. 
18. Orthonyx albicilla, Less. 
Whitehead, Hihipopokera, Upokotea.—Makes a symmetrical 
cup-shaped nest, of which soft grasses and moss enter largely 
