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 lie bird, 

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♦ 



1 



363 



In preparing my specimens I was astonished at the toughness of the skin, even in the very 

 young birds ; and Mr. Dawson Eowley, writing of the dried skin, sends me the following inter- 

 esting note :— " I have a portion of the skin of an adult male Apteryx before me ; this is so 

 thick that a pair of light shoes might easily be made of it. In setting up these birds, the tough- 

 ness of she skin is such that it can hardly be relaxed : water has little effect upon it. It 

 resembles leather, and is more like the skin of a mammal than that of a bird. In Nestor nota- 

 bilis we find the skin tough (fit to make gloves), but not near so stout as in Apteryxr 



On the eve of my departure from New Zealand I purchased from a Wanganui native a very 

 fine example of this species for presentation to the Zoological Society, and shipped it by the 

 'Wild Duck;' but (as I have since been informed) it unfortunately died when crossing the 

 Equator. Others have been more successful ; and at the present time very healthy specimens of 

 three species {Apteryx mantelli, A. austraUs, and A. oweni) are to be seen in the Society's unri- 

 valled menaarerie at Kegeut's Park. 



?) 



Mr 



This was 



time. 



(P. Z. S. 1868, p. 329), are full of interest : 



" In 1851 Lieut.-Governor Eyre presented to the Society an Apteryx. This bird proved to 

 be a female of Apteryx mantelli. In the year 1859 she laid her first egg, and has continued to 

 lay one or two eggs every year since that time. In 1865 a male bird was presented bj Henry 

 Slade Esq During the last year these birds showed symptoms of a desire to pair. ^^^" — 

 known by the loud calling of the male, which was answered by the female in a much lower and 

 shorter note. They were particularly noisy during the night, but altogether silent m the day- 

 .... On the 2nd January the first egg was laid, and for a day or more the female remained on 

 the e-c. • but as soon as she quitted the nest the male bird took to it, and remamed constantly 

 sittinr ' On the 7th of February the second egg was laid, the female leaving the nest as soon as 

 the e^<^ was deposited. The two birds now occupied the two opposite comers of the room m 

 which they were kept, the male on the two eggs in the nest under the straw, the female concealed 

 in her corner, also under a bundle of straw placed against the wall. During the time of incu- 

 bation they ceased to call at night-in fact, were perfectly silent, and kept apart. Ifound the 

 e^^rs in a hollow formed on the ground in the earth and straw, and placed lengthwise side by 

 «r. The male bird lay across them, his narrow body appearing not sufficiently broad to cover 

 them in any other way; the ends of the eggs could be seen projecting from the side of the bird. 

 The male continued to sit in the most persevering manner until the 25th April, at which time 

 he was much exhausted, and left the nest. On examining the eggs I found no traces of young 

 oiru« Notwithstanding the failure of reproducing the Apteryx, I think sufficient has been 

 witnessed to show that this bird's mode of reproduction does not differ essentially from that ol 

 the allied struthious birds, in all cases of which, that have come under my observation, the male 

 oiru uinv ..... I have witnessed the breeding of the Mooruk, the Cassowary, the Emu, and the 

 Bhea ■ and the mode of proceeding of the Apteryx fully justifies me in believing the habits of this 

 bird to be in no way materially different from those of its allies." 



The enormous size of the Kiwi's egg has often been the subject of speculation and comment ; 

 for till the fact was established beyond all question, it seemed almost impossible that the very 

 large eggs occasionally brought in by the natives were the produce of this bird. In the spring of 



side. 



birds. 



bird only sits. 



i 



