47 
from the sides of the shaft in ordinary feathers. They are 
birds of great power and endurance, rivaling even the ostrich 
in those qualities as well as in the famous powers of digestion 
which are so notorious in the latter bird. 
Other members of the Struthiones are the Rhea ( Rhea 
americana ) from the plains of South America, and the Emu 
(.Dromceus novce-hollandice ) of Australia, the latter bird reach¬ 
ing nearly the proportions of the ostrich. 
New Zealand contains the small flightless birds known as 
Apteryx or Kiwis. Small as they are, they are the last rep¬ 
resentatives of the gigantic Moa, once known in that island, 
but now extinct. Mantell’s Kiwi (. Apteryx mantelli ) in¬ 
habits the north island ; while the southern one is the home 
of Owen’s Kiwi ( A . oweni'). They are grotesque creatures, 
with disproportionately long bills, with which they bore into 
the mud after worms and insects, much in the manner of the 
woodcock. They are strictly nocturnal, and the visitor is 
rarely treated to a view. The accompanying plate is from a 
photograph taken in the Garden by flashlight. 
mantell’s apteryx. 
