FAM. APTERYGIDE 
BY L. BRASIL 

oN HE Aptervgide, or kiwis, are Birds of the Sub-Class Pal@ognatha. The system 
Rey of classification by which Kiwis and Moas constitute in this Sub-Class a single 
DA. Order Aptervges or Aptervgiformes, with two Sub-Orders, Aptervgines and 
Jinmanes, seems to us the most natural and we have adopted it. The Sub-Order 
Aptervgines includes only the one Family 4 ftervgida. 
Characters. About the size of a large domestic fowl, or a little more, Kiwis are the 
smallest of the living Ratite; they differ from other such birds, amongst other things, by the 
presence ol a back toe, by the very remarkable position of the nostrils at the tip of the bill, and 
by the relatively enormous size of the eggs. 
The bill is very long, slender, weak, grooved at the sides, a little arched near the tip, 
with a hard bony cere at the base; the upper mandible, at its extremity, projects over the lower 
and consequently constitutes alone the tip of the bill. The nostrils are small, sub-linear, placed, 
as it is said above, near the very end of the long bill, but laterally and a little underneath. The 
neck is short and strong. The wings, which are in an extremely aborted condition and covered 
with body feathers, are functionless and invisible exteriorly, but they have rudimentary remiges, 
apparently thirteen or fourteen in number; the manus bears a claw. The legs are very thick and 
situated backwardly; the tibiz are feathered; the metatarsi, which are as long as the middle 
toe, are clothed with variously sized scutes, those in front of the lowest part are the largest and 
transverse, The toes are four in number owing to the fore-mentioned hallux, which is small and 
elevated ; the front toes are robust, covered with broad scutes and provided, like the back one, 
with strong, long and sharp claws. The tail devoid of distinct rectrices is rudimentary and not 
apparent. The feathers, constituting a soft and loose plumage, are narrow, lanceolate, and 
composed of long desunited barbs or filaments; they have no aftershalt; many elongated hairs 
occur on the front of the head and the sides of the face; apteria mesogastreei and trunci lateral 
are present and well marked. There is a large and peculiar oil gland, which is nude or with two 
minute feathers. 
The small intestine is relatively long and narrow ; the large intestine 1s short; the czeca 
