NATURAL HISTORY. 
609 
summer months, so that the blight again recovers its power, 
and thus the little stranger is only of doubtful benefit. 
The New Zealand birds are remarkable for their tameness 
and the little fear they entertain of man ; probably the paucity 
of their numbers may in a great measure be owing to this 
circumstance. The robin, Totoara, the wren, Miro-miro , and 
the flycatcher, Piwakawaka, will often allow themselves to 
be taken by the hand, and even alight upon the person. 
They are evidently on the decrease ; the introduction of the 
cat and dog has almost sealed their doom. The rails, kiwi, and 
kakapo, especially the two latter, have sensibly diminished; 
the only one of the small birds which has maintained its 
numbers is the Pihoi-koi, or ground lark. 
The most remarkable of the New Zealand birds is the 
apteryx (fam. Struthionidoe) , there are still four surviving 
members of that family, the Kiwi apteryx Australis, Ta- 
koeka A. Owenii, A. Mantellii, Boa A. Maxima. These 
birds are yet abundant in several parts of the country ; the 
kiwi in size is not larger than a common full-grown fowl, 
yet lays an egg not quite one-third less than that of the emu, 
5 inches in length by 3 in width, whilst that of the other is 
5-^ in length by 3^ in width ; in the North Island there 
are two varieties of the kiwi, one rather larger than the other, 
and of a darker color, which only lays one egg; the other, or 
common reddish one, lays two, which are of smaller dimen- 
sions; these birds have rudimentary wings, which are ter- 
minated by a slender claw ; the bill is long and slightly 
curved, having the nostrils at the extremity; the feathers, 
which are tipped with a kind of claw, are much prized in 
forming cloaks, only worn by the highest chiefs.* 
The kiwi has burrows, and deposits its eggs in them, gene- 
rally' at the root of the rata. It is said to be three years 
before they are hatched, and oftentimes the hole is so grown 
up with roots, that the young bird cannot make its way out, 
* Cloaks made from the feathers of the kiwi are highly prized. I brought a 
very large one from one of the Wanganui tribes, as a present for the Queen. 
During the many years I have been in New Zealand, I never saw so fine a one 
— they are extremely rare. 
R R 
