40 NEORNITHES RATITAE CHAP. 
on examples of A. -oweni from the North Island and_ the 
west of the South Island. In all these birds the lanceolate 
feathers have a hair-like texture, due to the disunited filaments 
of the upper portion, the lower part being covered with grey down, 
and the rhachis more or less exserted. The tibia is feathered, 
the bill being yellowish, and the feet brown or black. The female 
is similar, but larger, the young blacker. Mr. Lydekker has 
described a fossil species, Pseudapteryx gracilis, from New 
Zealand} and Mr. De Vis Metapteryx bifrons from Queensland.” 
Kiwis inhabit wooded country and hills up to the snow hne ; 
they are still met with at low elevations on a few islands, but 
their retreats are now chiefly on the slopes and in the gullies of 
the mountains, where a dense undergrowth of: shrubs and tree- 
ferns shades a carpet of creeping vegetation and moss. Here 
parties of from six to twelve used to be seen, though in the breed- 
ing season they separated into pairs, but at the present day flocks 
can hardly be hoped for. In the daytime these shy birds hide in 
burrows in the ground, or natural cavities under tree-roots or rocks, 
while towards dusk they emerge in an animated condition. The 
direct rays of the sun seem to dazzle them, and they roll them- 
selves up into a ball, if not disturbed; when stirred up they are 
somewhat sleepy and quickly retreat to cover. Lengthy strides 
carry them along at a great pace, the body being held obliquely 
with outstretched neck; and, if molested, they ruffle up the 
plumage and snap the bill, while striking viciously with their 
feet at the intruder, the leg being drawn up to the breast and 
the blow delivered downwards. Sometimes they rest upright 
with the point of the bill touching the ground, sometimes upon 
the whole metatarsus, but usually they are seen at feeding time 
cautiously moving from spot to spot, and tapping the soil or the 
walls of their cage with their long sensitive beaks. A sniffing 
sound accompanies this operation, and probably the smell of food 
assists in its discovery, yet the sense of touch is no doubt the 
primary agent. The diet consists chiefly of worms, in search of 
which the ground is deeply probed, and shows funnel-like holes 
scattered over its surface; when a capture is made the worm is 
extricated with a gentle wriggling motion, and is either beaten 
upon the ground to kill it, or swallowed at once with a jerk of 
1 Cat. Fossil Birds Brit. Mus. 1891, p. 218. 
2 P. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales (2), vi. 1891, p. 448. 
