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peculiarity in the structure of the shaft, they have stiffened points, and are harsh and prickly to 

 the touch. This character (apart from a slight difference in the colour of the plumage) is con- 

 stant in all the specimens I have examined ; and I have no hesitation in giving it a specific value, 

 adopting at the same time the distinctive names originally proposed by Mr. Bartlett. In this 

 course I am supported by the unanimous opinion of several of the best ornithologists in England, 

 to whom I have submitted specimens for examination. 



I take this opportunity of saying that the credit of this discovery belongs to Dr. Haast, who, 

 on receiving from me a North-Island bird for comparison with the specimens in the Canterbury 

 Museum, detected this structural difference in the plumage, and informed me of it long before 

 I had an opportunity of verifying the fact for myself. 



Dr. Otto Finsch, who has had a recent opportunity of comparing the birds, has arrived at an 

 opposite conclusion ; but he seems to have practically conceded the point by admitting the North- 

 Island Kiwi to the rank of a " variety " (i. e. Apteryx australis, var. mantelli) *. 



According to the now generally accepted view of what constitutes a " species " the amount 

 of difference is quite immaterial, provided it be constant and readily distinguishable. If 

 (as is certainly the case) all the known examples from the North Island are referable to " var. 

 mantelli (Finsch)," then, for all practical purposes, the bird must be regarded as distinct, and 

 is, I submit, as much entitled to recognition as any other species on our list. 



* Journal fur Ornithologie, 1873, p. 263. 



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