RATIT.E. 



271 



The reduction of the wings in terrestrial birds is not confined to 

 the Ostriches ; but is also characteristic of a number of very strangely 

 organised forms which differ so much from each other that they 

 deserve to be separated into several orders. These birds belong 

 principally to New Zealand ; also to Madagascar and the Mascarenes. 

 Some of them are extinct, but have only become so within historic 

 times. 



In the uninhabited forest regions of the north island of New 

 Zealand there still lives, though gradually approaching extinction,. 



FIG. Q85.Apteryx Owenii. 



an extremely remarkable bird the Kiwi (Apteryx Mantelli = Aus- 

 tralis Shaw), which is sometimes placed among the ostriches and 

 called the Dwarf Ostrich. A second species of the same genus (A. 

 Owenii) belongs to the south island, on which another larger form 

 (Roaroa) is said to exist, and has been distinguished as a third species 

 (A. maxima. Verr.). These birds (Apterygla), which are about the 

 size of a large hen, are entirely covered with long, hair- like feathers 

 which hang down loosely and completely hide the rudimentary wings. 

 The short, powerful legs are covered with scales ; the three anteriorly 

 directed toes are armed with claws adapted for scratching ; the hind 

 toe is short and raised from the ground. The head, which is borne 



