67 



fourteen and fifteen ounces ; its length being 4| inches, and its width rather 

 niore than 2 inches." 



The Canterbury Museum also contains some fine specimens of the bird, 

 obtained from Westland. 



No. 62. — Apteryx Owenii. 

 Kiwi. 



The smallest and most common of the whole family. Specimens of 

 Owen's Apteryx are not very rare in collections, but the celebrity which 

 attaches to this wingless genus is rapidly drawing down destruction upon it. 

 No mercy is shown to it, and there is no exaggeration in stating that a regular 

 trade is carried on in specimens of these birds, and the equally unfortunate 

 Kakapo (Strit/ops habroptilus). Could not our paternal Government interfere 

 in behalf of these interesting aborigines, for we believe there are those who 

 would shoot the Cherubim for specimens, without the slightest remorse. This 

 species is peculiar to the Middle Island. 



An egg in the Canterbury Museum, from the West Coast, measures 



4 inches 6 lines in length, with a breadth of 2 inches 7 lines (other specimens we 

 have measured are of rather larger dimensions) ; colour, white, with a very 

 smooth surface, blunt at each end. 



The young of the Kiwi, without exhibiting any sign of an immature 

 state of plumage, is disclosed, as it were, from the shell, arrayed in the hair- 

 like integument of an adult bird. In this species the mottled-grey feathers of 

 old and young appear to be of same shade of colour. 



No. 63. — Apteryx Mantellii. 

 Kiwi. 



This is usually known as the Kiwi of the North Island, and it is believed 

 that it has become comparatively rare during the last few years. 



An egg, in our own collection, from Whangaroa, measures not less than 



5 inches 4 lines in length, with a breadth of 3 inches 3 lines. This specimen 

 is white, of smooth surface, rather more pointed at one end than is usually the 

 case with the eggs of this family. 



No. 65. — Charadrius bicinctus. 

 Banded Dotterel. 



The family of the Charadrise have always been distinguished for their 

 wariness, and the artful devices employed to allure strangers from their nest. 

 Heliodorus gives such a singular reason for its shyness, that we cannot resist 

 quoting it : " The bird Charadrius cures those who are afflicted with the 

 jaundice. If it perceives, at a distance, any one coming towards it, who 

 labours under this distemper, it immediately runs away, and shuts its eyes ; 

 not out of an envious refusal of its assistance, as some suppose, but because it 

 knows by instinct, that, on the view of the afflicted person, the disorder will 

 pass from him to itself, and therefore it is solicitous to avoid encountering his 

 eyes." Our banded Dotterel is worthy of belonging to the family of the 

 Charadrius, for it is one of the most restless and wariest of birds, during the 

 breeding season. On the approach of an intruder, it flies round and round, 

 uttering its note of warning, then alighting on some rising ground, it steadily 

 keeps watch. During the time it remains on the look out, it indulges in a 

 peculiar habit of jerking its head backwards and forwards, uttering its 

 monotonous twit, twit, at intervals. 



It commences breeding early in the spring ; its simple nesting-place may 

 be found on "the plains," or in river beds. It lays three oval-shaped eggs, 



L 



