572 



FLIGHTLESS BIRDS. 



dropped without being able to find it. ... It is interesting to watch the bird, in a 

 state of freedom, foraging for worms, which constitute its principal food ; it moves 

 about with a slow action of the body ; and the long, flexible beak is driven into 

 the soft ground, generally home to the very root, and is either immediately with- 

 drawn with a worm held at the extreme tip of the mandibles, or it is gently moved 

 to and fro, by an action of the head and neck, the body of the bird being perfectly 

 steady. It is amusing to watch the extreme care and deliberation with which the 

 bird draws the worm from its hiding-place, coaxing it out as it were by degrees, 

 instead of pulling roughly or breaking it." On getting the worm fairly out of the 

 ground, the bird throws up its head with a jerk, and swallows its prey whole. The 

 stomachs of specimens that have been dissected contain pebbles, remains of beetles, 

 and the kernels of berries. In captivity, kiwis are dull, listless creatures during 

 the day; lying closely huddled together, and slumbering so soundly that no 

 noise will arouse them. If stirred up with a stick, or suddenly wakened, they 

 make a few drowsy movements, and soon relapse into sleep. From observations 

 made on specimens in captivity, it appears that the female kiwi (unlike the 

 other members of the subclass) lays but one or two eggs annually, which are 

 deposited in a hollow in the ground, and incubated by her partner. When there 

 are two, the eggs, which are placed lengthways side by side, are of such a size as 

 to protrude from the sides of the narrow body of the sitting bird. During the 

 breeding-season, the kiwi is silent. An egg of the North Island kiwi measured a 

 little over 5 inches in length by 3 in breadth. 



EXTINCT FAMILIES. 



Moas. 



SKELETON OF SHORT-LEGGED MOA. 



The fate impending over 

 the kiwis has long since over- 

 taken their gigantic extinct cousins the 

 moas (Dinomithidce), which had already 

 disappeared from New Zealand when those 

 islands were first colonised from Europe, 

 although there is good reason to believe 

 that they lived on till within the last five 

 hundred or four hundred years, if not to a 

 considerably later date. These birds, of 

 which not only the bones, but in some 

 cases the dried integuments, feathers, and 

 eggshells, as well as the pebbles they were 

 in the habit of swallowing, have been 

 preserved in the superficial deposits of 

 New Zealand, attained a wonderful develop- 

 ment in those distant islands, where they 

 were secure from persecution till man 

 appeared on the scene. Not only did the 

 larger members of the group far exceed 

 the ostrich in size, but they were extra- 



