272 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



blackish margins, are soft and broad at the base, and taper rapidly 

 to the points, which are harder and more wiry, making the surface 

 appear harsh to the touch. The head and neck is lighter in colour. 

 Round the base of the bill are a number of long bristle-like feathers. 

 Dr. Shaw states that at the base of the upper mandible the 

 "aperture of the nostrils is covered by a valve-like membrane that 

 would render it impervious. A bristle introduced into the nostril 

 under this passes up the whole length of the beak." In this dried 

 specimen the nostril is not so apparent, but at each side of the 

 point of the beak is a small opening, down which a fine wire or 

 bristle can be easily passed. The egg, which I also exhibit, belongs 

 to this individual, and is, like those of the other species, of a large 

 size in comparison to the bird, measuring 5 inches in length by 3 

 inches in width. 



On 9th June, 1859, a Mantell's Apteryx (A. mantelli), which 

 had been living in the Zoological Gardens, London, from 1851, 

 deposited an egg which weighed 14i- oz., the contents weighing 

 13J oz. The shell was smooth and of a dirty-white colour: the 

 form an elongated oval, slightly tapering towards the small end, 

 4 - 75 inches in long, and 2*9 inches in short diameter. The weight 

 of the living bird was ascertained to be 60 oz., so that the egg was 

 nearly equal to one-fourth of the weight of the bird. As many 

 absurd stories have been told regarding the reproduction of the 

 Apteryx, I may be permitted to read the following short note on 

 the incubation of the bird, whose egg I have already referred to — 

 read to the Zoological Society on 28th May, 1868, by Mr. A. D. 

 Bartlett, Superintendent of the Society's Gardens. 



" In 1851 Lieut. -Governor Eyre presented to the Society an 

 Apteryx. This bird proved to be a female of Apteryx mantelli. 

 In the year 1859 she laid her first egg, and has continued to lay 

 one or two eggs every year since that time. In 1865 a male bird 

 was presented by Mr. Henry Slade. During the last year these 

 birds showed symptoms of a desire to pair. This was known by 

 the loud calling of the male, which was answered by the female in 

 a much lower and shorter note. They were particularly noisy 

 during the night, but altogether silent in the daytime. On the 

 2nd of January the first egg was laid, and for a day or more the 

 female remained on the egg; but as soon as she quitted the nest 

 the male bird took to it, and remained constantly sitting. On the 

 7th of February the second egg was laid, the female leaving the 



