. The geography of New Zealand. Historical, physical, political, and commercial . Great Spotted Kiwi very occasionally captured in the wild land betweenthe West Coast Fiords and the southern lakes. Other flightless birds still exist, though in numbersconstantly decreasing. The Weka, or Wood Hen, isa rail, whose wings are now quite incapable of raisingit in flight. Most peculiar of all is the Kiwi, relatedin some degree to the Moas. Its wings are extremelyreduced in size, and the bird, which is nocturnal inhabit, is now found only in the most densely wooded FLORA AND FAUNA OF NEW ZEALAND 281 di
. The geography of New Zealand. Historical, physical, political, and commercial . Great Spotted Kiwi very occasionally captured in the wild land betweenthe West Coast Fiords and the southern lakes. Other flightless birds still exist, though in numbersconstantly decreasing. The Weka, or Wood Hen, isa rail, whose wings are now quite incapable of raisingit in flight. Most peculiar of all is the Kiwi, relatedin some degree to the Moas. Its wings are extremelyreduced in size, and the bird, which is nocturnal inhabit, is now found only in the most densely wooded FLORA AND FAUNA OF NEW ZEALAND 281 districts. The owl parrot, Kakapo, see p. 2 is nowfound only in the mountainous districts of the south-west of the island. Its wings are incapable ofenabling it to fly for any but very short the Kiwi, it is nocturnal in its habits. The Parrakeet of the Antipodes Islands can fly but. Skeleton of iloa. slightly, and a Duck of the Auckland Islands isflightless. The cause of the remarkable loss of specialisedorgans is to be ascribed to the absence of competitionof ground animals and to freedom from the attacksof mammals. The birds were masters of the animalkingdom, hence the larger kinds had no enemies tofear. Those whose food was obtained on the ground 282 GEOGRAPHY OP NEW ZEALAND for the most part nested under rocks or in hollowtrees, and to them wings were useless appendages,and disuse of them was followed by degeneration. The rapid extermination of the Moa by the Maorican be explained by the effect that immunity fromthe attacks of enemies for many centuries had uponthe intelligence and instinct of self-preservation. TheMoa was probably a stupid and perhaps a slow bird,and was thus an easy quarry for even the mostprimitive race of man. The active and resourcefulMaori, judging by the remains found in old camping-grounds, killed the birds in numbers, and devouredqua
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear190, common=moa, taxonomy
