40 . NEORNITHES RATITAE chap. 



on examples of A. owe7ii from the North Island and the 

 west of the South Island. In all these birds the lanceolate 

 feathers have a hair-like texture, due to the disunited filaments 

 of the upper portion, the lower part being covered with grey down, 

 and the rhachis more or less exserted. The tibia is feathered, 

 the bill being yellowish, and the feet brown or black. The female 

 is similar, but larger, the young blacker. Mr. Lydekker has 

 described a fossil species, Pseudapteryx gracilis, from New 

 Zealand,^ and Mr. De Vis Metapteryx hifrons from Queensland.^ 



Kiwis inhabit wooded country and hills up to the snow line ; 

 they are still met with at low elevations on a few islands, but 

 their retreats are now chiefly on the slopes and in the gullies of 

 the mountains, where a dense undergrowth of shrubs and tree- 

 ferns shades a carpet of creeping vegetation and moss. Here 

 parties of from six to twelve used to be seen, though in the breed- 

 ing season they separated into pairs, but at the present day flocks 

 can hardly be hoped for. In the daytime these shy birds hide in 

 burrows in the ground, or natural cavities under tree-roots or rocks, 

 while towards dusk they emerge in an animated condition. The 

 direct rays of the sun seem to dazzle them, and they roll them- 

 selves up into a ball, if not disturbed ; when stirred up they are 

 somewhat sleepy and quickly retreat to cover. Lengthy strides 

 carry them along at a great pace, the body being held obliquely 

 with outstretched neck ; and, if molested, they ruffle up the 

 plumage and snap the bill, while striking viciously with their 

 feet at the intruder, the leg being drawn up to the breast and 

 the blow delivered downwards. Sometimes they rest upright 

 with the point of the bill touching the ground, sometimes upon 

 the whole metatarsus, but usually they are seen at feeding time 

 cautiously moving from spot to spot, and tapping the soil or the 

 walls of their cage with their long sensitive beaks. A sniffing 

 sound accompanies this operation, and probably the smell of food 

 assists in its discovery, yet the sense of touch is no doubt the 

 primary agent. The diet consists chiefly of worms, in search of 

 which the ground is deeply probed, and shows funnel-like holes 

 scattered over its surface ; when a capture is made the worm is 

 extricated with a gentle wriggling motion, and is either beaten 

 upon the ground to kill it, or swallowed at once with a jerk of 



1 Cat. Fossil Birds Brit. Mus. 1891, p. 218. 



- P. Linn. Soc. iY. ^S". TFales (2), vi. 1891, p. 448. 



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