70 



APTERYX. 



bare : circuit of the body, just above the legs, two 

 feet ten inches ; round the neck at the throat, eleven 

 inches and a half; round the base of the beak four 

 inches and a half: length of foot seven inches : toes 

 three in number ; all placed forwards ; colour yellow : 

 toes and webs nearest the claws brown-black ; the rest 

 yellow : the webs continue quite to the claws, which are 

 nearly straight : claws black. Native place unknown." 

 The third and last of these singular animals is that 

 most surprising bird the Apteryx of Shaw, which, as 

 its name implies, is totally destitute of wings : the 

 following are Shaw's characters. 



APTERYX. APTERYX. 



" Rostrum longum, gracile, 

 rectiusculum, basi cera tec- 

 tum, sulco tubulato laterali 

 utrinque exaratum, apice 

 subtumido subincurvo. 



Narcs ? lineares, inconspi- 

 cua?, prope apicem rostvi, 

 ad finem sulci tubulati. 



Aloe ruSimenta tantum, rao- 

 nodactyla, subunciali, un- 

 guiculo terminali. 



Pedes compedes, breves, \3b- 

 lidi, gallinacei, tetradac- 

 tyli ; digito postico subin- 

 teriore, brevissimo. 



Cauda nulla. 



Beak long, slender, nearly 

 straight, covered at the 

 base by a cere, marked on 

 each side by a tubular fur- 

 row, slightly swelled and 

 bent at the tip. 



Nostrils ? linear, inconspi- 

 cuous, near the tip of the 

 beak, at the end of the tu- 

 bular furrow. 



Whigs rudiments only, con- 

 sisting of a single joint or 

 finger, about an inch in 

 length, and terminated by 

 a small claw or spur. 



Feet comped, short, strong, 

 gallinaceous, and tetradac- 

 tyle; the hinder or sub- 

 interior toe very short. 



Tail none." 



