41 



EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



short, and terminates in a sort of spur, of a 

 conical figure. With, tliis spur, and tlie 

 anterior claws, the kiwi is said to defend 

 itself very vigorously, striking with rapidity, 

 and a degree of force proportioned to the 

 vast muscular volume of the thighs. 



It is said that the kiwi is in the habit of 

 stamping upon the ground, in order to disturb 

 the worms, which it seizes with its beak the 

 instant they make their appearance. But 

 we doubt this ; the limbs, as the bird stands 

 upright, do not seem to be adapted for this 

 sort of action, nor did the mound of earth, 

 bored all over by the creature's long bill, 

 exhibit any traces of this stamping opera- 

 tion. A similar habit has been attributed 

 to our lapwing, but no one who has studied 

 the economy of this lightly- tripping bird can, 

 upon consideration, believe that the stamping 

 powers of its feet are so energetic as to alarm 

 the worm in its retreat. 



With respect to taste in the kiwi, we may 

 presume, from the connection of this sense 

 with that of smell, that it is tolerably acute. 

 Although the tongue is short, it is more 'de- 

 veloped, according to Professor Owen, than 

 in any of the ostrich group. 



The sense of touch probably resides, to 

 a considerable degree, in the tip of the beak, 

 but of this we cannot speak positively, nor 

 do our observations enable us to state any 

 decisive opinion as to the perfection of the 

 sense of hearing, although we may infer 

 from the habits of the kiwi that this sense 

 is as acute as in the ostrich or cassowary. 



The natives highly value the skin of the 

 kiwi, which is made into dresses and mantles, 

 wdth the feathers on, and which the chiefs 

 •wear by way of distinction. Dogs are em- 

 ployed in its capture. 



Mr. Gould describes two species of kiwi, 

 or, as the natives, doubling the word, term it, 

 kiwi-kiwi ; viz., Apteryx Australis, the spe- 

 cies recently in the gardens of the Zoological 

 Society, and Apteryx Oivenii ; but a larger 

 species is found in the middle island of New 



Zealand, and called by the sealers the Fire- 

 man. 



The first, and we believe the only notice 

 of this bird, appears in a communication to 

 Mr. Gould from Mr. F. Strange, from 

 which we take the following extract : — " I am 

 told that a second species of Apteryx is to 

 be found on the middle island, that it stands 

 about three feet high ; it is called by the 

 sealers the Fireman. Aware from your 

 figures and description, that the sexes differ 

 considerably in size, I pointed this out to 

 my informant; but he stiU persisted that 

 there are two species, in confirmation of 

 which opinion, he added that he had taken 

 the eggs of the two birds, and found those 

 of the one species to be much larger than 

 those of the other. The larger kind are 

 nearly the size of the emu's ; they are some- 

 what long in form, and blunt at the ends ; 

 their colour is dirty white. They are de- 

 posited in a burrow, on a nest formed of roots 

 and sticks, and a few of the bird's own 

 feathers." — Froc. Zool. Soc, 1847, p. 51. 



Of this species we have no detailed in- 

 formation ; but its alleged size prevents our 

 regarding it as identical with Apteri/x Owenii 

 (Gould), which is not larger than Apteryx 

 Australis, being only eighteen inches in 

 length, from the tip of the beak to the end 

 of the body. 



Speaking of this bird, a specimen of 

 which he received from New Zealand, by 

 way of Sydney, unaccompanied by any in- 

 formation as to the locality in which it was 

 procured, or any particulars of its habits or 

 economy, Mr. Gould says : " It appears to bo 

 fully adult, and is about the same size as tlje 

 Apteryx Australis, from which it is rendered 

 conspicuously different by the irregular 

 transverse barring of the entire plumage, 

 which, with its extreme density and hair- 

 like appearance, more closely resembles the 

 covering of a mammal, than that of a 

 bird; it also differs in having a shorter, 

 more slender, and more curved bOl, and in 



