334 OSTRICHES. 



In running, it sets it head rather back, raises its neck, and plies its legs with 

 a vigour little inferior to that of the ostrich: it is remarkably fleet of foot, and 

 dives among the heavy fern-leaves with singular adroitness. While imdis- 

 turbcd, the head is carried far back in the shoulders, with the bill pointing to 

 the ground ; but when pursued, it runs with great swiftness, carrying its head 

 elevated like the ostrich. It is asserted to be almost exclusively nocturnal in 

 its habits, and it is by torchlight that it is hunted with spears by the natives, 

 by whom it is sought for with the utmost avidity. Its flesh is much esteemed 



Fk;. 169.— The New Zealand Apteryx {Aptetyx Australis). 



by the New Zealanders, but a still higher value is placed upon the feathers and 

 skins, which are employed in the manufacture of dresses for the chiefs, and 

 no inferior person is permitted to wear them ; indeed, so much are they prized 

 that the natives cannot be induced to part with them. The feathers arc also 

 employed to construct artificial flies for the capture of fish, precisely after the 

 European manner. 



When attacked, the apteryx defends itself very vigorously, striking rapid 

 and dangerous blows with its powerful feet. The plumage is composed of 

 rather curiously-shaped flat feathers, each being wide and furnished with a 

 soft shining silky down for the basal third of its length, and then narrowing 

 rapidly towards the extremity, which is a single shaft with hair-like webs at 

 the sides. 



The birds of this family acquire additional interest from their 

 obvious relationship with the extinct gigantic birds of New Zea- 

 land known by the name of Moa, one species of which must have 

 stood nearly as high as the giraffe. The bones of these giants of 



