Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds 135


We could never understand why the birds came down on to

the flat grassland where the soil was hard and dry and it would

be impossible to probe into the ground with the bill. Possibly the-

birds came down for the grasshoppers which abounded there.

The birds were certainly more plentiful there than in the forest.


The following is a short extract from a friend who was on the-

island after we le£t: “ We camped a night near the mouth of


the Valley of the Styx and, both there and subsequently on the

ranges of the east coast, we heard the numerous Kiwis before the

Petrels started in. With regard to A. mantelli, on L.B., I would

draw your attention to an article by Captain Hutton in Vol. I,

page 106, Trans. N.Z. Inst., in which he states, It will be

noticed that the Kiwi (A. mantelli) does not appear in the list, and

notwithstanding current reports I am inclined to think that it is.

either very rare or else does not exist on the island.’ However,

I wanted to correct the false impression I had given that the

Kiwis were confined to the Flat and its environs.”


Of the other three species of Kiwis found in New Zealand I

saw nothing. They are extremely rare and only found in isolated

parts. The largest species of all I should doubtless have seen

had I been able to reach my destination on Stewart Island, but

I was driven back by tempestuous seas.


In the old days, 1850 to 1900, Kiwis were, at infrequent,

intervals, imported into Europe and proved to be long-lived in

captivity, their food being cut-up raw meat and earth-worms,

but they proved uninteresting captives as they only came out at

night and during the day remained hidden in the hay or straw.

There is now no hope that we shall ever see these interesting

birds in Europe, for the Government will not even allow permits

for specimens to be kept in the New Zealand “ Zoos ”. I saw

one of the Ministers who had to deal with the question and I

broached the subject of permits being granted for specimens to

be exported to various Zoological Gardens in Europe, but he was

very definite in his reply and stated that under no circumstances

would birds be allowed to be exported, or even to be kept in their

own country.



