NATIVE BIRDS 199 
of wading, dark in colour and naked or almost so. The 
toes are very long, and free at the base. 
The Pukeko spends most of its time on the ground, 
though is is often seen perched on shrubs or low trees, 
When hard pressed it can fly well; its flight, however, is 
laboured and awkward. When feeding it often lifts the 
food to its mouth with its claw as a parrot does. 
It feeds chiefly in the early morning and in the evening, 
hiding itself away in the day time. Vegetable substances 
form its principal food, but it also eats insects. It is 
easily tamed, and when kept with domestic fowl makes 
friends with them. When it is walking along, its tail bobs up 
and down, allowing the white feathers underneath to he 
seen. 
The nest of grass is built in swamps and is sometimes 
found quite surrounded by water. Asa rule about five eggs 
are laid in the nest, but the number varies considerably. 
The young run about as soon as they are hatched, and, 
when disturbed, conceal themselves with much cleverness. 
The Kiwi. 
The Kiwi belongs to the second great division of birds 
viz., those whose breast-bones are not prolonged into a 
keel—such birds, we have seen, are flightless, and include 
amongst others, the Ostrich of Arabia and Africa, the imu 
of Australia, and the extinct Moa of our own islands. 
The Kiwi is the most notable living bird of New 
Zealand, and should be classed among the colony’s 
treasured possessions. It has been aptly described by 
Dr. Wallace as one of the queerest and most un-birdlike 
of living birds. Sir R. Owen says that it seems to have 
borrowed its head from the long-billed waders, its legs from 
that order which includes the domestic fowl and other 
