110 
to show that the affinities of the Xenicidse (as he proposed to call the family) could only make it com- 
pare with Pipridse, Tyrannite, Pittite, and Philepittidse. From all these groups, however, it differs 
widely in the number of rectrices, the character of the tarsus, and the non-oscine syrinx. 
The nest (of which there is a specimen in the Canterbury Museum) is usually placed among the 
upturned roots of a fallen tree, or in the fork of a double trunk, at a low elevation from the ground. 
It is a compact structure, composed entirely of green moss, oval in form, measuring about eight inches 
in length by about five inches in breadth, with a small entrance on the side not far from the top, and 
so small as scarcely to admit the tip of the finger . 
Mr. W. W. Smith has furnished me with the following note : “ The Bush-TV ren nests in small 
holes and forks of trees and builds a very comfortable nest. When found in a hole they are gene- 
rally open at the top or cup-shaped ; when built in a fork they are slightly hooded. The eggs, 
which are usually five or six in number, are small, roundish in shape, and white with irregular pink 
blotches on the thick end.” 
throughout of quite simple form, and are separated by but narrow intervals. None are modified in form to serve for the insertion 
of a vocal muscle, as the latter terminates' higher up, as already described, on the tracheal box, and therefore qui e oil 
region of the bronchi. , , ■ , 
“ The lateral position of the single syringeal muscle is that characteristic of all the Mesomyodian Passeres, t oug m 
of these it terminates on one of the bronchial rings, and not, as in the birds under consideration, on the sides of the traohoa. This 
may easily be seen by comparing the accompanying figures of Xenicus with the beautiful series given by Johannes . u or o . le 
Syrinx of Xenicus longvpes , much enlarged. A. Prom in front. B. Prom behind, m. Lateral tracheal muscle. 
syrinx of many of the Neotropical Mesomyodi, with those of Garrod of Pitta, or my own of Eurylamus, Cymbirhynchus, and 
Philepitta. In fact it resembles rather that of Todus, as lately described and figured by myself. Externally the non oscin , 
nature of Xenicus and Acanihisitta is at once proclaimed by the structure of their wings, which have a first (tenth) primary 
nearly as long as the preceding one, and by the non-bilaminate tarsus. The latter is covered almost completely by a sin a lo large 
scute, with only some very obsolete traces of transverse division below, whilst behind its edges are contiguous foi the e rcater 
length of the tarsus, leaving oidy small areas at each end of that bone, which are covered by very small seutellce of irre^u ar 
form. The digits are slender and compressed, the foot being slightly syndaetyle by the union of the fourth toe to the thiul or 
the greater part of its two most basal joints. The tail is short and weak ; and there aro only ten rectrices in each of my spcci 
mens. [This is the normal number.] In all other points, Xenicus and Acanihisitta conform to the general I asserino type. 
There is no trace of a plantar vinculum. The tender patagii brevis has the peculiar arrangement characterizing the Passeres, 
only slightly masked by the muscular fibres somewhat concealing the two superimposed tendons, as is frequently the case m 
the short-and-rounded- winged forms of the group. The gluteus primus is well-developed. The tongue is lanceolate and horny, 
with its apex somewhat frayed out and its base spiny. The main artery of the leg is the sciatic. The sternuin as a sing e pair 
of posterior notches and a bifid manubrium. In the skull the nostrils are holorhinal, the^ vomer broad an ceep y omaigma c 
anteriorly, the maxillo-palatines slender and recurved.” (Proc. Zool. Soe. 1882, pp. 569-571.) _ 
* One which was found in a birch-forest far up the Havelock, in the month of December, was so admirably hid en amongs 
the surrounding moss that its detection was quite accidental. It was situated beneath the moss-co\ered roots o a n ion woo 
tree, and was pouch-shaped in form, with the opening near the top, and composed almost entirely of minute ern-roots, care- 
fully interwoven, especially at the entrance. It measured about 3-5 inches inheight by 3 in breadth ; and the cavity, wine i was 
profusely lined with feathers, extended to a depth of 2*5 inches, with an opening one inch and a half across. ( oui 
Science,’ vol. ii. p. 281.) 
