BuLLBK. — On the Ornithology of Neiu Zealan(j,. 35 



about one-third of its extent. There is also a cloudy patch on 

 the throat. 



In two other examples submitted to me there are scattered 

 feathers of the same colour on the under-surface of the body. 



Apteryx mantelli, Bartlett. (The North Island Kiwi.) 



I find in my diary a note which is worth recording, as 

 showing the wonderful vitality of this species. I purchased a 

 half-grown Kiwi, in vigorous health, which I decided to kill as 

 a specimen. I adopted the usual means — compression of the 

 breast-bone against the back. The Kiwi fought hard for life, 

 but at length succumbed, and I laid it in a specimen-box, limp 

 and lifeless, being to all appearance absolutely dead. In the 

 evening I went to fetch my bird, intending to skin it, when, to 

 my surprise, I found it alive and active, showing no sign of the 

 tragic experience of the morning. I had not the heart to re- 

 peat the experiment, so I had a comfortable cage made for it, 

 kept it for a month to accustom it to confinement, and then 

 shipped it to England as a present to the Zoological Society, 

 rewarding in this manner its heroic struggle for existence. 



Apteryx occidentalis, Eothschild. (The West Coast Kiwi.) 

 I lately had an opportunity of examining some good ex- 

 amples of this species procured by an English tourist from a 

 bird-dealer at Nelson. I remarked that the bill is very similar 

 to that of Apteryx oiueni, although the plumage, as already 

 recorded, bears a general resemblance to that of Apteryx 

 Jiaasti, but is paler. Legs dark-coloured, in which respect it 

 agrees with the latter ; claws horn-coloured. 



Apteryx haasti, Potts. (The Great Spotted Kiwi.) 



I had six live specimens of Apteryx haasti in my posses- 

 sion for some time, and was much impressed with their gentle 

 character as compared with Apteryx mantelli and Apteryx 

 lawryi. Whilst they were in my enclosure — a period of a 

 month or morg — they never, so far as I am aware, uttered a 

 single cry, in which respect they differed entirely from the 

 other noisy species. They were very tame from the first, 

 allowing themselves to be handled without much resistance. 

 They had been caught in the wooded country near the BuUer 

 Eiver, and were put straight away on meat-food in lieu of 

 earthworms. Three of them pined away and died, having 

 wasted to mere skeletons, being unable apparently to adapt 

 themselves to the new and artificial conditions of life. The 

 other three took readily to their new diet — raw minced beef 

 and ox-heart — and became at the end of the month quite fat 

 and heavy. I then shipped them to a friend in London, who 

 received them in excellent health and condition. 



