242 Mr. E. L. Layard’s Ornithological Notes 
Mr. Webster writes as follows respecting the Kiwi:—“ A 
fortnight ago a native, out shooting Pigeons, discovered a Kiwi’s 
egg protruding out of a small hole at the root of a Kauri-tree; 
removing the egg, he put his arm, to the elbow, up the hole, and 
got hold of the parent bird. The egg and the bird I have se¬ 
cured. Does it not appear a strange position for the egg to be 
in ? I have, in an enclosure, two male birds and the female 
mentioned; the latter is much the largest, and has the longer 
bill. The three birds are very sociable together : they retire to 
a dark box during the daytime, coming out punctually a little 
after sundown, when they commence searching for worms. They 
seem to possess the sense of smell very acutely, and never thrust 
their long bills into the earth without getting a worm. My 
birds are very tame, and were so from the first, feeding in my 
presence, and picking up worms and pieces of meat thrown to 
them. When satisfied, they retire to their box, and seldom appear 
again until next evening. During rain they do not come out. 
“ An old native, who professes to know something about them, 
states that they lay but one egg at a time. The nest is merely 
a hole scraped out by the bird, and generally about the roots of a 
tree, where the ground is dry; the egg is covered with leaves and 
moss, the decomposition of which evolves heat sufficient to bring 
forth the young. The process takes six months. When hatched, 
the mother, by instinct, is at hand to attend to her offspring. 
“The egg is enormous in size, compared to the bird; that 
now in my possession weighs 16 ounces, and measures in girth 
11 inches. 
“As far as I can learn, there is but this one species in our 
district.” 
The Kiwis (five in number) forwarded to me by Mr. Webster 
proved to be Apteryx mantellii. 
The Kingfisher alluded to in my last [Halcyon vagans ) is 
common throughout the Northern Island; it fishes equally in 
salt and fresh water, and devours also grasshoppers and Gryllce 
of all kinds, caterpillars, moths, and butterflies. 
The Korimaka [Anthornis melanura) is also plentiful, and goes 
by the name of the “ Bell-bird ” among the colonists. At early 
morning and in the evening, while riding through the forest, 
