88 The Kiwis, or Wingless Birds of New Zealand 



shown by the fact that two fossil forms have been found in the late Tertiary beds 

 of New Zealand and Queensland, while several species appear to have been 

 contemporary with the Moa, as their bones are found mingled in many places. 

 Their nearest of kin appear to have been the Moas, but among recent birds they 

 are perhaps nearest the Emeus and Cassowaries, since, according to Parker, they 

 all appear to have originated from a common stem. The females are uniformly 

 larger than the males, sometimes exceeding them by five inches in total length. 

 They are mainly nocturnal in their habits, remaining concealed in holes and 

 dark places during the day and coming out at dusk to feed on worms, and prob- 

 ably insects, which they are adept at finding by probing in moist ground and 

 among mosses and roots. They also take a certain amount of vegetable matter 

 such as small grass seeds, berries, and tender bits of succulent plants. Their 

 food requirements are very large, as a pair in captivity has been found to require 

 more than a pound and a half of meat daily. Being of a hardy disposition, they 

 are readily kept in confinement, Mr. Rothschild having had them alive in his 

 aviary in England for ten years or more, where they were given a large run and 

 fed on chopped raw meat, boiled potatoes, and soaked bread. They are rather 

 stupid birds when disturbed during the day, and as they lift their sleepy-looking 

 heads from under the mantle of long feathers on their shoulders, they crack their 

 bills like the snap of the fingers, and utter a few hoarse grunts of disapproval, 

 but at night they become exceedingly active, jumping about and running with 

 the greatest speed. They make good use of their extremely powerful legs, 

 being always ready to kick at any object approaching them closely. In kicking 

 they usually strike forward like an Emeu or an Ostrich, but according to Mr. 

 Rothschild they have been occasionally observed to kick backward. When 

 taken in the hand they never attempt to defend themselves with their bills, but 

 if taken by the head, they use their powerful legs and sharp claws with sufficient 

 force to rip open a dog's leg or cut a man's hand to the bone. Regarding the 

 notes of these birds, the above-mentioned authority states that the cry of the male 

 of the North Island Kiwi is "a somewhat hoarse, shrill whistle, often distinctly 

 like Ki-i-wi, often shorter, more in one syllable. The female answers in a less 

 loud, harsher and shorter, more screaming note. The young and half-grown 

 birds also, according to Sir Walter Buller, call to each other, the male in a thinner 

 whistle and the female in a thick, husky way. Sometimes, but rarely, a low crack- 

 ling or grunting note is heard, probably of both male and female. When angry 

 they hiss audibly, and when feeding make a sniffling noise with their nostrils, 

 evidently to clear them of extraneous matter." For a nesting site they prefer 

 a hole in a bank or under the roots of a tree, with a single rather small entrance. 

 They may make use of a natural cavity or enlarge it and adapt it to their needs, 

 the female at least having the power and ability to burrow for some distance if 

 occasion demands, as Buller once found to his dismay when several which he had 

 confined in a pen escaped in this manner. In the dryest corner of the nesting 

 burrow they arrange a slight bed of fern-fronds and leaves whereon they deposit 

 one or perhaps sometimes two immense eggs, which seem quite out of proportion 

 to the size of the bird. Certain New Zealand authorities state that it is not 



