. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE APTERYX. 383 quills, very like the large quills of the norcupine, snd being of different lengths, the largest not exceeding one foot, -ind ?ypnrrally being much battered about the point. When stripped of its feathers, the whole wing only extends some three inches in length, and is evidently a mere indication of the hmb. The food of this bird in a wild state consists of herbage and various fruits, and in captivity it is fed on bran, apples, carrots, and similar substances, and is said to drink nearly half a gallon of water per diem. Perhaps the very
. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE APTERYX. 383 quills, very like the large quills of the norcupine, snd being of different lengths, the largest not exceeding one foot, -ind ?ypnrrally being much battered about the point. When stripped of its feathers, the whole wing only extends some three inches in length, and is evidently a mere indication of the hmb. The food of this bird in a wild state consists of herbage and various fruits, and in captivity it is fed on bran, apples, carrots, and similar substances, and is said to drink nearly half a gallon of water per diem. Perhaps the very strangest and most weird-like of all living birds is the Apteryx, or Kiwi-Kiwi. This singular bird is a native of New Zealand, where it was once very common, but, like ihe dinornis, is in a very fair way of becoming extinct, a fate from which it has probably been hitherto preserved by its nocturnal and retiring habits. In this bird there is scarcely the slightest trace of wings, a peculiarity which has gained for it the title of Apteryx, or " ; The plumage is composed of rather curiously-shaped flat feathers, each being wide and furnished with a soft, shining, silken down, for the basal third of its length, and then narrowing rapidly towards the extremity, which is a single shaft with hair-like webs at each side. The quill portion of the feathers is re- markably small and short, being even overlapped by the down when the feather is removed from the bird. The skin is very tough, and yet flexible, and the Chiefs set great value upon it for the manufacture of their state mantles, permitting no inferior person to wear them, and being ex- tremely unwilling to part with them even for a valuable consideration. The bird lives mostly among the fern ; and as it always remains concealed during the day in deep recesses of rocks, ground or tree roots, and is re- markably fleet of foot, diving among the heavy fern-leaves with smgular adroitness, it is not very easy of cap-
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
