THE APTERYX. 



449 



The food of this bird in a wild state consists of herbage and various 

 fruits, and in captivity it is fed on bran, apj)les, carrots, and sim- 

 ilar substances, and is said to drink nearly half a gallon of water per 

 diem. 



Perhaps the very strangest and most weird-like of all living birds is 

 the Apteryx, or Kiwi-Kiwr. 



This singular bird is a native of New Zealand, where it was once 

 very common, but, like the dinornis, is in a very fair way of becoming 



The Apteryx {Apteryx Australis). 



extinct — a fate from which it has probably been hitherto preserved by 

 its nocturnal and retiring habits. 



In this bird there is scarcely the slightest trace of wings — a peculi- 

 arity which has gained for it the title of Apteryx, or " wingless." The 

 plumage is composed of rather curiously-shaped flat feathers, each being 

 wide and furnished with a soft, shining, silken down for the basal third 

 of its length, and then narrowing rapidly toward the extremity, which 



38 * 2D 



