74 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
He thus describes the nesting-place of the Kiwi: “Near the bottom of 
a deep gully, completely choked with the ground-kickie (Freycinetra banksit), 
so thick and luxuriant indeed that it was a matter of difficulty to push 
through it at all, down among the gnarled roots of a tawhero, and quite hidden 
by a growth of Aspleniwm bulbiferwm and other ferns, was the entrance to the 
Kiwi’s retreat—a rounded and perfectly artificial entrance, just large enough 
to admit the hand. I inserted my arm to its full length, and could just reach 
the extremity of the chamber, which spread laterally and widened at a little 
distance from the mouth. 
“The natives state that the Kiwi begins to lay in August, which is quite 
likely to be true, as the eggs must take a long period to incubate. 
“Tt will be remembered that Mr Bartlett had a bird which sat on persever- 
ingly from the beginning of January to the 25th of April. 
“Tn all the eggs I opened (save one freshly laid) there was enclosed with 
the well-developed feathered chick a tough membranous sac, connected with 
the embryo and containing several ounces of yellow fatty substance (Vitellus). 
When all this adipose matter has been absorbed into its system, the chick 
having in the meantime expanded to its full size, cracks its tabernacle and 
comes out into the world ready for active service. It is very soon able to 
forage for itself, and increases rapidly in size, inasmuch as the young which I 
attempted to rear had more than doubled their size in six months.” 
He mentions that his party killed a specimen of A. mantelli, and that 
“the stomach of the bird contained, besides insect remains, a large number of 
the hard kernels of the taiko berry, and it seems to me that these are 
swallowed by the Kiwi (in lieu of quartz pebbles, which are not found in 
every locality) to assist the process of digestion. I have found similar kernels 
in the stomachs of Kiwis received from the Upper Wanganui. Among the 
comminuted matter, I was able to detect some very minute landshells. In the 
stomach of another, which I opened afterwards, I found a number of angular 
pieces of pebble, and others contained the hard kernels of pokaka, miro, 
mairi and hinau berries.” 
The Kiwis as a genus are nocturnal in their habits, and seem to live upon 
a diet which varies considerably. They have a preference for worms, but 
snails, freshwater crayfish, beetles, and insects of various kinds, and even 
seeds and fruits, are acceptable. In confinement, when they cannot have 
such a liberal variety of food, they seem to thrive on meat minced or ground 
small. 
They stand cold well, and retain their health without much special care 
when in captivity, and the Hon. Walter Rothschild, Ph.D., says of A. 
australis; “They appear quite happy. They frequently utter their 
