chap, xiii.] THE AUSTRALIAN REGION. 455 



small islands ; but such localities seem favourable to the Platy- 

 cercidae, for another peculiar species is found in the remote Mac- 

 quarie Islands, more than 400 miles farther south. A peculiar 

 species and genus of ducks, Nesonetta aucklandica, is also found 

 here, and as far as yet known, nowhere else. A species of 

 the northern genus Mergus is also found on these islands, and has 

 been recently obtained by Baron von Hiigel. 



Plate XIII. Illustrating the peculiar Ornithology of New Zea- 

 land. — Our artist has here depicted a group of the most remark- 

 able and characteristic of the New Zealand birds. In the middle 

 foreground is the Owl-parrot or Kakapoe (Stringops habroptilus), 

 a nocturnal burrowing parrot, that feeds on fern-shoots, roots, 

 berries, and occasionally lizards ; that climbs but does not fly ; 

 and that has an owl-like mottled plumage and facial disc. 

 The wings however are not rudimentary, but fully developed; 

 and it seems to be only the muscles that have become useless 

 for want of exercise. This would imply, that these birds have 

 not long been inhabitants of New Zealand only, but were deve- 

 loped in other countries (perhaps Australia) where their wings 

 were of use to them. 



Beyond the Kakapoe are a pair of the large rails, Notornis 

 mantelli; heavy birds with short wings quite useless for 

 flight, and with massive feet and bill of a red colour. On 

 the right is a pair of Kiwis {Apteryx australis), one of the 

 queerest and most unbird-like of living birds. It has very small 

 and rudimentary wings, entirely concealed by the hair-like 

 plumage, and no tail. It is nocturnal, feeding chiefly on worms, 

 which it extracts from soft earth by means of its long bill. The 

 genus Apteryx forms a distinct family of birds, of which four 

 species are now known, besides some which are extinct. They 

 are allied to the Cassowary and to the gigantic extinct Dinornis. 

 On the wing are a pair of Crook-billed Plovers {Anarhynchus 

 frontalis), remarkable for being the only birds known which 

 have the bill bent sideways. This was at first thought to be a 

 malformation ; but it is now proved to be a constant character of 

 the species, as it exists even in the young chicks ; yet the pur- 

 pose served by such an anomalous structure is not yet discovered. 



