1922.] Sense of Smell possessed Ini Birds. 24:3 



inferences which have been Jrawn from it, are not so 

 obscure as at first appears. Possibly Vultures pick up 

 effluvium arising from putrid matter at a distance, but not 

 so well when it is near them ; while another sugjLie.stioii is 

 that their olfactory organs are more susceptible to decay in 

 its first stage of decomposition than later — instead of the 

 reverse, as might be expected. 



That Vultures are exclusively guided by their marvellous 

 powers of sight, when soaring at a vast height in the heavens 

 they discern some carcase on the ground, is admitted, and it 

 is easy to understand how a sort of aerial telegraphy may 

 bring them in numbers to the feast, but this is no disproof 

 of the employment of scent at other times and under different 

 circumstances. 



12. Apteryx. — After perusing the foregoing accounts, it 

 seems impossible to deny that there are some birds, at any 

 rate, in which the sphere of perception of odours must be 

 nmch more extended than it is in man ; but let us turn to a 

 very specialised New Zealand form — a bird which has already 

 been under discussion more than once in connection with 

 the scent question. 



That the Apteryx possesses a complicated nasal ap{)aratus 

 has long been known. The prominences named the tur- 

 binal bones are described by anatomists as large, while 

 the nostrils, instead of being at the base of the beak as in 

 most birds, are placed at its extreme tip and on the under 

 surface. From these facts, and from the length of the 

 olfactory sacs, which extend far back, and from the sniffling 

 sound which the bird commonly makes when searching for 

 food, the Apteryx has been regarded by several modern 

 authorities as possessing great scenting capacity. At the 

 same time, that it is so is not altogether clear, because 

 whatever its olfactory powers may be, it has unquestionably 

 in addition an exceedingly delicate sense of touch, and we 

 can understand how needt'ul both these qualities must be, 

 especially the latter, for the sight of an Apteryx is of the 

 poorest and would be but little help in finding food. 



I am greatly indebted to Mr. It. H. Burne, of the Royal 



li2 



