J. Cassidy—The Extinct Moa and the Living Kiwi 283


mounted on to me. As they prod they utter a sniff—a loud sniff. One

factor which contributes to the ease with which they find their way in

the darkness is the number of long black hairs disposed around the beak.

These hairs act as feelers and enable their owners to gauge the nearness

of surrounding objects.


“ It required five months for the one remaining Kiwi to arrive at its

full growth. It lost its white covering—its chickhood—in about ten

weeks and then it became covered with hairy feathers of a soft browny

black.”


“You mentioned that the Kiwi is related to the Moa.”


“ Yes, there is a large number of species of Moa ; the Kiwi is the

most diminutive form. The Moas range from the Kiwi through a large

number of species up to 14 feet high. The Moas attained their

highest development in the Pleistocene Age. From that period they

began to diminish in number though extremely slowly through the

Miocene and Pliocene Ages, up to the Quaternary, which last is the Age

of Man. Opinion varies amongst scientists as to what led to the extinc¬

tion of the Moa. New facts are forthcoming daily proving that the Moa

lived within the last 250 years. It flourished in the Albury district

contemporaneously with the Maoris. Sir Walter Buffer sent me to explore

the Albury district for Moa bones. At that time ploughmen under

contract were ploughing the downs on the estate. Every day they turned

up quantities of moa bones. Some of the skeletons were more or less

perfect; other lots were only portions of a skeleton, as parts of the birds

had been removed. This was probably due to the Moa hunters. I was

able to make a large and valuable collection of mixed bones for

Sir Walter Buffer. Some of them were afterwards submitted to

Sir Bichard Owen. Amongst the numerous bones was one which he

thought was a new species and he would have named it after

Sir Walter Buffer, but the remaining portions of the skeleton were

not amongst those submitted. There were among the bones that I

collected six or seven distinct species, including some of those of the

Elephant-footed Moa, a species of massive structure.”


“ How do you account for the bones of the Moa being found in so

many places and so wide apart ? ”


“ Quite simply. Heavy birds would wade into the swamps and perish



