37 
Birds of Neiv Zealand . 
CERTHIPARUS NOVjE-ZEALANDI^. 
Dr. Buller says that the egg of this bird is not known; but 
I described it in 1871 in my f Catalogue of the Birds of New 
Zealand' from specimens that had been in the Otago Museum 
for several years. 
Gerygone plaviventris. 
In the figure given of this bird the breast is white, whereas 
it should be grey, while in the description of G. albofrontata 
the breast is described as grey when it should have been white. 
I was in error in saying that this bird never uses spiders' 
nests in the construction of its nest. Dr. Powell informs me 
that the green spider's nest made use of is that of Epeira 
verrucosa. It is remarkable that G. albofrontata in the Chat¬ 
ham Islands uses the very same species of spider's nest as G. 
flaviventris, and neither ever employs the orange-coloured nest 
of Epeira antipodiana. 
Xenicus longipes. 
I cannot accept Dr. Buller's identification of this bird with 
X. stokesii without further proof. Dr. Buller obtained speci¬ 
mens of X. stokesii which he wrongly determined as X. lon¬ 
gipes ; in fact all the specimens of X. longipes in his collec¬ 
tion were X. stokesii; these he compared with X. stokesii 
in the British Museum, and naturally found them identical. 
But until it is explained how it is that the figure and descrip¬ 
tion of X. longipes in the f Voyage of the Erebus and Terror' 
differ so much from specimens of X. stokesii , I must continue 
to regard them as two species. 
Dr. Buller also states that this bird is strictly arboreal in 
its habits, never being seen on the ground. This is quite in¬ 
correct of X. stokesii , which is constantly on the ground, and 
never ascends into high trees. 
Miro traversi. 
I am not aware that I ever suggested to Dr. Buller that he 
should call this bird after Mr. H. Travers. The facts of the 
case are these :—When Mr. Travers's collection of Chatham- 
Island birds arrived at the museum. Dr. Hector handed it 
over to me, with instructions to make a list of them, describe 
