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evidence everywhere of the presence of Kiwis by their borings in quest of food. These were very 
numerous in all suitable localities and were of all sizes, assuming in soft ground the appearance of 
deep funnels with a circular opening four inches or more in diameter, being thus formed by the 
rotatory action of the bill in its search for the hidden food. The ground seems admirably adapted 
for this purpose, consisting of a brown vegetable mould. It is easily worjsed, and, as I ascertained by 
digging, this earth teems wuth annelids and insect life, of various kinds. 
Not far from our camp there was an ancient rata tree— its age extending to many hundreds of 
years— its hollow trunk bound round with huge cables of aka, and holding in its hoary arms tons of 
Astelici and other parasitic plants. One of our natives set fiie to this tree near the base. The 
accumulation of dry vegetable substances soon ignited, and the flames ascended the hollow trunk with 
a roar like that from a steamer’s boiler. All day long this monarch of the forest burned fiercely, 
sendino- up a column of smoke visible many miles away on the Waikato plains. During the night we 
were all startled from our sleep by the fall of this burning tree, which came down with a terrific 
crash carrying everything before it. We had just time to turn out of our blankets and witness a 
“ display of fireworks ” compared with which the Crystal Palace exhibition is mere child’s play ! 
In the early part of the night w^e heard the shrill cry of a Kiwi — a prolonged whistle slightly 
ascending and descending (whence the native name) — and when it was sufficiently light our natives 
went out with the dogs and brought in an adult female and two young ones. These were found 
together in one hole. The mate was no doubt one of those obtained in the same locality on the 
previous day. 
Early next morning, accompanied by a native, I climbed to the summit of Piiongia piopei and 
had a magnificent view of the Upper Waikato, the day being beautifully clear and cloudless. The 
ascent is somewhat laborious owing to its steepness and the absence in many places of anything like a 
bush-track. Almost to the very summit of the peak we met with traces of the Kiwi in earth-borings 
of the kind already described ; but although we had one of the dogs with us, we did not find any 
birds in our track. My native companion was no doubt right in his statement that the Kiwi at night 
roams over these feeding-grounds, and returns on the approach of day to the shade of the gullies, 
where the light penetrates more feebly. All along this mountain-track and on the summit 1 found 
in great abundance the katoutou shrub with its bright green foliage and pretty tassels of crimson 
flower. The afternoon yielded two more adult males and two young ones, besides an egg just ready to 
be hatched. The succeeding morning was showery, and although the men made an early start they 
brought in about noon only two more adult birds (male and female) taken at different places, and two 
more'’young ones, the effect of the rain being to obliterate the scent and spoil the hunt. The weather 
havin<- now set in very wet and tempestuous we had to discontinue Kiwi-hunting and see to making 
our temporary shelter more secure, by an extra layer of kiekie thatch. The rain came down in 
torrents towards evening, but on the whole we found ourselves very comfortably housed. 
Our expedition lasted a week, with varying success each day according to the weather, the total 
result being forty Kiwis of all ages and nine eggs. 
We partook of the flesh of one of the Kiwis which the natives had boiled. It had the dark 
appearance of, and tasted very much like, tender beef. 
The first two birds (both females) killed by the dogs I dissected with the following result :— The 
stomach of one contained three wetas {Deinacrida tlioracica), ten huhii grubs, mostly of large size, 
several earthworms, and a small brown beetle which my son Percy afterwards identified as Cojdoinma 
the biU not the legs, otherwise the extremely fine network of blood-vessels towards the nostrils become surcharged, and the 
bill losing its whitish horn-colour, becomes first rosy and then dark brown. It is undesirable also to kill the bird by compres- 
sion, as the same result is apt to follow. I found a drop of prussic acid placed in the gullet the safest and most expeditious 
mode of treatment. 
