OOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 283 
into its construction ; these materials are felted together and in- 
terwoven with webs, lichen, and the downy scales of tree 
ferns. It measures rather more than four inches across the top ; 
diameter of cup, one inch ten linés; with a depth of nearly an 
inch and a-half. Eggs of delicate texture, broadly ovoid, white, 
speckled very faintly with pink. 
19. Orthonyx ochrocephala, Gml. 
Canary, Popokatea.—Perhaps amongst the native avitauna 
this genus is one of the most puzzling to understand. I am in- 
clined to think that the more one learns of the habits of the 
species that are included here as congeners, the less surprise he 
would feel should they be once more separated. The canary 
puzzles one by the varied style of its workmanship, no less than 
by the marked difference which distinguishes the colour of its 
eggs. These peculiarities will render some detailed description 
necessary. In a well-built compact structure, principally of 
moss, neatly interwoven with webs, measuring across the top 
three and a quarter inches, with a depth of nearly one and a-half 
inches, the style of architecture is closely allied to that of the 
preceding species, but the eggs of this nest are entirely re- 
moved therefrom. Another nest, without a particle of moss 
amongst its material, is principally built of fine thin strips of 
manuka bark and grasses, with a very few delicate sprays ; it is 
coarse and rough, yet the construction must have involved con- 
siderable labour. This specimen is from the once great forest 
of Little River. The eggs differ very much from specimens ob- 
tained in other localities. 
Egg ovoid, oval, or well nigh elliptical, with the small end 
much and suddenly pointed ; washed or clouded over the entire 
surfaee with creamy brown or yellowish brown. These are from 
the forests at Ahaura and Okarito, Westland. In another form 
they are dull white, much marked with purple and greyish brown ; 
yellowish white, marked with greyish-brown splashes ; pinky 
white, with purplish marks spread over the entire surface. These 
are from the woods on the Wilberforce River, Little River, and 
Banks’ Peninsula. Specimens in the collection of the Otago 
Museum are much of this character, being greyish white, splashed 
with marks of greyish purple and purplish brown. Some day, 
probably, more particular investigation will be made, with a view 
to a separation into two species—that is, if breeding habits are 
taken into consideration and allowed their due weight. 
Family Luscinide— Warblers. 
Genus—Sphenoecus. 
20. Sphenoecus punctatus, Quoy et Gaim. 
Utick, Grass-birc, Matata.—At one time very commonly met 
with about the swamps and round the edges of lagoons where the 
coarse water grasses grew rankly ; its numbers now appear to be 
very much lessened, as the swamp lands have been reclaimed 
