u 



STUUTHIOXID.E. 



BTBTCHNOa 



814 



4 Tnuiractioni of the Zoological Society,' all that had been previously 

 mad* known on the subject. 



Mr. Gould, who has given beautiful and accurate figures of the bird 

 in bu grand work ' The Birds of Australia,' sUtos that since Mr. Yarrell 

 wrote he bad become acquainted with fire additional specimens, and 

 bad obtained further information respecting the history of the species. 

 Two of these, from which his figures are taken, were presented to the 

 Zoological Society by the New Zealand Company ; and that society 

 poMeases a third but imperfect specimen, presented by Alexander 

 M'Leay, Esq., of Sydney. Two others were afterwards added to the 

 collection of the Earl of Derby, one of which bis lordship liberally 

 presented to Mr. Gould. A specimen is now (1855) alive in the gardens 

 of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park. 



The following is Mr. Gould's description : Face and throat greenish- 

 brown ; all the remainder of the plumage conflating of long lanceolate 

 hair-like feathers of a chestnut-brown, margined on each side with 

 blaokUh-brown ; on the lower part of the breast and belly the feathers 

 are lighter than those of the upper surface, and become of a gray tint ; 

 bill yellowish horn-colour, its base beset with numerous long hairs ; 

 feet yellowUh-brown. 



This is the Apttryx Auttralii of Shaw; Apteryx of Temminck; 

 Apterous Penguin of Latham ; and Kivi-Kivi, or Kiwi-Kiwi, of the 

 aborigines of New Zealand. 



The length from the point of the bill to the end of the tailless body 

 is about thirty-two inches ; but the bill is much longer in some indi- 

 viduals than in others, and it is not satisfactorily made out whether 

 this difference of length is to be attributed to difference of age or Bex ; 

 bat it has been supposed that the female has the longest bill 



Bill of Apleryz. (Owen.) 



The toe* are four in number ; the three anterior ones are uncon- 

 nected. The hind toe is placed on the inner flattened surface of the 

 tarsus, is directed backwards, and almost perpendicularly downwards ; 



foot Of Apttryr. 



it measure* only one inch and one-eighth, and of this the claw or spur 

 measures three-quarters of an inch. In the size and position of this 

 toe the Apttryx corresponds with the Dodo. 



AVorros, insects, especially the larva of Lrpidoplera, and probably 

 snail*, appear to be the food of this species. Mr. Gould states that 

 the favourite localities of the bin! are those covered with extensive 

 and dense beds of fern, among which it conceals itself, and when hard 

 pressed by dog*, the usual mode of chasing it, it takes refuge in 

 crevices of the rocks, hollow trees, and in the deep holes which it 

 excavate* in the ground in the form of a chamber. In these latter 

 situations, Mr. Gould tells u, it is said to construct it* nest of dried 

 fern and grasses, and there deposits its eggs, the number and colour 

 of which have not been clearly ascertained. 



Its habits are exclusively nocturnal, and the natives usually hunt it 

 by torchlight, seeking for it with the utmost avidity, the skins being 

 so highly prized for the dresses of the chiefs, and indeed the natives 

 can be rarely induced to part with them. The feathers are also used 

 for artificial flies in angling, after the European manner. When 

 attacked it vigorously defends itself, striking rapidly and dangerously 

 with its powerful feet and sharp spur, with which it is also said to 

 beat the ground, in order to disturb the worms, on which it feeds, 

 seizing them with its bill the instant they make their appearance. 



The Apteryx inhabits all the islands of New Zealand, particularly 

 the southern end of the middle island. (' Birds of Australia.') A 

 second species, A. Oweni, has been described. 



Apteryx Auttralii. (Gould.) 



STRUVITE, a Mineral consisting of a Phosphate of Ammonia and 

 Magnesia, with water. 



STKYCHNOS (from <rrp6)(iios), a name applied by Theophrastus 

 and Dioscorides to a kind of Nightshade, and adopted by Linnaeus 

 for a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Apocynaccre. This 

 genus boa been made the type of a distinct order by Blume, who has 

 been followed by Link, 1). Don, and others. The principal difference 

 that it presents from the order Apocynacar, to which it is referred by 

 Von Martini, Brown, and Lindley, is in its peltate seeds and simple 

 succulent fruit. This genus is composed of trees or shrubs, which do 

 not yield a milky juice, and have opposite usually nerved leaves and 

 corymbose flowers. Some of the species are possessed of tendrils, 

 and are climbing plants. The calyx is 5-ported ; corolla tubular, 

 funnel-shaped, with a 5-parted spreading limb, which is valvate in 

 rcstivation ; the stamens are 5, inserted into the throat of the corolla ; 

 ovary 2-celled, with a single style and capitate stigma ; fruit a berry, 

 pulpy inside, with a hard rind ; seeds peltate, numerous, attached to 

 a central placenta, with copious albumen, and foliaceous embryo. The 

 species are not numerous, and are found principally in tho tropical parts 

 of Asia and America. One has been described by Mr. Brown a native 

 of Australia. 



S. A'us-vomica, Poison-Nut or Ratsbane, is characterised by its 

 oval shining leaves 3-5-nerved, and its round smooth berries containing 

 many seeds. The flowers are small, of a greenish-white colour, and 

 are arranged in terminal corymbs. The fruit, when ripe, is of the 

 size and colour of an orange. Although the seeds of this plant yield 

 an alkaloid, which is a deadly poison, the pulp of the fruit is greedily 

 eaten by many kinds of birds. The wood of this plant is very hard 

 and durable, and on that account is applied to many purposes by the 

 natives on the coast of Coromandcl and other places where it grows. 



S. polatornm, Clearing-Nut, has ovate or oval glabrous pointed 

 leaves ; a deeply-fissured bark ; and berries containing only one seed. 

 It is an abundant plant in the woods and mountains of the East 

 Indies. It has shining fruit, which is black when ripe. When full 

 grown it attaint a height of from 1 6 to 20 feet, and, like the last 

 species, has a very hard wood, which is used for various economical 

 purposes. The English name is derived from the use which is made 

 of the seeds, which, when dried, are sold by the natives for the pur- 

 poses of clearing muddy water. 



