330 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



Sub-family b. Aptcryyince. 

 APTERYX. (Gr. a, priv. ; 7rrt'ou, awing; wingless.) 



ssag^ 



Australis (Lat. Australian,) the Aptcryx. 



species. Latterly the question has been set at rest, not only 

 by the researches of Gould and other naturalists, but by the 

 arrival in this country of several skins * and one living speci- 

 men, now in the Zoological Gardens. This bird has a singular 

 habit of resting with the tip of its bill placed on the ground. 

 The nostrils of the APTERYX are placed almost at the very ex- 

 tremity of the bill. The aborigines of New Zealand give it the 

 name of Kiwi Kiwi. The food of the bird consists of snails, 

 insects, and worms, which latter creatures it obtains by striking 

 the ground with its feet, and seizing them on their appearance 

 at the surface. 



* A small but well preserved skin is mounted in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. 

 The rudimentary wings are very well shown. A skeleton is in the museum of the 

 College of Surgeons. 



