Part 44

"The very deep sea surrounding Ceram, and other islands which constitute the appendages, as it were, of Asia on one side and Australia on the other, suggests a curious problem to the naturalist as to how they got their inhabitants. Great interest, therefore, attaches to the recent discovery of a Cassowary in Australia, as yet only imperfectly known, and so nearly related to the Cassowary of Ceram that doubts have been expressed as to their distinctness. They are both incapable of flight, the wings being represented by five or six bare, cylindrical, pointed quills, like those of a porcupine, and, consequently, the bird could not fly nor pass from one island to another. The _Casuarius Australis_ was first indicated by Mr. Wall, the naturalist to Kennedy's expedition, who shot a specimen in a gully at Cape York, and a notice of it appeared in 1854 in a Sydney paper; but, as the specimen was lost, much doubt existed as to the species. A bunch of feathers taken from a native hut on the Upper Burdekin, and sent to Dr. Sclater in 1866, again drew attention to the probability of a species of Cassowary inhabiting Australia, but still there was no evidence of the species. In June, 1868, a specimen reached the Zoological Society of London; and Dr. Sclater states that although he had not compared it with the Cassowary of Ceram, it seemed to differ--first, in the form of the crest; secondly, in having thicker tarsi, and the long straight claw of the inner toe more developed; thirdly, by the cobalt-blue colour of the naked skin of the neck and throat. Very recently, however, a young specimen, about two feet long, has been presented to the National Museum of Melbourne, which establishes the fact that it is truly distinct as a species from the so-called Indian Cassowary, and "apparently peculiar to Australia, or at any rate affords no support to the theory of the former union of Australia with the northern islands."

There is fortunately a young specimen of the Ceram Cassowary nearly of the same size as this young Australian one, and they are both of the same light, rusty brown colour, the _Casuarius Australis_ being rather redder on the head and slightly blacker on the back than the _C. galeatus_. In neither specimen is the helmet developed. On comparing the two specimens, the tarsi of the Ceram species were found to be rather stronger than those of the _C. Australis_, and the left inner claw of the Ceram specimen half an inch shorter than the right one, one side agreeing with the Australian species. The little feathers on the two caruncles on the throat are nearly black in _C. Australis_, but much lighter in _C. galeatus_. Two distinctive characters are, however, shown by these specimens, not noticed before. The bill of the Australian Cassowary is much more slender than that of the Ceram bird; both mandibles, taken together vertically, being one-third deeper in the Indian species than in the Australian one, while the plumage of the latter is much looser than the former, from having the lateral barbs much fewer or further apart.

There can now be no doubt of the distinctness of the Queensland species, although very closely allied to that with which it has been compared, and also to the Mooruk of New Britain.

According to a correspondent in the _Sydney Herald_, those who obtained the adult bird state that they saw it running about in companies of seven or eight, in deep valleys at the foot of high hills. The flesh was eaten and found to be excellent--a single leg affording more food than several hungry men could dispose of at a meal. The whole build of this Cassowary is stronger and heavier than that of the Emu; it makes use of its powerful legs in the same manner as that bird. It is described as very wary, but its presence may be at once detected by its utterance of a peculiarly loud note, which is taken up and echoed along the gullies it principally frequents.

* * * * *

The KIVIS (_Apteryges_) bear but little resemblance to any of the members of their order as yet described. They are distinguishable by their compact body, short thick neck, comparatively short and four-toed foot, the entire absence of the tail, and the merely rudimentary development of the wings. Their plumage consists of long, lancet-shaped, flowing, and glossy feathers, which increase in size from the neck downwards, and have a somewhat loose web. The bill is very long, covered at the base with a long cere, and rather depressed, with the tip of the upper mandible overhanging the lower portion; the small nostrils are situated at the extremity of the beak. The legs are strong and short; the anterior toes long, powerful, and armed with formidable claws; the thick, short, hinder toe does not touch the ground, and is furnished with a still stronger claw resembling the spur of a Barn-door Cock. The tarsi and feet are covered with scales of various sizes.

These birds are strictly a New Zealand family. The first Apteryx seen in England was presented to Dr. Shaw in 1812, and after his death passed into the possession of the Earl of Derby. No other specimen was seen in Europe for more than twenty years, and its existence was therefore doubted by naturalists until 1833, when Mr. Yarrell read a most interesting paper on the subject before the Zoological Society, and established the family among accredited species. These strange birds, which at the first glance somewhat resemble a quadruped in appearance, are, it is said, wholly nocturnal in their habits, searching for food during the night, and moving actively, but with a most uncouth gait (see Plate), from place to place.

THE KIVI-KIVI.

