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131 X SO mm., one from Stewart Island 13:^ x 81 mm. A specimen in Mr. ( !rowley's 

 collection measnres 4-7o x 3-0.") inclies (gi'e Duller, B. Neiv Zealand, 2nd Ed. v. 2. 

 p. 326). The rgg.s are similar to those of A. australis manielli which will be 

 described in greater detail. 



In habits this Kiwi does not differ from the other species. Sir Walter Bnller 

 publishes some interesting observations made on Stewart Island Kiwis by Mr. 

 Marklund, who collected a good series liefore they became " protected" by law. 



The following facts are of special interest. 



Mr. Marklund says that these birds are very scarce, and have to be hnnteil fur 

 over a large extent of country. " Their favourite feeding ground is the summit of 

 Table Hill, rising to an elevation of 2,300 feet, which is covered with grass and 

 stunted vegetation, and in the daytime they have to descend some 500 feet, in order 

 to camp in the bush, the summit not atFording sufficient covert." Mr. Marklund 

 has never found any on the western slope of Table Hill below a level of 1 ,000 feet ; 

 " but on the eastern side the Kiwis go right down to the plain, or jiractically to 

 the level of the sea." He has found them to inhabit holes among the roots of the 

 " mutton-bird woods." " He generally found a pair of birds together in one hole, 

 sometimes accompanied by a single young one. On one occasion he found five birds 

 inhabiting an extensive chamber. Being without provisions, he liad to cook and 

 eat them, rare as he knew the bird to be. From the retreat of this party of five to 

 the summit of Manuka Flat (a distance of half a mile) there was a broad beaten 

 track, as if sheep had been accustomed to travel over it. The roots crossing this 

 track were so worn and abraded that he came to the conclusion the Kiwis had been 

 using the path continuously for several years. He says that this species has three 

 distinct calls : one is a loud shrill whistle, especially in fine evenings when the 

 atmosphere is clear ; the second is a deep rasping note, seldom heard ; and the third 

 is a low clucking sound, rarely uttered. In hunting these birds his plan was to 

 start about 3 a.m., before daybreak, while the scent was strong upon the ground, 

 and then to intercept them on their way from their open feeding-grounds to the 

 shelter of the ' mutton-bird woods,' or track them by means of the dog to their 

 holes. The old birds often make a stubborn resistance, and the first time his 

 dog tackled one of them he got his foreleg ripped up about six inches by the 

 bird's claws." 



There is a chance of this bird being preserved in Stewart Island, which has 

 happily escaped the introduction of stoats and weasels, but on the mainland the 

 I)rotection, on account of these pests, comes probably too late, both for the Kiwi and 

 the Kakapo. Sir Walter Buller continues : 



" Towards the end of November Mr. Marklund obtained two eggs of this species 

 of Kiwi, after nearly a month's continuous search ; but it was so late in the season 

 that, in both cases, the chick was fully formed within the shell, and had to be 

 removed by incision. This somewhat damaged the specimens, but I am never- 

 theless able to give a full description of them. They differ consjiicuously both in 

 size and in contour. The larger one measures .5'4 in. in length by 3'2.j in. in 

 breadth, and is perfectly elliptical in shape, there not being the least indication of a 

 smaller end. The other egg is smaller, measuring .o'l in. by 3'1 in., and is narrower 

 at one end. Both of them are of a very pale green colour, or perhaps, more properly 

 speaking, greenish white, and the shell, especially in the smaller egg, exhibited 

 minute, widely-scattered punctae on the surface, distinctly visible under a magnifying 

 glass, and similar to the markings on the eggshell of the Moa. In forwarding the 



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