RAT1T.K. -71 



The reduction of the wings in terrestrial bird* is not confined to 

 the Ostriches; but is also characteristic of a number of very strangvh 

 organised forms which dift'er so much from each other that tlicx 

 deserve to be separated into several orders. These birds belong 

 principally to New Zealand; also to Madagascar and the Mascarenes. 

 .Some of them are extinct, but have only become so within historic- 

 times. 



In the uninhabited forest regions of the north island of New 

 Zealand there still lives, though gradually approaching extinction. 



Fie. 665. Ajiteryx Oin-nii. 



an extremely remarkable bird the Kiwi (Apteryx Mantelli Aus- 

 tralis Shaw), which is sometimes placed among the ostriches and 

 called the Dwarf Ostrich. A second species of the same genus (A. 

 Owenii) belongs to the south island, on which another larger form 

 (Roaroa) is .said to exist, and has been distinguished as a third species 

 (A. maxima. Verr.). These birds (Apterygia), which are about the 

 size of a large hen, are entirely covered with long, hair-like feathers, 

 which hang down loosely and completely hide the rudimentary wings. 

 The short, powerful legs are covered with scales; the three anteriorly 

 directed toes arc armed with claws adapted for scratching : the hind 

 toe is short and raised from the ground. The head, which is borne 



