272 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
each time. On a smaller scale may be mentioned the Domain at 
Auckland, a partly native preserve of two hundred seventeen 
acres and Wilton’s Bush at Wellington, a beautiful preserve of 
some sixty acres where almost natural conditions have been al- 
lowed to prevail. 
A number of the endemic birds of New Zealand have become 
extinct within comparatively recent times, witness the moas 
(Dinornis sp.). Others including the huia (Neomorpha acutt- 
rostris), the blue-wattled crow (Callwas wilsoni), saddle-back 
(Creadton carunculatus) and apteryx (Apteryx mantelli) have 
been much reduced in numbers. Of these I was privileged to view 
only the latter, in captivity at the Wellington Zodlogical Park. 
‘‘Only a few of these birds are left in the hills and more or less 
inaccessible bush of North Island, South Island, and Stewart 
Island. Of late an endeavor has been made to protect the species 
all over the Dominion and efforts toward conservation are being 
effected. Some of the zoological parks are so fortunate as to 
possess a specimen or two, the individual described in this article 
being, at the present moment, a captive in the well-kept park at 
Wellington. It is an example of the North Island kiwi, Apteryx 
mantellr. 
‘One morning, in company with the keeper and Mr. Harold 
Hamilton of the Dominion Museum staff, I visited the portion of 
the park reserved for this curious bird. Along one side of the 
low shaded enclosure flowed a small creek; near the middle of the 
area was a heap of sticks and brush, but nowhere was the kiwi 
to be seen. Entering the wire-netted compound and kicking at the 
pile of sticks the rather bedraggled and forlorn appearing occu- 
pant was soon dislodged and with reluctant and awkward gait it 
made off toward a shady corner, where it remained for a time 
quite motionless and apparently dazed by the bright rays of the 
sun. 
‘‘One is at once struck by the strange appearance of this tail- 
less and all but wingless creature. It is about the size of a do- 
mestic fowl; it has a rounded and compact body; the neck is short, 
but the bill is long and slender; the legs are short and powerful. 
Add to this the much reduced wing, totally useless as an organ 
of flight, and the body covering of long, ‘‘stringy,’’ hair-like 
feathers of a brownish or grayish-brown cast and the appearance 
of this singular bird is rendered still more un-bird-like. Indeed, 
the North Island kiwi can searcely be considered beautiful. 
