Ports.—New Zealand Birds. 187 
webs, the plumage consisting simply of clothing feathers, which during the 
progress of the bird give out no sound of fluttering or rustling. This peculiarity 
of the plumage confers another advantage by its compressibility, whilst it can 
be kept far cleaner than the integument of birds having feathers with closer 
vanes, interlocking barbules, or thicker down, as with this hair-like dress a 
single shake rids the bird of every foreign particle, while the feathers, covering 
the body like a thatch, effectually keep off the wet of the ever humid ferns 
and mosses among which the bird lives. If an Apteryx be plucked its body 
will be found somewhat conical from the point of the bill to the thighs, a 
form well devised for gliding through the thick ferny bottoms choked with 
the heavy fronds of Todea superba or the close trailing folds of Freyeinetia, 
and enabling the long bill to be used to the greatest advantage in exploring 
deep but narrow fissures about the roots of trees. 
It is probable that the rowi pairs for life, for there appears to exist 
between the sexes a lasting companionship. For a nesting place it selects a 
hole in some huge tree or log, or amongst roots ; sometimes the hole is 
excavated in a soft bank, where the soil is light; but in every case care is 
taken that the site shall be on a ridge or dry ground. We examined a nesting 
place on the 17th December last, which was tunnelled in a mound of light 
earth, probably formed by the uprooting of some forest giant ; the entrance 
was 9 inches in diameter, a chamber was found to be excavated to the left of 
the entrance, from this to the back of the chamber was a depth of 3 feet, with 
a height of 15 inches. This retreat had been abandoned by the family, but 
we picked pieces of egg-shell from the floor. 
The breeding season extends over some months, from October to February. 
Two eggs are usually laid, on which the old birds rather lie than sit. The mode 
of roosting is very peculiar; they squat opposite each other with their legs 
bent under them, each with its head tucked under the scanty apology for a wing. 
If there are young in the hole they also assume a similar position, on either 
side`a young bird between the two parents, thus the result of this singular 
arrangement of the family is a nearly perfect hemisphere of feathers, They 
often appear torpid or very drowsy when surprised in their homes, sometimes 
remaining quite undisturbed by noise, and are very rarely discovered except 
in a hole. In good condition a bird will average from 5 to 6 lbs. in weight. 
Their cry is much harsher than that of the kiwi, sounding something like 
“ er-r-r-ruck, er-r-r-ruck,” and is not uttered till after sundown ; from timed 
observations in the bush we noticed that when the sun set about 7 .30, we 
did not hear the rowi till from 8.15 to 8.30. 
The young are well clothed when they leave the shell ; with them the bill 
is not curved, following the ridge of the upper mandible it is slightly depressed 
about the middle of its length. The general colour of A. australis is greyish 
