APTERYX AUSTRALIA Shato, jm 



(Native name, " Rowi.") 



I RECEIVED the specimen here depicted in 1872. It was captured in May 

 the same year, on the western slopes of Mount Cook. Mr. Potts states 

 ('Transactions of the New-Zealand Institute,' vol. v. 1872, p. 187) :— "The 

 general colour of Apteryx australis, young, is greyish brown, streaked with 

 black in the young and adult states ; in some fine old birds a glint of golden 

 chestnut edges part of the plumage. Not unfrequently specimens hare the 

 aural feathers of dull yellowish white or grey, the same hoary tone of colour 

 being sometimes found on the occiput, chin, neck, and front of the thighs. 

 These marks are not confined to sex." 



The same writer (vol. ii. p. 66, 1869) says of Apteryx australis :—" An 

 egg received at the Canterbury Museum from Okarito or its neighbourhood 

 is believed to be an undoubted specimen of this species. It arrived in a fresh 

 state in November. It was white, much blunted at each end, and presented 

 a very smooth surface. This enormous egg gives the following measure- 

 ments—through the axis 5 inches 1 line, with a breadth of 3 inches 4 lines.'* 

 Comparing these dimensions with the egg of Apteryx owenii next given 

 (namely, 4 inches 6 lines by 2 inches 7 hues, though some are a trifle larger), 

 we find that the great size of the egg is common to both species and to 



