BuLLEK. — On the Ornithology of Nciv Zealand. 205 



Sin. ; middle toe and claw, 3'5in. ; hallux, 0-75in. ; circum- 

 ference of tarsus, in the middle 2'4in., at the junction of the 

 toes 4-25in. 



Externally the sexes are alike, except as to size. Both 

 specimens exhibited in the bill a slaty-black upper-surface, 

 but in younger examples I have noticed that it is horn- 

 coloured. The thighs are of great size and strength, testifying 

 to the bird's power of rapid locomotion. In the female, whicla 

 is appreciably the larger bird, the thighs would weigh each, I 

 suppose, not less than a pound. 



I obtained some interesting particulars from Mr. Mark- 

 lund, by whom these two large Kiwis and about a dozen 

 others were collected. He says that the bird is very scarce, 

 and has to be hunted for over a large extent of country. Its 

 favourite feeding-ground is the summit of Table Hill, rising to 

 an elevation of 2,300ft., which is covered with grass and 

 stunted vegetation, and in the daytime it has to descend some 

 500ft. in order to camp in the bush, the summit not affording 

 sufficient covert. He has never found any on the western" 

 slope of Table Hill below a level of 1,000ft. ; but on the 

 eastern side the Kiwis go right down to the plain, or 

 practically to the level of the sea. He has found them 

 inhabiting 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 occa- 

 sion he found five birds inhabiting an extensive chamber. 

 Being without provisions, he had 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 ac- 

 customed 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 sevsral 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. 



Aptcryx lawryi is very rare in collections, both here and 

 at Home, and I should have been glad for Mr. Marklund to 



