180 



A P T E R Y X. 



than on any other part of the body ; the shafts still 

 lighter than the webs, and greyish white. The 

 feathers generally are uniform in structure, and re- 

 semble those of the emu ; but each feather is much 

 shorter, the longest (those hanging over the rudi- 

 mentary wings) not exceeding four inches and a half. 

 The webs are of greatest extent, most flocculent and 

 silky at the base of each feather, and become more 

 linear and shorter towards the end ; the whole of the 

 fibres forming the web are disunited, and the shaft 

 has no secondary or accessory plume. 



" On each side, about midway between the head 

 and lower end of the bird, is a rudimentary wing 

 consisting of three distinct portions. 



" The part of the humerus that remains is about one 

 inch in length ; and from the appearance of the frac- 

 tured end of the bone within the skin, was broken off 

 clear below the head ; the radial portion, figured by 

 Shaw, appears to be made up, as far as can be ascer- 

 tained by present examination, of two distinct bones, 

 each about one inch and three-eighths in length, co- 

 vered with a corrugated skin, and ending at the carpal 

 extremity in a small horny claw, supported on a short 

 lingual (heel) bone, the two portions in conjunction 

 measuring about three-eighths of an inch. 

 1 " To the radial portion of the wing several feathers 

 are attached of the same character as those of the 

 other parts of the body ; but the feathers above and 

 behind this rudimentary wing are longer than those 

 of any other part of the body, and, being directed 

 forwards and downwards, entirely cover and conceal 

 this small and useless wing. 



" As far as I am able to judge by the preserved 

 skin, the femur was probably three inches in length, 

 the tibia about five inches ; the articulation of the 

 tibia with the tarsus is one inch and three-quarters 

 below the end of the body, and on a line with the 

 pendent ends of the plumage of that part. The 

 tarsus is three inches in length, and measures two 

 inches and an eighth in circumference. The other 

 bones of the leg appear to have been like the tarsal 

 bones thick and strong. The tarsi are covered with 

 hard and dense reticulated scales, larger in size, and 

 arranged in transverse lines in the front and behind, but 

 smaller and more irregularly distributed on the sides. 

 " The toes are four in number on each foot, the 

 three anterior toes entirely unconnected. The middle 

 toe is two inches and three-eighths in length ; the 

 claw one inch ; the inner and outer toes on each side 

 are equal, and measure one inch and three-eighths ; the 

 claws very nearly as large and as long as that of the 

 middle toe. 



" On their upper surface, these toes are covered 

 with a series of broad imbricated scales, arranged in 

 succession transversely ; the under surface is defended 

 by very small reticulated scales, and the lateral linear 

 junction of these two coverings is marked by a well- 

 defined but slightly prominent ridge, which appears 

 to have been mistaken for the remains of an inter- 

 digital connecting membrane. 



" The claws are slightly curved, and taper gradually 

 to a point ; those of the middle toes are convex 

 above, concave beneath ; those of the inner and outer 

 toes are also convex above ; but the worn edges of 

 the under sides give them a convex form beneath also, 

 and they resemble a spur curved downwards. The 

 hind toe is placed on the inner flattened surface of the 

 tarsus ; it is directed backwards, and almost perpen- 

 dicularly downwards. The connecting bones are 



articulated so high up on the tarsus, that the extreme 

 point of the claw scarcely reaches the ground. The 

 whole length of the hind toe is but one inch and an 

 eighth, of which the claw measures three-quarters of 

 an inch. In form it is nearly straight, round, tapering, 

 and pointed, and has much more the appearance of 

 the spur of a gallinaceous bird than the claw of a hind 

 toe. The tarsi and toes are yellowish brown, all the 

 claws of a shining whitish horn colour. 



" The decided rotarial nature of the legs and feet, 

 with the very elongated form of beak comrrtbn to a 

 different order of birds thus combined in the apteryx, 

 present considerations of the highest interest to the 

 ornithologist ; and it is to be regretted that little or 

 nothing is known of the habits of a bird possessing 

 parts and peculiarities of such distinct and different 

 character. Its short legs and divided toes prevent 

 progression in water, and equally deny compensation 

 for the want of the power of flight. It is obvious 

 that it possesses no efficient means either of escape 

 or defence. Its food is unknown ; but Colonel Sykes 

 having found beetles, grasshoppers, worms, seeds, 

 and vegetable fibres in the stomachs of some of thw 

 Indian species of ibis, I am induced to conjecture that 

 the food of the apteryx is probably similar, or perhaps 

 even still more exclusively insectorial. 



" No public or private collection is understood to 

 possess another specimen of this singular bird ; and 

 it might reasonably be expected that so defenceless 

 an animal must soon fall, even to extermination, 

 when assailed by powerful and ingenious enemies." 



The apteryx is not represented as being'generally 

 distributed over either of the two islands of which 

 New Zealand is composed, but to be found chiefly in 

 the mountainous, dry, and stony tract near Cape East, 

 on the eastern side of the northern island. The 

 mountains there are not nearly so high as in the 

 southern island ; their climate is warmer, and they 

 are interspersed by rich grounds, though without 

 those forests of large trees which are found on the 

 slopes of the more alpine places and in the morasses 

 between. The climate is rather humid, and that, with 

 other circumstances, leads to the conclusion that, un- 

 der small stones and in the shallow crevices of rocks, 

 there should be an abundant, and, generally speaking, 

 a perennial supply of insect food ; and it is probable 

 that such is the principal subsistence of the apteryx. 

 Voyagers, who have seen the feathers adorning the 

 mantles of the chiefs, have considered them as be- 

 longing to a species of emu, smaller and brighter in 

 the colour than the emu of Australia ; and the 

 feathers are certainly very much of the same struc- 

 ture. But it must be borne in mind that neither the 

 emu nor the apteryx has any of what may be called 

 working feathers, conducive either to motion through 

 the air, or to the direction of motion along the ground. 

 The whole of their feathers, except in so far as, in 

 the apteryx especially, the bristle-like ones may pro- 

 tect the eyes and the proximal part of the gape from 

 injury, are wholly clothing feathers ; and there- 

 fore the only inference than can be drawn from the 

 similarity of structure is, that the two birds are ex- 

 posed to pretty nearly the same kind of weather. 

 Their feathers are a sort of pendent thatch, well cal- 

 culated for throwing off the heavy rains which fall in 

 those countries, and their loose and flocculent nature 

 makes them also a good protection against the heat 

 of the sun during the dry season. Thus far there is 

 a resemblance between the two birds ; and thus far 



