we had the opportunity of examining them in August, 1891. They are, we believe, the only 

 specimens of this fine species ever seen in Europe." 



On the 21st February, I killed a pair of Apteryx lawryi received from Stewart Island- 

 Although the birds had been in captivity for six weeks, and had lost all their fat, the male weighed 

 51 lb. and the female 7 £- lb. 



The following measurements were taken from the specimens before being skinned : — 



Male. — Extreme length, to end of tail 26 in., to end of outstretched legs 36 in. ; rudimentary 

 wing, 1 in. ; terminal claw, following curvature, 0'25 in. ; bill, along the ridge 4*56 in., along the 

 edge of lower mandible 5'25 in. ; tarsus^ 3 in. ; middle toe and claw, 3"5 in. ; hallux, 0*6 in. ; 

 circumference of tarsus, in the middle 2'25 in., at the junction of the toes 4'2 in. 



Female. — Extreme length, to end of tail 30 in., to end of outstretched legs 39 '5 in. ; 

 rudimentary wing, 1'5 in. ; terminal claw, following curvature, 0*5 in. ; bill, along the ridge 

 6' 75 in., along the edge of lower mandible 7 '25 in. ; tarsus, 3 in. ; middle toe and claw, 3*5 in. ; 

 hallux, 0"75 in.. ; circumference of tarsus, in the middle 2'4 in., at the junction of the toes 4'25 in. 



Externally the sexes are alike, except as to size. Both specimens exhibited in the bill 

 a slaty-black upper surface, but in younger examples I have noticed that it is horn-coloured. 

 The thighs are of great size and strength, testifying to the bird's power of rapid locomotion. In 

 the female, which is appreciably the larger bird, the thighs would weigh each, I suppose, not less 

 than a pound. 



I sent to Professor Hutton, for the Canterbury Museum, a very fine skeleton of Apteryx 

 lawryi. The bones of the bill (the sheath having been removed) measured : — along edge of upper 

 mandible, 7*30 in. ; the same from gape, 8'75 in. ; along edge of lower mandible, 8'25 in. 



I obtained some further particulars from Mr. Marklund, by whom these two large Kiwis 

 (and about a dozen others) were collected. He says that the bird is very scarce, and has to be 

 hunted for over a large extent of country. Its favourite feeding-ground is the summit of Table 

 Hill, rising to an elevation of 2,300 ft., which is covered with grass and stunted vegetation, and in 

 the daytime it has to descend some 500 ft. in order to camp in the bush, the summit not affording 

 sufficient coA^ert. He has never found any on the western slope of Table Hill below a level of 

 1,000 ft. ; but on the eastern side the Kiwis go right down to the plain, or practically to the level 

 of the sea. He has found them inhabiting holes among the roots of the " mutton-bird woods." 



He generally found a pair of birds together in one hole, sometimes accompanied by a single 

 young one. On one occasion he found five birds inhabiting an extensive chamber. Being without 

 provisions, he had to cook and eat them, rare as he knew the bird to be. Erom the retreat of this 

 party of five to the summit of Manuka Elat (a distance of half a mile) there was a broad beaten 

 track, as if sheep had been accustomed to travel over it. The roots crossing this track were so 

 worn and abraded that he came to the conclusion the Kiwis had been using the path continuously 

 for several years. He says that this species has three distinct calls : one is a loud shrill whistle, 

 especially in fine evenings when the atmosphere is clear; the second is a deep rasping note, seldom 

 heard; and the third is a low clucking sound, rarely uttered. In hunting these birds his plan was 

 to start about three a.m., before daybreak, while the scent was strong upon the ground, and then 

 to intercept them on their way from their open feeding-grounds to the shelter of the mutton-bird 

 woods, or track them by means of the dog to their holes. The old birds often make a stubborn 

 resistance, and the first time that his dog tackled one of them, he got his foreleg ripped up 

 for about six inches by the bird's claws. 



Mr. Marklund, in another of his letters to me, says : — "I have just returned from a trip down 

 to Pegasus, and got some very large specimens of Kiwi, which I am sending you. We had five 

 days' provisions with us, and during that time I was both on the eastern and western sides of 

 Mount Pegasus. On the eastern side the Kiwis are getting very scarce, owing, I think, to 



