Notes upon some Rare New Zealand Birds. 75 
very loud and strong cries in the evening, and it seemed the shrill note 
was that of the male. The cry of this form seems to be a little louder than 
that of A. australis mantelli, but otherwise the same.” 
He says (page 379, Novitates Zoologice, vol. vi., December 1899): “One of 
the Kiwis in my possession destroyed her own egg, on which the male would 
not sit. Although Kiwis have laid eggs in England,—in the Zoological 
Gardens—-in my own, and in the late Lord Lilford’s aviaries, they have never 
yet hatched.” 
At page 386, Mr Frank E. Beddard, M.A., F.B.S., gives notes upon the 
anatomy of the genus Apteryx. I cannot go into particulars, but would 
refer anyone interested to this communication. However, Mr. Beddard 
mentions the discovery of a remarkable oil gland in the Apteryges. He 
says: “It is a really enormous gland which lies quite normally above the 
extremity of the vertebral column, though it appears also to extend down the 
sides of the caudal vertebra.” He describes it, and it is figured plate xv. 
When at Lake Wakatipu, I heard a good deal about a collector, Mr 
W. Webb, who at that time was living at a very remote place on the 
West Coast, Martin’s Bay. I was fortunate in meeting Mr Webb, who was 
on a visit to Queenstown, Wakatipu, on 6th March 1889. He told me that 
the Kiwis were getting scarcer and were confined to certain localities many 
miles separated. These birds, he said, seemed to prefer wild rocky places 
with plenty of boulders among the dense bush. He expressed the opinion 
that they would become extinct before many years were over. This may 
have been brought about, although I hope not. 
It must be remembered that other agencies besides man are operating 
against these wingless birds. The introduction of cats, stoats, and weasels 
has altered conditions, and the birds are no longer safe in their seclusion 
in the bush. In remote parts of the South Island, far from any dwelling, 
in 1889, I saw many cats that had become quite wild and had to depend 
for food upon what they could kill. Stoats and weasels were not in 
evidence, but they were there all the same. 
I spoke to Mr Dall and Mr Webb upon this question, and they were both 
of the opinion that the animals I have mentioned were very destructive and 
were having a serious effect in diminishing the number of wingless birds, 
especially the smaller species. The bush was no protection against such 
enemies, and from observation they knew that these preying animals were 
gradually spreading westwards into places that man had seldom, if ever, 
reached. 
For further information regarding the Kiwis and the literature upon 
them, I would refer the reader to Buller’s Birds of New Zealand, Professor 
