106 PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIR TEACHINGS. CHAP. II. 



With this solitary exception, the warm-blooded vertebrata 

 of these islands exclusively belong to the class Aves, or Birds, 

 of which there are upwards of fifty genera, comprising nu- 

 merous species, and some very peculiar types : of these the 

 well-known Apteryx (Kiwi-kiwi of the Maoris) is the most 

 remarkable. 



APTERYX (Ap. Mantelli.) This genus comprises three 

 known species, all of which are restricted to the Islands of 

 New Zealand. It is referred by ornithologists to the group 

 or family of Struthionidce, or brevipennate birds, the anterior 

 extremities being quite rudimentary in all the species. 



The largest kind (Ap. Australis) is equal in bulk to a 

 small turkey; the second species (Ap. Owenii) is smaller, arid 

 measures eighteen inches in total length; the third species 

 (Ap. Mantelli, Lign. 25) is of an intermediate size. The 

 colour of the common species is of a greyish chestnut ; the 



The native descriptions, though vague and fanciful on some points, 

 still appear to be founded on facts. The first account I obtained was 

 as follows : ' Maopo, headman at Te Taumutu, states that the Kaurehe 

 lays eggs as large as those of the duck.' (This suggested to me the idea 

 of the Ornithorhynchus.) ' Our forefathers used to catch them, and keep 

 them as pets : when they broke loose, as they frequently did, they would 

 return to the place they had been taken from. They still exist a day 

 and a half's journey inland. We are afraid of them. There are two 

 kinds, one living on the land ; the other is amphibious.' 



"From Tarawata, the principal person at the Umukaha, and who is 

 descended maternally from the Ngatimanu (the first settlers in the 

 Middle Island, and who were exterminated by the Ngaitahu) I received 

 a more definite account. He informed me that the length of the animal 

 i* about two feet from the point of the nose to the root of the tail ; the 

 fur grisly brown thick short legs bushy tail head between that of a 

 dog and a cat lives in holes the food of the land kind is lizards, of 

 the amphibious kind, fish does not lay eggs. Thinking of Marsupials, 

 from our neighbour-land New Holland, 1 made especial inquiry as to 

 an abdominal pouch. The reply was in the negative ; and altogether 

 the account pointed to an animal resembling the Otter or Badger, 

 rather than to the Beaver, which some persons have thought it might 

 prove to be. 



" I offered this native a handsome remuneration if he would obtain 

 me a specimen, dead or alive, to be taken to Akaroa, and await my 

 arrival; but I saw him no more. Both of the above localities have 

 lately (March, 1849) been travelled over by Mr. Torlesse, one of the 

 Surveyors of the Canterbury Association ; but though I especially 

 directed this gentleman's attention to the subject, he was unable to 

 obtain any more satisfactory information as to this unknown (to Euro- 

 peans) quadruped." Letter from Mr. Walter Mantell. 



