282 
AVES. 
and legs black ; auricles with a golden yellow spot; hides hazel. 
Four feet three inches long. Inhabits the South Sea Islands. 
ORDER XVI—INERTES. 
Bill of varied forms; body thick, covered with down, and 
distinctly webbed feathers ; legs placed far behind; tarsus short; 
feet with three anterior toes divided to the base; hallux short, 
articulated exteriorly; claws thick and sharp ; wings not fitted 
for flight. 
Genus 1.—APTERYX. — Shaw. 
Generic Character _Bill very long, straight, slightly bent 
from the base, subulate; inflected and gibbous at the tip, soft 
and furrowed throughout; base covered by a hairy cere ; nostrils 
situated near the point of the bill, at the end of a furrow; legs 
short; wings rudimentary, and provided with a spur at their 
termination. 
Apteryx Australis. — The Southern Apteryx. 
Plate LXVI. fig. 11. 
Back of neck, shoulders, back, rump, and sides, dusky-brown ; 
the rest of the plumage cinereous-gray; bill and legs yellowish. 
Two feet and a half long. Inhabits New Zealand. 
Genus 2.—DID US.— Linnceus. 
Generic Character. —Bill long, very strong, broad, and com¬ 
pressed, much bent at the point, and transversely furrowed; 
lower mandible straight, gibbous, and turned upwards towards 
the point; nostrils situated in the middle of the bill, diagonal } 
and placed in a furrow; tarsus short, very strong; feet with 
three anterior toes, divided to their origin; hallux short; claws 
short, strong, and bent; wings short, not formed for flight. 
Didus ineptus. — The Dodo. 
Plate LXVII. fig. 7. 
Ash-coloured and soft; abdomen paler; head large; wings 
and tail yellow-cinereous; tail furnished with plumes. Three 
feet long. Inhabits the Mauritius. Supposed extinct. 
