L 49 ] 



January 14th, 1875. 



ORDINARY MEETING.— "ON WINGLESS BIRDS."— 

 MR. T. W. WONFOR. 



The idea ordinarily associated in the mind with the word 

 " bird " was that of a creature possessing the power of flight and, 

 as a matter of consequence, provided with wings. In the north of 

 England " bird " or " brid " was a term used of any flying thing, so 

 that a moth, butterfly, or beetle would be equally included under 

 the term " bird." Now as thei"e were wingless or brevipennate 

 insects, the question might arise, are there wingless birds ? in the 

 usual application of the term. We know that the expressions 

 " wingless " and " brevipennate " had been applied to some 

 members of the family Aves, yet still, if we inquired into the 

 character of those birds which had been so designated we found 

 that, though we could not in all cases hold that they were flying 

 creatures, yet no one member of the great family of Aves was 

 absolutely depi'ived of wings. They might be merely rudimentary, 

 as in the case of the Apterix, or changed into flappers or paddles 

 as seen in the Penguins, but still they were present and corresponded 

 with the anterior pair of limbs found in all members of the family 

 possessing the power of flight. 



THE APTERIX AXTSTRALIS. 



It was I'elated that a few years since the skin of a bird brought 

 home by someone from New Zealand was given to a taxidermist to 

 set up, and he, taking into consideration the shortness of the wing 

 and absence of tail, and assuming that it was a penguin, stuffed it 

 in a sitting posture, with the head and neck arranged after the 

 manner of the penguins. This bird proved to be the Apterix 

 Aiistralis, a native of New Zealand, and, for a bird, exhibiting 

 peculiar features. In addition to an almost want of wing, it pre- 

 sented a strange appearance, the plumage consisting of long flat 

 slender lanceolate feathers, each furnished with a soft shining 

 silken down, for the basal thii-d of their length, and then narrow- 

 ing rapidly towards the extremity, where they presented the 

 appearance of single shafts, with hair-like webs on each side. The 



