Marvels of the Universe 639 
To this peculiar decoration 
wattles on the neck and a 
great horny casque have been 
added. These brilliant colours 
and peculiar ornaments, set off 
by the jet-black plumage, have 
made the Cassowaries the most 
remarkable of living birds. 
We pass now to New Zea- 
land, the home of the strange 
Kiwi, the last of the living 
Ostrich tribe on our list. 
Several distinct species are 
embraced under the name of 
“ Kiwi,’ but all are small, dull- 
coloured species, with exceed- 
ingly degenerate wings which 
can only be found after a hunt 
among the feathers. 
The iwi, so-called on 
account of its loud piercing 
cry uttered at night, is re- 
markable among birds for the 
fact that its nostrils are placed 
at the extreme tip of the beak, 
where they can be of most 
service in scenting the smell of 
its favourite food; for the 
Kiwi, or “ Apteryx ’’—a name 
referring to its almost wingless 
condition—feeds by night, and 
has but feeble powers of sight. a i Fase aE 
It has been said that the Kiwi THE PHORORHACOS. 
has a by no means keen sense By far the most formidable of the fossil giants. It stood eight feet high, with a 
head bigger than that of a racehorse, and was armed with a hooked beak. The 
of smell; but this statement wings were ridiculously small, so that the victims of the giant must have been 
was made after experiments '? do"? 
with captive birds, and without allowing for the fact that the captives were seeking a familiar scent, 
ignoring other odours which, for them, were not associated with food. 
But New Zealand has yet other flightless birds. Two of these, the Owl Parrot and the Weka 
Rail, must be mentioned here. These are birds not even remotely related to the Ostrich tribe ; 
yet they have long since lost the power of flight, though their wings are by no means so degenerate 
as in the Ostrich. Why this should be we shall briefly explain presently. 
Let us turn for the moment to the consideration of some of the flightless birds of the past. It 
is a very surprising fact, but it is nevertheless true, that flightlessness overtook at least one species 
of one of the most primitive of known birds. This was the Hesperornis, a giant fossil Diver, standing 
some six feet high, which lived so far back in time as the Cretaceous epoch, a time when the jaws of 
birds yet bore the teeth inherited from their reptilian ancestors. Hesperornis must have been the 
last of a long line of flightless birds, dating back to the very dawn of avian development, though 
there must have been a time when its yet more remote forbears flew, at any rate, passably well. 
