300 Hon. W. liotliscliilcl on Apteryx llaastii. 



In atKlition to tliosc 1 liave notice of sonic A. I lansfii fivut 

 to nie lately by a man named Danneford, which also came 

 from the North Island. Moreover, Professor lleicheiiow 

 exhibited before tlie German Ornithological Society a speci- 

 men of ^. llaastii from the North Island. 



Mr. Forbes has stated further, in support of his theory, 

 that the cjecum of A. Haastii^ beini^ different in the two 

 sexes, was rather a sign of hybridity than otherwise. Unfor- 

 tunately he has read my notes quite wrongly. I said : — 

 " Another distinctive character will be found in the crecum, 

 which seems to differ not only in the two sexes, but also in 

 all the various species of the genus." By this I meant to 

 say that a further difference lay in the distinction of the 

 Cfficum in each species, not in the sexes, for, as I have 

 proved, the male and female ceeca are distinct in each 

 species. Professor Owen was the first to describe this strange 

 difference in his article on the anatomy of Apteryx australis^ 

 in the ' Transactions of the Zoological Society.' As regards 

 ray argument upon the size of the beak of A. Ilaaatii, I 

 never mentioned the subject of length ; I can only say that 

 as to length I have several A. Mantellii with longer beaks; 

 but what I said was that, " though not so long as that of 

 A. viaximus, it is very much stouter even than that of the 

 recently discovered extinct species." This is a fact, as my 

 largest female A. llaastii has a beak nearly if not quite 

 twice as large in circumference at the base as any known 

 Apteri/x. 



Finally, I must reiterate the fact that not only have I found 

 the ca3ca of Aj)teryges differ in the two sexes, but also most 

 of the Struthionidai present this difference ; and I have to 

 point out that the caecum of the Emu (Droma;us) is about 

 6 inches long, while that of the much smaller E/tea americana 

 is nearly 7 ieet long, and Apteryx jMautellii has a caecum 

 9 inches long, while in A. inaximus it is barely 4 inches 

 long*. 



Walter Rothschild. 



* If, however, it should be proved, which I for one very much doubt, 

 that the two sjeciniens of A. Htiaftii described by Potts are hybrids, 

 both Soutli-Ishind, Norih-I>-land, and Stewart's-Island specimens of large 

 gitjy Apteryx will have to be descril-ed as new species; for I know they 

 come from districts when- no A. Ovenii have ever been found, and are 

 totally unlike anything which could Ix- produced by crossing. 



