(384 ) 



$ ad. Similar to the adult malt', but larger and sometimes slightly darker. 

 Total leugth about 480 mm. Measuremeuts of nine se.xod and oue doubtful female 

 ia my collectioa : Culmen 102, 107, 95, 100, 96, 90, 93, 98, 102, H0.» Bill from 

 gape to tip 111, 115, 110, 105, lUO, 100, 101, 109, 111, 115.* Tarsus 61, 66, fin, Co, 

 01, 02, 58, 00, 60, 62.* Middle toe without claw 45, 50, 44, 46, 48, 44, 43, 48, 

 48 • mm. 



Chick. Head pale grey, rest of body dark ashy vermiculated with paler grey, 

 underside much paler, as in the adult birds. 



Two specimens, male and female, from C'ollingwood, are very dark. The male 

 has the pale crossbars much less apparent than usual owing to the long blackish 

 tips to the feathers ; the female shows the pale bars very distinctly, but yet the 

 general tone of colour is much darker than in typical 4. oweni. Head and hindneck 

 rather grey. Behind the base of the mandible, below the eyes, is a patch of white 

 feathers. This peculiar feature, however, is present in several other typical A. oweni 

 in my collection. 



Owen's Kiwi, or, as it is generally called, the Grey Kiwi, or, as it might be 

 termed, the Small Kiwi, is found over a great portion of the South Island, and is 

 still fairly common in its western and eastern parts. 



According to Buller it frequents the woods and must be sought for in prostrate 

 hollow trunks, natural holes or caverns among the roots of the large forest-trees 

 and clefts or fissures in the rocks. In such places it breeds, and the eggs are 

 sometimes taken from under a clump of tussock or from the shelter afforded by an 

 overhanging stone on the slojie of a hill. 



In manners and breeding-habits this Kiwi agrees with its congeners, only its 

 notes are much feebler, softer, and its eggs considerably smaller. The two sexes 

 generally cry together. The eggs in my collection measure 112 by 64, 112-5 by 69, 

 111 by 72, 112 by 71, 99-5 by 65, 108 by 68, 110-5 by 09, 107-5 by 69, 108 by 08-5, 

 111 by 68, 108-5 by 67-5, 112 by 06, 108 by 68 mm. It is, of course, possible that 

 some of these eggs belong to my A. oweni occidentalis, but there is no certainty 

 about it, as New Zealand collectors seldom take the trouble of properly labelling 

 eggs and birds. 



'-eo-' 



•J. Apteryx oweni occidentalis HotJisch. 

 Larger grey Kiwi. 



Apteryx oweni, Buller, B. Ncie Zral. 'laA ed. v. 2, p. ,3-27 (partim) ; 



Apteryx occidmtalis, Rothschild in Bull. B. 0. Club, v. 1, No. X. pp. ,'')9, 61 (reprint in Ibis, 1893, 



pp. 57.3, 571;) ; 18115, Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. .)/»s. v. XXVII. p. 610 ; 1890, Buller in Trans. 



New Zetiland List. v. XXVIII. p. 3.i8 ; 1899, Buller, op. cit. v. XXXI. p. .35. 

 .{jileryx ownii nccitleiilalis, Rothschild in Bull. B. 0. Club, v. 1, p. C-2. 



DESCRIPTION OF .1. (JWESI OCCIDENTALIS. 



(? ad. DiiTers from the same sex of A. oweni oweni by its larger size, more 

 distinct, more regular and wider jiale bars to the feathers and the more developed 

 light tips to the feathers. The wider pale bars to the feathers make the dark bars 

 bolder and stand out more cousj)icuously than in typical ^4. oweni. The reason for 

 the greater distinctness of the pale bars in this form is their more regular outline 



• This specimen, though sexcd male, is doubtless a, female. Its collector is not known. 



