APT ERY GES 
i) 
are moderate in leneth and they are dilated in their terminal half. The left liver-lobe is larger 
than the right; the gall bladder is occasionaly wanting; the hepatic and pancreatic ducts open 
separately in the duodenum. The posterior intermediate and abdominal air-sacs are small and 
quite exceptionally they are enclosed within the sub-pulmonary chamber. There is only one 
carotid, the left. Alone amongst the Iratifa, Apirygide have retained the following muscles, 
the serratus metapatagialis, the latissimus dorsi metapatagialis, and the pectoralis abdomi- 
nalis; on the other hand, only here the latissimus dorsi anterior is wanting; the rhomboideus 
protundus is also absent; in the leg the most variable muscles are all present. The skull is very 
elongated in its anterior part and rounded posteriorly ; the post-orbital processes are entirely 
absent; the lacrymal is vestigial; the frontal do not form a sharp edge to the orbit; the vomer 
is fused with the pterygoid and palatine; the quadrate has a two-headed process ; the symphysis 
of the mandible is very long, about half of the length of the ramus. The sternum, variable in 
form and proportions, is a small quadrate bone with a wide anterior emargination and rather 
deep notches posteriorly, caused by the projection of the posterior lateral processes; it is 
usually quite smooth, but sometimes presents « a low ridge nearly as well marked as the 
vestigial keel of Stringops » (Parker). The clavicles are absent. The wing is small-boned and 
shows in the structure of the manus various degrees of degeneration; a single digit is present, 
the index, which has two or three phalanges and is clawed. The pre-acetabular part of the ilium 
is exceptionally long; posteriorly the iliam and ischium are widely separated; the pubis never 
fuses with the ischium at its free extremity; the interobturator process is very small and do not 
meet with the pubis; the pectineal process is large and pointed. The femur is relatively large 
and more slender than in any other living Ratifae. All the phalanges are moderate in length. 
The female is nearly similar to the male but larger. 
Habits and Reproduction, Kiwis are swift running birds, only active in the night, 
hidden, during the day-time, in natural cavities or holes burrowed by themselves, They inhabit 
wooded country and high hills. Their food consists chiefly of earthworms, for seeking which in 
the ground the bill is remarkably adapted, but insects, molluscs, and berries are also eaten. 
Kiwis are very pugnacious and make good use of their powerful legs in kicking at any object 
approaching them closely. The cry is a high shrill whistle or a low hoarse note; sometimes a 
low cackling or grunting noise is heard. The female alone makes the nesting place; it is usually 
an excavation among the roots of a tree fern or a hole which she finds ready made in the 
eround, but sometimes she burrows it with her claws, without any assistance of her mate, The 
eges are generally two in number; they are elliptical in form and abnormally big : an egg of 
Mantell’s Kiwi can measure 134 by 73 millim.; the shell is smooth, very thin, pure white, or 
with a slightly greenish grey tint. The male performs all the duties of incubation and takes 
entire charge of the young birds till they are able to shift for themselves. 
Infortunately Kiwis are now vanishing birds. They are however protected by law, but 
the voluntary introduction into New Zealand of polecats, stoats, and weasels, in the hope of 
suppressing rabbits, has been for them a dreadful thing, which will make more early their 
whole extermination; shortly, it seems, Kiwis will have to undergo the regretiul fate of their 
compatriots and nearest allies, the quite extinct Moas. 
Range. This Family is entirely confined to New Zealand. 
