Besides Apteryx Owenii, however, a second larger species lives 
on the Middle Island , of which , although no examples have yet 
reached Europe , the existence is nevertheless quite certain. The 
natives distinguish the species not as a Kiwi, but as a lloa, be- 
cause it is larger than A. Owenii (Roa meaning long or tall). The 
existence of such a bird in the South Island has long since been 
affirmed, and though no specimen of it has yet reached Europe, 
it has been registered as Apteryx maxima. 1 What I am able to 
state on this subject, is the following: Mr. John Rochfort, Provin- 
cial Surveyor in Nelson, who returned from an expedition to the 
western coast of the province while I was staying at Nelson, in 
his report, which appeared in the Nelson Examiner , of August 24 th , 
1859, describes this species, which is said to be by no means un- 
common in the Paparoa ranges, between the Grey and Buller riv- 
ers, in the following terms: a Kiwi about the size of a turkey, 
very powerful , having spurs on his feet , which , when attacked by 
a dog , defends himself so well as frequently to come off victorious. 
My friend, Julius Haast, writes to me in a letter, dated July, 
1860, from ten miles above the mouth of the river Buller, on the 
mountains of the Buller chain , which at the height of from 3000 
to 4000 feet, were at that time, it being winter in New Zealand, 
slightly covered with snow, that the tracks of a large Kiwi of the 
size of a turkey were very common in the snow , and that at night 
lie had often heard the singular cry of this bird, but that as lie 
had no dog with him he had not succeeded in getting a specimen 
of it. 
Only very little is known of the mode of living of the Apteryx. 
They are night-birds, hiding themselves in day-time under the root- 
stocks of forest-trees, and going in search of food exclusively in 
the night-time. They feed upon insects , grubs , worms and the seeds 
of various plants. 1 2 They live in pail’s. The hen lays but one 
egg, which is hatched, as the natives say , by the male and female 
1 u The Fil•eInan ,, , Gould, Birds of Australia, sub. tab. 3, Vol. VI. 
Apteryx maxima , Bp. Compt. Rend. Acad. Sc. 
2 Especially Astellia Banksii, Elceocarpus (Hinau) and Hamelinia veratroides. 
