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both mrdr and female. When angry they hiss andihly, and when feeding make a 

 sniffling noise with their nostrils, evidently to clear them from extraneons matter. 



Their natural food is entirely worms, but occasionally they are said to swallow 

 seeds and fruits. I have had many alive, some now in the ninth or tenth j^ear. 

 They delight in earthworms, but live excellently on raw meat, chopped up in 

 small pieces, boiled potatoes and soaked bread. In this climate it is best to allow 

 them a free run in the open, on soft ground, where they can probe for worms, and 

 they must, of conrse, have a low, dark, but dry, little room under ground, or made 

 of a box. This hiding-place must be well covered, to keep warm in winter and 

 cool in summer, while artificial heat is quite uinnecessary, except in — for England 

 — excejitionally cold winters. 



They are nearly all, but more so the larger species, of a very pugnacious 

 disposition. As they kick vehemently, and are able to cut the hand to the bone, 

 one must be carefnl in handling them, and if it is necessary to catch them, grasp 

 both their legs quickly in one's hand. 



In the Birds of New Zealand (ed. 2. v. 2. p. 31.5) Sir Walter Bnller describes 

 his Kiwi hunts in the Pirongia Ranges as follows : 



" At noon on Tnesday, Nov. 1st, we had completed all our arrangements for 

 a week's sojourn in the bush, and started, fully equipped, for a small kainga, about 

 a mile from Alexandra, where we found our men and dogs awaiting us. The 

 former consisted of an experienced Kiwi-hunter, Wiremu Rihia by name, and two 

 young natives who were to carry our provisions and make themselves generally 

 useful. The dogs were small black mongrels, one of them having something of 

 the colley in him. My companion was Mr. G. Lindauer, the well known Austrian 

 artist, who fully shared my enthusiasm about a Kiwi-hunt. Some little time was 

 lost in arranging terms with the men and a tariff for the use of the dogs. It 

 was 3 p.m. before we got fairly started on our expedition. The central cone of 

 Pirongia, which encloses an ancient volcanic crater, towers up to a height of 

 2800 feet above the level of the sea, and is clothed with dense vegetation to 

 its very summit. The ascent commenced at once, and in less than an hour we 

 had reached the site of the ancient Pirongia pa, tJie earthworks of which were 

 still distinctly traceable, indicating fortifications of a very formidable kind in the 

 olden time. From this jjoint we obtained a grand panoramic view of the Waikuto 

 lands — the theatre of the late war between the British troops and the JIaoris, 

 lasting over several years and costing much ' blood and treasure.' Away to the 

 right, standing up in bold relief against the sky, was Kakrpuku, in the form of 

 a natural pyramid, and, in the distance beyond, the long central range of 

 Maungatautari, marking the ancestral home of the Ngatiraukawa. Far down 

 below us, winding through the plains and showing itself at intervals like a broad 

 streak of molten silver, was the picturesque Waipa river, bounding the ' King's 

 territory ' and spanned, in the direct line of our view, by the new bridge leading 

 to Whatiwhatiboe, recently opened by the Native Minister, and named by the 

 king, in a symbolic way, Tawhara-kaiatua. Away to the e.xtreme right, looking 

 hazy blue in the afternoon light, were the heights of Raugitoto, where, according 

 to our native guides, there exists another Kiwi preserve ; and far beyond again 

 could bo seen the snowclad tops of Tongariro and Ruapehn, the giautsof the 

 north. In the deep gullies around and in front of us clumps of native bush in 

 all its endless variety filled in the view, the ever-present tree-fern with its 

 lofty crown of spreading fronds being the predominant feature. Groves of these 



