SCLATER AND HOCHSTETTER, REPORT ON APTERVX. 505 



mostly belonged to the closely allied Apteryx Man I, .'III of Bartlett, as 

 we shall presently show, though specimens of the true Apteryx aus- 

 tralis exist in the British Museum, and in several other collections. 



The original bird described by Dr. Shaw is stated by Mr. Bartlett 

 (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 276) to have come from Dusky Bay, in the 

 province of Otago, Middle Island, whence Dr. Mantell's specimen, 

 upon which Mr. Bartlett grounded his observations as to the dis- 

 tinctness of this species from Apteryx Mantelli, was also procured. 



Dr. Hochstetter was able to learn nothing of the existence of 

 this Apteryx in the province of Nelson, in the same island. In fact, 

 the species is so closely allied to the Apteryx Mantelli as to render it 

 very desirable that further examples of it should be obtained, and a 

 rigid comparison instituted between the two. For the present, how- 

 ever, we must regard this form of Apteryx as belonging to the south- 

 ern portion of the Middle Island. 



2. Apteryx Owenii. 



Apteryx Owenii, Gould, P. Z. S. 1817, p. 91. 

 „ „ Birds of Austr. vi. pi. 3. 



Owen's Apteryx, which is readily distinguished from the preced- 

 ing species and A. Mantelli, by its smaller size, transversely barred 

 plumage and slender bill, was first described by Mr. Gould in 1817, 

 from an example procured by Mr. F. Strange, and "believed to have 

 " been obtained from the South Island." Since that period other 

 specimens have been received in this country, which have sufficed to 

 establish the species, and from the information obtained by Dr. von 

 Hochstetter, there is no doubt of this being the common Apteryx of 

 the northern portion of the Middle Island. 



" In the spurs of the Southern Alps on Cook's Strait, in the 

 " province of Nelson," says Dr. von Hochstetter,. " that is, in the 

 " higher wooded mountain- valleys of the AVairau chain, as also west- 

 " wards of Blind-Bay, in the wooded mountains between the Mo- 

 " tucka and Aorere valleys, Kiwis of this species are still found in 

 great numbers. During my stay in the province of Nelson I had 

 u myself two living examples (male and female) of this species. They 

 " were procured by some natives, whom I sent out for this purpose, 

 " in the upper wooded valleys of the river State, a confluent of the 

 " Aorere, in a country elevated from 2000 to 3000 feet above the sea 

 " level. It appears that this Apteryx still lives very numerously and. 

 " widely spread in the extended southern continuations of the Alps." 



3. Apteryx Mantelli. 



Apteryx australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, xi. pi. 2. 

 Apteryx Mantelli, Bartlett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1817, p. 93. 

 The characters which distinguish this commoner and better 

 known Apteryx from the true A. australis of Shaw were pointed out 

 by Mr. Bartlett at the meeting of the Zoological Society, held on the 

 10th Dec. 1850: — " This bird differs from the original Apteryx %m* 

 " tralis of Dr. Shaw," says Mr. Bartlett, "in its smaller size, its 



