EECEEATIYE SCrENCE, 



43 



cerebral development. Fossil relics show 

 how numerous they must have been, and not 

 a few existed even in Europe at a prior con- 

 dition of our earth's surface. They are lin- 

 gering, and so are the terrestrial wingless 

 birds. The kiwi treads upon the edge of 

 the precipice. 



Let us return to our notes. On looking 

 closely at the kiwi, certain peculiarities, ir- 

 respective of its rudimentary wings, and the 

 long, slender, lanceolate feathers, with which 

 it is clothed, attracted our notice. Above 

 and below the eye, at the base of the beak, 

 and on the forehead, are groups or pencils of 

 long whisker-like hairs. Now, if we consider 

 for a moment the habits of the kiwi in its 

 native regions, where, by night, it winds its 

 way amidst the dense fern-beds, bores into 

 the ground, and seeks shelter in deep exca- 

 vations, we may, perhaps, not err if we 

 attribute to these bristles a use similar to 

 that of the whiskers of the cat, and other 

 nocturnal quadrupeds — may we not reason- 

 ably suppose that they serve as feelers, and 

 thus prove aiders to the sense of sight ? 



Another peculiarity was the smallness of 

 the eye, so contrary to what prevails in birds 

 of nocturnal habits, such as the owl, the 

 woodcock, the snipe, and thickknee, which 

 feed by night. These, however, are birds of 

 flight. The kiwi is not; its locomotion is 

 restricted, and it probably requires a less 

 range of vision amidst the deep fern-brakes 

 which enshroud it, although the power of 

 nocturnal sight within a limited range may 

 be very, or even microscopically, acute. The 

 admission of a volume of such light as the 

 night affords, and for which the eyes of 

 the owl and thickknee are adapted, if ad- 

 mitted to impinge upon the retina of the 

 kiwi, might dazzle and bewilder the bird. 

 This, in fact, would appear to be proved by 

 the circumstance that the natives hunt it, 

 during the hours of darkness, by the glare 

 of torchlight, which, while it betrays the 

 bird, at the same time confuses and bewilders 



it. Professor Owen observes, that in the 

 kiwi the organ of vision is at a very low 

 ratio of development, and that the eyeball 

 is relatively much smaller than in other 

 birds, but the cornea is very convex ; on the 

 contrary, the olfactory system is larger than 

 in other birds; and he remarks, that the 

 nocturnal habits of this bird, combined with 

 the necessity for a highly developed organ 

 of smell, which chiefly compensates for the 

 low condition of the organ of vision, produce 

 the most singular modifications which the 

 skuU presents, so that it may be said that 

 those cavities which in other birds are de- 

 voted to the lodgement of the eyes, are in 

 the Afteryx almost exclusively devoted to 

 the nose. 



The iris, as we particularly noticed, is 

 dark brown, and the pupil minute, at least 

 by daylight. 



In most birds, the nostrils are placed at 

 or towards the base of the beak, or rather 

 upper mandible ; in the kiwi their situation 

 is most singular; they appear as minute, 

 narrow fissures, placed one on each side of 

 the tip of the upper mandible, which is at 

 that part somewhat [swollen and notched ; a 

 furrow runs from the base of the mandibles 

 to the hnear nostrils. The internal olfac- 

 tory apparatus and the pituitary sur- 

 face, on which the olfactory nerve freely 

 ramifies, is complex and extensive ; hence 

 the acuteness of the sense of smell, on the 

 exercise of which this bird so greatly depends 

 for obtaining its food. 



There is another point in the kiwi which 

 cannot but strike every one who sees it 

 in its erect attitude — we aUude to the vast 

 muscidar development of the thighs, as they 

 are popularly called, by which the assump- 

 tion of this attitude is rendered easy. The 

 tarsi are short and stoxit, the toes are four in 

 number, without any intervening webs, the 

 three anterior are strong, and armed with 

 powerful claws, weU adapted for the exca- 

 vation of burrows. The hind toe is very 



