310 cassell's book of rjRDS. 



inches; the reticulated tarsus two inches and a half; and the centre toe, with the claw, three inches 

 and five-eighths. The favourite resorts of this bird, according to Bartlett, are localities densely 

 covered with fern, among which it can readily conceal itself; if very hard pressed by the dogs usually 

 employed in its capture, it takes refuge in crevices of the rocks, hollow trees, and in the deep holes 

 which it excavates in the ground. In the latter chamber-like cavities it is said to construct its nest, 

 which is composed of grasses and dried ferns. 



" While undisturbed," says Mr. Short, in a communication to Mr. Yarrell, " the head is carried 

 far back in the shoulders, with the bill pointing to the ground ; but when pursued it runs with great 

 swiftness, carrying the head elevated like the Ostrich. It is asserted to be almost exclusively 

 nocturnal in its habits, and it is by torchlight that it is usually hunted by the natives, by whom it 

 is sought after with the utmost avidity, the skins being highly prized for the dresses of the chiefs ; 

 indeed, so much are they valued that the natives can rarely be induced to part with them. The 

 feathers are also employed in the construction of artificial flies for the capture of fish, precisely after 

 the European manner. When attacked it defends itself very vigorously, striking rapid and dangerous 

 blows with its powerful feet and sharp spur, with which it is also said to beat the ground in order 

 to disturb the worms upon which it feeds, seizing them with its bill the instant they make their 

 appearance ; it also probably feeds upon snails, insects, &c." 



" The Apterj'x," says Dr. Sclater, " is so scarce a bird even in New Zealand that it can scarcely 

 be expected that we should be well acquainted with its mode of reproduction. His Excellency Sir 

 George Grey has lately sent me an extract from a letter addressed to him by T. E. Manning, Esq., 

 dated Hokianga, on the north-western coast of the Northern Island, February 2nd, 1863. ' Several 

 years ago an old native, who had been a great Kivi hunter in the times when the Kivis were 

 plentiful, told me a strange tale about the manner in which the bird hatches its eggs. I, of course, 

 cannot vouch for the correctness of the story, but think it worth relating ; he said that the Kivi did 

 not sit like other birds upon the egg, but under it, first burying the egg in the ground at a considerable 

 depth, and then digging a cave or nest under it, by which about one-third of the lower end was 

 exposed, and so lying under the egg and in contact with the lower end, which came, as it were, 

 through the roof of the nest or burrow. The appearance of the egg, which I propose to send, 

 corroborated this statement, for two-thirds of its length (the small end) was perfectly clean and white, 

 and about one-third the large end was very much discoloured, and very greasy, evidently from contact 

 with the body of the bird. The difference in the colour and condition of the ends of the egg was 

 quite remarkable, and well defined by a circular line passing round the egg.'" 



Mr. E. Layard has furnished Mr. Gould with the following information on the same subject 

 forwarded to him by Mr. Webster, also resident at Hokianga: — "A fortnight ago," says that 

 gentleman, " a native, out shooting Pigeons, discovered a Kivi's egg protruding out of a small hole at 

 the root of a kauri tree ; removing the egg, he put his arm to the elbow up the hole and got hold 

 of the parent bird. An old native who professes to know something about them states that they 

 lay but one egg at a time. The nest is merely a hole scraped out by the bird, and generally about 

 the roots of a tree, where the ground is dry ; the egg is covered with leaves and moss, the 

 decomposition of which evolves heat sufficient to bring forth the young. The process takes six weeks. 

 \Mien hatched, the mother, by instinct, is at hand to attend to her offspring. The egg of the Apteryx 

 is unusually heavy in proportion to the size of the female, being fully fourteen ounces and a half 

 in weight." 



MANTELL'S APTERYX. 



Mantell's Apteryx {Apteryx Mantelli) is smaller than the above bird, the plumage darker and 

 redder, the wing smaller, and formed of strong thick quills, and the face covered with long, straggling 



