572 
FLIGHTLESS BIRDS. 
dropped without being able to find it. . . . It is interesting to watch the bird, in a 
state of freedom, foraging for worms, which constitute its principal food; it moves 
about with a slow action of the body; and the long, flexible beak is driven into 
the soft ground, generally home to the very root, and is either immediately with¬ 
drawn with a worm held at the extreme tip of the mandibles, or it is gently moved 
to and fro, by an action of the head and neck, the body of the bird being perfectly 
steady. It is amusing to watch the extreme care and deliberation with which the 
bird draws the worm from' its hiding-place, coaxing it out as it were by degrees, 
instead of pulling roughly or breaking it.” On getting the worm fairly out of the 
ground, the bird throws up its head with a jerk, and swallows its prey whole. The 
stomachs of specimens that have been dissected contain pebbles, remains of beetles, 
and the kernels of berries. In captivity, kiwis are dull, listless creatures during 
the day; lying closely huddled together, and slumbering so soundly that no 
noise will arouse them. If stirred up with a stick, or suddenly wakened, they 
make a few drowsy movements, and soon relapse into sleep. From observations 
made on specimens in captivity, it appears that the female kiwi (unlike the 
other members of the subclass) lays but one or two eggs annually, which are 
deposited in a hollow in the ground, and incubated by her partner. When there 
are two, the eggs, which are placed lengthways side by side, are of such a size as 
to protrude from the sides of the narrow body of the sitting bird. During the 
breeding-season, the kiwi is silent. An egg of the North Island kiwi measured a 
little over 5 inches in length bv 3 in breadth. 
Extinct Families. 
The fate impending over 
Moas. . . 1 . ® 
the kiwis has long since over¬ 
taken their gigantic extinct cousins the 
moas ( Dinornithidce ), which had already 
disappeared from New Zealand when those 
islands were first colonised from Europe, 
although there is good reason to believe 
that they lived on till within the last five 
hundred or four hundred years, if not to a 
considerably later date. These birds, of 
which not only the bones, but in some 
cases the dried integuments, feathers, and 
eggshells, as well as the pebbles they were 
in the habit of swallowing, have been 
preserved in the superficial deposits of 
New Zealand, attained a wonderful develop¬ 
ment in those distant islands, where they 
were secure from persecution till man 
appeared on the scene. Not only did the 
larger members of the group far exceed 
skeleton of short-legged moa. the ostrich in size, but they were extra- 
