[Case 15. ] 
| Ceuitral 
table- 
case. | 
14 BIRD GALLERY. 
The legs and feet are very stout and the claws long, curved, and sharp- 
pointed. 
The four or five known species are all natives of New Zealand. They 
are nocturnal birds and sleep during the day in some secluded retreat in 
burrows in the ground or under tree-roots; in the dusk they are lively 
enough, creeping quietly about in search of worms, insects, and berries, 
for which they hunt with a continual sniffing sound, much lke that 
made by a hedgehog. ‘Though formerly common at low elevations, they 
are now chiefly met with on the slopes of the mountains, where the 
dense undergrowth affords them some protection from their enemies. 
{bough found in small flocks at certain seasons of the year, they 
separate off in pairs in the breeding-season. The nest is merely an 
enlarged space at the end of a burrow, lined with dry fern and herbage, 
and contains one or two very large white eggs, enormous compared with 
the size of the bird, and equal to about a quarter of its weight. The 
male performs most, if not all, of the duties of incubation. The loud 
whistling note, from whence the name Kiwi is derived, is chiefiy 
uttered on bright nights. The Maories greatly esteem the flesh of these 
birds, and the systematic way in which they are hunted must sooner or 
later end in their extermination. 
Mantell’s Kiwi (A. mantelli) (21), inhabiting the North Island, 
Shaw’s Kiwi (A. australis) (22) [P1.I.],a smaller form from the South 
Island, and 4. lawryi, of Stewart Island, are streaked species ; while 
Owen’s Kiwi (A. oweni) (28) and Haast’s Kiwi (A. haasti) (24), 
occurring both in the North and South Islands, belong to a dif- 
ferently marked group, with the feathers transversely marked with 
blackish bars. 
Order VII. TINAMIFORMES. 
Family Tinamipa. ‘Trnamovs. 
The Tinamous are sometimes placed at the end of the subclass of 
Carinate Birds, the sternum being provided with a keel, while all the 
members are capable of flight; but they agree so well in their other 
osteological characters with the Struthious group that they are here 
included in the same subclass. 
The Tinamous are Partridge-like birds inhabiting Mexico and Central 
and South America, and vary in size from species as large as a Fowl 
to birds no larger than a Quail. The bill is rather long and generally 
somewhat curved, the head small, the neck long and rather thin, the 
wings short and rounded, and the tail-feathers greatly abbreviated and 
more or less concealed by the upper tail-coverts, from which in many 
cases they are hardly distinguishable, Most of the genera possess four 
