342 



THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



The northern species, the kiwi-nui of the Maoris, is now rare. 

 Its phimage is darkest on the back, and the feathers on its back 

 differ from those of other species by being harsh to the touch. 



It inhabits the darkest and densest forests. In the early days 

 of colonisation, members of the species must have been numerous, 

 for the late Mr. Allan Cunningham, in a paper read before the 

 London Zoological Society in 1839, states that the bird was met 

 with in all the wooded portions of the island. It reposed during 



Brown Kiwi. 



the day. he says, in humid forests, living either beneath the tufts 

 of long, sedgy grass, or shunning the light, and hiding itself in 

 the hollows at the base of a rata tree. But no sooner were the 

 native woods darkened by the presence of night, than it ranged 

 about in quest of food. He describes the cry of the kiwi at night 

 as being similar to the whistling of a boy by the help of his 

 fingers in his mouth. 



It was by imitating the cry that the INIaoris decoyed the birds 

 to their destruction. On the darkest nights the kiwi-hunters set 

 forth, accompanied by dog's, and supplied with torches, so as to 



