( 379 ) 



laTs^i' worms in its long mandibles, the Kiwi [M-oceeds to kill it b)' striking il, 

 rajiidl)- on the gronnd or against some hard object. Dnring this operation the bird 

 raaj' be clearly seen under the phosphoric light, aud the slime which attaches itself 

 to the bill and head renders these parts highly phosphorescent : so that, even after ' 

 the Inminons body itself has been swallowed, the actions of the bird are still visible. 

 Tiicre is no longer the slow and half-stnpid movement of the head and neck ; bnt 

 the bill is darted forward with a restless activity, and travels over the surface of 

 the gronnd with a continued sniffing sound, as if the bird were guided more by 

 scent than by sight in its search for food." 



Abont the jjropagation we find the following notes in the Birds of New 

 Zealand : — 



" My investigations on the spot enabled me to determine one important fact 

 with certainty — namely, that, as with the Moornk, the Cassowary, the Emn, and 

 the Rhea, the male bird alone performs the labour of incnbation and takes npon 

 himself the entire charge of the young till they are old enough to shift for 



themselves. The female, without any assistance from her mate, digs or scoops 



ont a nesting-place, usually adapting to her requirements an existing hole or cavity 

 in the ground, forms a rndo nest and deposits her two eggs, flaving done this, 

 she walks off and disclaims all further responsibility, al)andoning her mate to his 

 share of the parental duty, and (so the natives allege) immediately pairing with 

 another male and forming a new nest elsewhere." 



The last sentence of these observations had j)robably better be disregarded. 

 The " walking off and disclaiming all fnrther responsibility " (sic I) is hardly based 

 on observation, and the native statement that they pair again immediately cannot 

 be fully credited, as it wonld mean a constant breeding thoughout the year. It is also 

 opposed to observations in captivity, for we have found that the pairs keep, as 

 a rule, well together, even ont of the breeding season. One of the Kiwis in mv 

 possession destroyed her own egg, on which the male would not sit. Although 

 Kiwis have laid eggs in England, in the Zoological Gardens, in my own, and in 

 the late Lord Lilford's aviaries, they have never yet hatched. 



" The breeding season evidently extends over a considerable jjeriod. Of the 

 ten eggs collected by onr party during the first week of November, nine contained 

 well-developed chicks, some of them just ready for extrusion, and the tenth was 

 j)crfectly fresh. The very young bird figured on page 326, and the egg purchased 

 from the natives, were taken from one hole, and the male bird was still sitting. 

 From the condition of the chick, I judged that if undisturbed it would have been 

 hatched out in another day or two : it was alive and active when the shell was 

 opened, although the egg had been out of the nest for several days. Some of the 

 young birds taken by us were apparently abont two months old. I think it probable 

 that there are two broods in the season, inasmnch as one of our adnlt birds contained 

 in its ovary a large bnnch of undeveloped eggs, up to the size of back shot, whilst, 

 as stated on page 314, a recently captured bird which I had, many years ago, at 

 Wanganui, produced a fnlly matured egg on the 22nd of March. 



"One of the nests fonud by us contained a young bird and an egg (an unnsnally 

 large one, and from its white appearance evidently newly laid) ; another contained a 

 single young bird, and two others contained each two young ones. All of them, 

 with a solitary exception, were active and strong, snapping angrily with their little 

 bills and attempting to strike with their feet. The exception referred to conld not 

 have been hatched out very long, because it was too weak to run, and, after the 



