Vol. II., No. 11, SEPTEMBER, 1886.1 
OOLOGY OF NEW ZEALAND.* 
BY OU-H. POTTS: 
Orper VI.—SrrRuTHIONES—OstRICHeLIKE Birps. 
Family Apterygine—Wingless Birds. 
Genus—-A pteryx. 
56. Apteryx mantelli, Bart. 
North Island Kiwi, Brown Kiwi.—Still to be found in many 
parts of the North Island, it is also met with on some of the adjacent 
islands. An egg of this species procured at Whangaroa Harbour is 
ovoido-conical, rather pointed at the smaller end; creamy white, 
measuring five inches four lines in length, with a breadth of three 
inches. A specimen from Hokianga is smooth, shining creamy white, 
length five inches one and a-half lines, breadth three inches one and 
a-half lines. Another from the same district rather narrower in form 
measures rather over five inches in length, with a breadth of three 
inches. A specimen taken in the month of November at Mount 
Pirongia is of oval shape, blunt at either end, white, roughened on 
the surface by a number of pits and uneven depressions; it measures 
in length five inches, with a breadth of three inches nearly four lines. 
_ A specimen in the Canterbury Museum, with a very thin shell, is of a 
pale greenish-white, like that of so many duck’s eggs; it is four inches 
ten anda half lines in length. 
D7. Apteryx australis, Shaw. 
Rowi, Big Kiwi.—Either excavates a tunnelled home in light 
soil or takes advantage of a hollow space amongst the roots of trees. 
One of the former nesting places I examined near Lake Mapourika, 
on the West Coast. The entrance was nine inches in diameter, with 
a chamber to the left of the entrance; length of tunnel from the 
mouth was three feet, with a height of fifteen inches. ‘This nesting 
place had been used and abandoned, there were fragments of ege 
shell on the floor. It always selects a dry position for rearing its 
young; the breeding season extends from October to February. The . 
young quit the shell well covered; the eggs are very large, oval, with 
end obtuse in some specimens, so that it is difficult to decide which is 
the larger end. Sometimes the eggs are of a greenish-white, in 
length five inches, with a breadth exceeding three inches. An egg 
in the Canterbury Museum exceeded these dimensions; this specimen 
was procured in November. 
58. Apteryx owent, Gould. 
Kiwi, Straight-billed Kiwi, Grey Kiwi, Blue hen of the diggers.— 
The breeding season extends through several months, eggs having: 
been obtained on the West Coast during a considerable portion of the 
*Continued from p. 484. 
