MR.  W.  YARRELL'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  APTERYX  AUSTRALIS. 
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and  the  circumference  at  the  lower  part  18  inches.  The  feathers  on  the  top  of  the 
head  and  forehead  are  short,  and  the  skin,  carried  forwards  over  the  base  of  the  beak 
to  the  extent  of  an  inch,  is  covered  by  a  mixture  of  dark  feathers,  bristles  and  hair. 
About  the  gape  on  each  side  are  also  several  long  black  bristles.  The  feathers  of  the 
neck  are  somewhat  longer  than  those  on  the  head,  and  they  increase  in  length  generally 
in  proceeding  downwards  over  the  body.  Those  of  the  head  and  neck  are  of  a  hair 
brown  colour,  with  the  shafts  lighter  ;  on  the  back,  sides  and  rump,  the  shafts  and  inner 
portions  of  the  webs  are  reddish  yellow  brown,  and  the  edges  dark  brown,  producing 
an  agreeably  variegated  appearance.  On  the  lower  part  of  the  neck  in  front,  the  breast 
and  the  belly,  the  feathers  are  lighter  in  colour  than  on  any  other  part  of  the  body,  the 
shafts  still  lighter  than  the  webs,  and  greyish  white.  The  feathers  generally  are  uni- 
form in  structure,  and  resemble  those  of  the  Emu ;  but  each  feather  is  much  shorter, 
the  longest  (those  hanging  over  the  rudimentary  wings)  not  exceeding  4  inches  and  a 
half.  The  webs  are  of  greatest  extent,  most  flocculent  and  silky  at  the  base  of  each 
feather,  and  become  more  linear  and  shorter  towards  its  end  ;  the  whole  of  the  fibres 
forming  the  web  are  disunited,  and  the  shaft  has  no  secondary  or  accessory  plume. 
On  each  side,  about  midway  between  the  head  and  lower  end  of  the  bird,  is  a  rudi- 
mentary wing,  consisting  of  three  distinct  portions. 
The  part  of  the  humerus  that  remains  is  about  1  inch  in  length,  and  from  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  fractured  end  of  the  bone,  within  the  skin,  was  broken  off  clear  below 
the  head ;  the  radial  portion  figured  by  Shaw  appears  to  be  made  up,  as  far  as  can  be 
ascertained  by  present  examination,  of  two  distinct  bones,  each  about  1  inch  and  three 
eighths  in  length,  covered  with  a  corrugated  skin,  and  ending  at  the  carpal  extremity 
in  a  small  horny  claw,  supported  on  a  short  ungueal  bone,  the  two  portions  in  con- 
junction measuring  about  three  eighths  of  an  inch. 
To  the  radial  portion  of  the  wing  several  feathers  are  attached,  of  the  same  character 
as  those  of  the  other  parts  of  the  body  ;  but  the  feathers  above  and  behind  this  rudi- 
mentary wing  are  longer  than  those  of  any  other  part  of  the  body,  and  being  directed 
forwards  and  downwards,  entirely  cover  and  conceal  this  small  and  useless  wing. 
As  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge  by  the  preserved  skin,  the  femur  was  probably  3  inches 
in  length,  the  tibia  about  5  inches  ;  the  articulation  of  the  tibia  with  the  tarsus  is  1  inch 
and  three  quarters  below  the  end  of  the  body,  and  on  a  line  with  the  pendent  ends  of 
the  plumage  of  that  part.  The  tarsus  is  3  inches  in  length,  and  measures  2  inches  and 
an  eighth  in  circumference.  The  other  bones  of  the  leg  appear  to  have  been,  hke  the 
tarsal  bones,  thick  and  strong.  The  tarsi  are  covered  with  hard  and  dense  reticulated 
scales,  larger  in  size,  and  arranged  in  transverse  lines,  in  the  front  and  behind,  but 
smaller  and  more  irregularly  distributed  on  the  sides. 
The  toes  are  four  in  number  on  each  foot,  the  three  anterior  toes  entirely  uncon- 
nected.   The  middle  toe  is  2  inches  and  three  eighths  in  length,  the  claw  1  inch ;  tlie 
VOL.  I.  L 
