3610 Birds. 



and we brought away with us a small bunch as a reminiscence of our 

 visit. 



I have only to add that my limited acquaintance with this indivi- 

 dual Kiwi did not impress me with very exalted ideas of his intelli- 

 gence. Although, from having received no nocturnal visitors since 

 Mr. Wolley's last interview on the evening of the 28th of February, 

 he could not have become in any way accustomed to the light of a 

 lamp, he showed no fear at the sight of it, yet there was nothing in 

 any of his actions to show that he minded its presence. He certainly 

 was aware that something unusual was taking place, but T feel sure he 

 did not know what. He might, it is true, have taken the "bull's eye" 

 for a moon, but anyhow I am certain he never looked at it in the man- 

 ner that any other bird that I am acquainted with would have done, 

 under similar circumstances. The presence of the light did not, I 

 think, cause him to perform any action that he otherwise would not, 

 but I think it might have had the effect of checking him in some of 

 his feats. He appeared to trust more to the sense of smelling than 

 that of sight. The frequent touching of the walls and ground with 

 his beak, and sniffling, make me think that he uses that appendage as 

 a blind man uses his stick, not to support his body, but to reconnoitre 

 his * path. 



In conclusion, I only hope I shall not have tired my readers with 

 these minute particulars. But few people have seen the Apteryx 

 eating and drinking, and I flatter myself that if the race of Kiwis is 

 doomed to become exterminated from the face of the earth, and living 

 examples of them numbered among things that were, then this record 

 of a careful observation of the habits of one which, although they be 

 restrained by confinement, and watched for a brief space of time only, 

 may not be devoid of interest to future naturalists ; for what would we 

 not now give to know more of the habits of the dodo, even in confine- 

 ment, than can be collected from the scanty notice of it by Sir Hamon 

 l'Estrange, assisted though it be by the pen of Strickland and the 

 model of Bartlett ! 



Alfred Newton. 



Elveden Hall, July 24, 1852. 



* Throughout this paper I have made Kiwi-kiwi of the masculine gender, but 

 there appears to be little doubt that this celebrated antipodal is a female. 



