The Kiwis 



15 



and clumsy-footed Rails. In my opinion they are nothing 

 but Struthious Rails, and they very much resemble the 

 latter birds in their nocturnal and retiring habits, and in 

 their method of progression over the ground. Like other 

 Struthious birds, however, they arc great adepts at 

 kicking, and in the series of living Kiwis exhibited by 

 the Hon. Walter Rothschild at a meeting of the British 

 Ornithologists' Club, it was amusing to see that some of 



Kiwi {Apteyyx australis). 



the species kicked forwards and some backwards, but all 

 delivered the stroke with right good will and like a flash 

 of lightning. A formidable wound could be made by 

 their strong feet, armed, as the toes are, with sharp and 

 massive claws. 



In habits the Kiwis are strictly nocturnal birds, and 

 greatly resent being disturbed in the daytime. Their prin- 

 cipal food consists of worms, for which they probe into the 



