134 Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds


released on the island in 1913 was still there at the time of our

visit. This bird seemed to haunt the environs of the caretaker’s

house.


We had no difficulty in catching the birds at night when they

were in the long grass on the strip of land between the forest

and the sea. They seem to be unable to move with the rapidity with

which they do in the forest. The birds made no defence save an

occasional snapping with the beak, though had we not held them

by the legs we should have undoubtably been badly scratched. We

found the birds in most cases troubled by ticks which w r e found

adhering to the head and ears. These have most probably been

brought over with the cattle. Unfortunately the feathers are very

lightly held in the flesh and they come out in large quantities when

the birds are handled.


Late one evening we caught a fine adult male (the male is

much smaller than his mate) intending to keep him over night in

a box which we had prepared and take his photograph in the

morning. He proved quite tractable until the morning but try

as we would we found it utterly impossible to take his photograph.

He refused to stand, even in the bright sunlight, the moment

he w r as released he would take a header for the forest. At length

we gave it up and restored him to a vacant Kiwi burrow T , to brood,

no doubt, over his strange experiences.


There is a belief amongst the colonists that Kiwis are dirty

birds and are infested w T ith lice. This was, as far as we found,

quite erroneous. All the birds we handled were in beautiful

condition and perfectly free from all parasites except the few cattle

ticks about the ears which doubtless the birds could not remove.


We kept several birds over night. These remained quietly

in their box and made no effort to escape, making no sound

whatever except an occasional squeak and a sniffing noise as they

no doubt searched for the food which we placed in the box.

Usually Kiwis are very noisy birds, and we often heard them

screaming around our tent at night. Their usual cry is an

awful scream, rather terrifying wffien heard at close quarters in

the middle of the night.



