OOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND. 285 
pieces of work; mosses, grasses, feathers, down, a few slen- 
der dry sprays, are all closely interwoven with an abund- 
ance of spiders’ webs, till a very firm warm home is completed. 
Sometimes poultry feathers, united and held together with 
cobwebs, are almost all the material used; in other specimens 
grass contributes chiefly to the structure. Sometimes these nests 
appear hastily put together, the entrance merely strengthened, 
often with fine roots, for the wear and tear of ingress and egress, 
without the characteristic porch. It will readily make use of 
worsted, pieces of string, or cotton, to work in and help bind and 
intertwine with other material. 
The egg is ovoid, rarely all white; rarely white, with a few 
small distinct marks of light brownish scattered generally over 
the surface ; white, with a coronal of dull reddish specks round 
the larger end ; white, with bold red specks, larger and more 
numerous towards the larger end ; white, with a zone of reddish 
purple specks at the larger end; pinky white, with minute pink 
freckles dotted generally over the surface; pinky white, with red 
specks larger and more abundant at the larger end ; pinky white, 
with confluent reddish specks, forming a broad well-defined ring 
round the apex. Eggs vary a good deal in size; a fair average 
is in length about eight lines, with a breadth of six lines. Four 
eges seem to be the usual complement. The breeding season, 
as we know, commences early, and extends through the summer, 
as shown by the note of a nest observed in a» manuka on 26th 
January at Ohinitahi. The warbler during the height of the 
breeding season becomes a dupe to the cuckoos, and is liable to 
work hard for them from October to the end of January. It 
shows a determined defence of its young when once they are able 
to fly, assailing intrusive people with resolution. 
24. Gerygone albofrontata, Gray. 
Chatham Island Warbler.—Larger than the preceding species, 
distinguished also by its song ; it buildsa more closely-felted nest 
than the grey warbler ; a great part of the material is composed 
of fern rootlets, moss, dead leaves, a little fine soft grass, spiders 
webs; the entrance is strengthened, and the porch constructed 
with fern rootlets; the whole contour of the nest seems more 
rounded ; it is strong enough to bear throwing about without 
falling to pieces. 
The egg is ovoid ; white, with red specks, and a ring of con- 
fluent reddish-brown specks on the larger end ; pinky-white, with 
| a ring of purplish specks round the larger end ; pink, with very 
faint greyish-purple marks principally towards the larger end ; 
pink, with minute specks of reddish over the whole surface, with 
a zone of confluent blotches and specks of red at the larger end. 
Four seems to be the usual complement. This warbler is fairly 
| familiar, and is constantly to be seen about the gardens at 
Wharekauri; it builds in kopi trees (Corynocarpus); karamu 
_(Coprosma), it also affects. It is the dupe of the bronze-winged 
| cuckoo. 
