ON THE BIRDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 177 



Owen's Apteryx, which is readily distinguished from the preceding species 

 and A. manfelli by its smaller size, transversely barred plumage and slender 

 bill, was first described by Mr. Gould in 184'7, from an example procured 

 by Mr. F. Strange, and " believed to have been obtained from the South 

 Island." Since that period other specimens have been received in this 

 country, which have sufficed to establish the species ; and from the informa- 

 tion obtained by Dr. v. Hochstetter, there is no doubt of this being the com- 

 mon Apteryx of the northern portion of the JNIiddle Island. 



" In the spurs of the Southern Alps, on Cook's Straits, in the province of 

 Nelson," says Dr. v. Hochstetter, " that is, in the higher wooded mountain- 

 valleys of the Wairau chain, as also westwards of Blind Bay, in the wooded 

 mountains between the Motucka and Aorere valleys, Kiwis of this species are 

 still found in great numbers. During my stay in the province of Nelson I 

 had myself two living examples (male and female) of this species. They 

 were procured by some natives, whom I sent out for this purpose, in the 

 upper wooded valleys of the River ' State,' a confluent of the Aorere, in a 

 country elevated from 2000 to 3000 feet above the sea-level. It appears that 

 this Apteryx still lives very numerously and widely spread in the extended 

 southern continuations of the Alps." 



3. Apteryx mantklli. 



Apteryx attstralis, Gould, Birds of Australia, vi. pi. 5. 



mantelU, Bartlett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1847, p. 93. 



The characters which distinguish this commoner and better-known Ap/ery.v 

 from the true A. australis of Shaw were pointed out by Mr, Bartlett at the 

 meeting of the Zoological Society held on the 10th of December, 1850. 

 " This bird differs from the original Apteryx australis of Dr. Shaw," says 

 Mr. Bartlett, "in its smaller size; its darker and more rufous colour ; its 

 longer tarsus, which is scutellated in front; its shorter toes and claws, which 

 are horn-coloured ; its smaller wings, which have much stronger and thicker 

 quills; and also in having long straggling hairs on the face." 



Mr. Bartlett tells us that, as far as he has been able to ascertain, all speci- 

 mens of Apteryx mantelli are from the Northern Island ; and this is completely 

 confirmed by Dr. von Hochstetter's observations, which are as follows: — 



" In the northern districts of the Northern Island this species of Apteryx 

 appears to have become quite extinct. But in the island called Hou-tourou, 

 or Little Barrier Island (a small island, completely wooded, ranging about 

 1000 feet above the sea-level, and only accessible when the sea is quite calm), 

 which is situated in the Gulf of Hauraki, near Auckland, it is said to be 

 still tolerably common. In the inhabited portions of the southern districts 

 of the Northern Island also, it is become nearly exterminated by men, dogs 

 and wild cats, and here is only to be found in the more inaccessible and less 

 populous mountain-chains — that is, in the wooded mountains between Cape 

 Palliser and East Cape. 



" But the inhabitants of the Northern Island speak also of two sorts of 

 Kiwi, which they distinguish as Kiivi-nui (Large Kiwi) and Kiwiiti (Small 

 Kiwi). The Kiwi-nui is said to be found in the Tuhna district, west of Lake 

 Taupo, and is, in my opinion, Apteryx mantelli. The Kiwi-iti may possibly 

 \iQ Apteryx owenii, though I can give no certain information on this subject." 



4. ApteiiyX maxima. 



•* The Fireman," Gould in Birds of Australia, sub tab. 3. vol. vi. 

 Apteryx maxima, Ep. 

 18G1. N 



