J. Cassidy—The Extinct Moa and the Living Kiwi 281


A CHAT ABOUT THE

EXTINCT MOA AND THE LIVING KIWI


By James Cassidy


44 Will you tell me something about the Kiwi and its habits ? ”

I asked of the patient Naturalist working away in the Park

and Museum of New Plymouth on the West Coast of beautiful New

Zealand.


44 The Kiwi presents one of the greatest problems known to ornitho¬

logists. It is the only living representative of the Great Moa. Owing to

its diminutive size compared with that of the Moa it took to a life in the

bush and a result of this is that it has become 4 apterous that is to

say it has lost the use of its wings. The dense bush protected it from

enemies and gave it abundance of food, and so its wings fell into desuetude

It has a very long bill, probably evolved by its methods of procuring

food, by probing deep in the earth for worms, as well as in the decayed

prostrate logs of the bush, to obtain grubs and insects, on which

it largely subsists. Its rudimentary wings are about 2 inches in

length and quite hidden under the feathers ; they are useless for flying

or for defence. Its only means of offence and defence is by kicking. The

legs are powerfully developed. One evening I put two Domestic Fowls

with two Kiwis. When the Kiwis came out in the evening (they are

birds of strictly nocturnal habit) it was remarkably interesting to watch

them. The Cockerels in the yard, when they saw the long bill of the

Kiwi coming out, became very uneasy, and strutted to and fro, uttering

remonstrances of surprise and disgust. When this had gone on for some

time the bigger Kiwi of the two objected and made a rush for one of

the most abusive of the Cockerels, striking powerfully with its feet, so

that I had to go in and rescue the Cockerel.


“ The Kiwi is almost blind and has very small eyes and extremely

short sight. It possesses a sharp, and even acute, sense of smell and

there is a delicate sensibility in its beak. The nostrils are situated

beneath the tip of the beak, enabling it to find its food both on the sur¬

face and beneath.


44 With reference to the nesting of the Kiwi I succeeded in getting it