The KIVI-KIVI (_Apteryx Australis_) has the plumage principally of a greyish brown, which is darkest on the back. The wing-quills are soft and rudimentary, and the face covered with soft hairs. This species is thirty inches long; the bill, from the base of the forehead to the tip, six inches; the reticulated tarsus two inches and a half; and the centre toe, with the claw, three inches and five-eighths. The favourite resorts of this bird, according to Bartlett, are localities densely covered with fern, among which it can readily conceal itself; if very hard pressed by the dogs usually employed in its capture, it takes refuge in crevices of the rocks, hollow trees, and in the deep holes which it excavates in the ground. In the latter chamber-like cavities it is said to construct its nest, which is composed of grasses and dried ferns.

"While undisturbed," says Mr. Short, in a communication to Mr. Yarrell, "the head is carried far back in the shoulders, with the bill pointing to the ground; but when pursued it runs with great swiftness, carrying the head elevated like the Ostrich. It is asserted to be almost exclusively nocturnal in its habits, and it is by torchlight that it is usually hunted by the natives, by whom it is sought after with the utmost avidity, the skins being highly prized for the dresses of the chiefs; indeed, so much are they valued that the natives can rarely be induced to part with them. The feathers are also employed in the construction of artificial flies for the capture of fish, precisely after the European manner. When attacked it defends itself very vigorously, striking rapid and dangerous blows with its powerful feet and sharp spur, with which it is also said to beat the ground in order to disturb the worms upon which it feeds, seizing them with its bill the instant they make their appearance; it also probably feeds upon snails, insects, &c."

"The Apteryx," says Dr. Sclater, "is so scarce a bird even in New Zealand that it can scarcely be expected that we should be well acquainted with its mode of reproduction. His Excellency Sir George Grey has lately sent me an extract from a letter addressed to him by T. E. Manning, Esq., dated Hokianga, on the north-western coast of the Northern Island, February 2nd, 1863. 'Several years ago an old native, who had been a great Kivi hunter in the times when the Kivis were plentiful, told me a strange tale about the manner in which the bird hatches its eggs. I, of course, cannot vouch for the correctness of the story, but think it worth relating; he said that the Kivi did not sit like other birds _upon_ the egg, but _under_ it, first burying the egg in the ground at a considerable depth, and then digging a cave or nest under it, by which about one-third of the lower end was exposed, and so lying under the egg and in contact with the lower end, which came, as it were, through the roof of the nest or burrow. The appearance of the egg, which I propose to send, corroborated this statement, for two-thirds of its length (the small end) was perfectly clean and white, and about one-third the large end was very much discoloured, and very greasy, evidently from contact with the body of the bird. The difference in the colour and condition of the ends of the egg was quite remarkable, and well defined by a circular line passing round the egg.'"

Mr. E. Layard has furnished Mr. Gould with the following information on the same subject forwarded to him by Mr. Webster, also resident at Hokianga:--"A fortnight ago," says that gentleman, "a native, out shooting Pigeons, discovered a Kivi's egg protruding out of a small hole at the root of a kauri tree; removing the egg, he put his arm to the elbow up the hole and got hold of the parent bird. An old native who professes to know something about them states that they lay but one egg at a time. The nest is merely a hole scraped out by the bird, and generally about the roots of a tree, where the ground is dry; the egg is covered with leaves and moss, the decomposition of which evolves heat sufficient to bring forth the young. The process takes six weeks. When hatched, the mother, by instinct, is at hand to attend to her offspring. The egg of the Apteryx is unusually heavy in proportion to the size of the female, being fully fourteen ounces and a half in weight."

MANTELL'S APTERYX.

MANTELL'S APTERYX (_Apteryx Mantelli_) is smaller than the above bird, the plumage darker and redder, the wing smaller, and formed of strong thick quills, and the face covered with long, straggling hairs; the tarsus is longer, and scutellated in front, and the toes and claws shorter than in the _A. Australis_. The length of the body is twenty-three inches; the bill measures four, the tarsus two inches and three-quarters, and the centre toe, with claw, two inches and a half. An unmated female, in the London Zoological Gardens, several times laid an egg, in all about nine, and, according to Mr. Layard, manifested a strong desire to sit, placing herself upon the egg, and resisting all attempts to remove her from her position. This Apteryx, and the _A. Australis_, are regarded by Gould as belonging to the same species.

OWEN'S APTERYX.

OWEN'S APTERYX (_Apteryx Owenii_) has the face, head, and neck of a dull yellowish brown; the throat somewhat paler; all the upper surface is fulvous, transversely rayed with blackish brown, each individual feather being silvery brown at the base, darker brown in the middle, then crossed by a lunate mark of fulvous, to which succeeds an irregular mark of black, and terminated with fulvous; the feathers of the under surface are paler than on the upper, a circumstance which is caused by each feather being crossed by three rays of fulvous instead of two, and more largely tipped with that colour; the feathers of the thighs resemble those of the back; the bill is dull yellowish horn-colour; the feet and claws fleshy brown. The total length is eighteen inches; bill three inches and five-eighths, breadth at base two inches and a quarter; the middle toe and nail measure two inches and a half, and tarsi two inches and a quarter.

The above description is from a specimen sent to Mr. Gould in 1850; since then he has obtained several others, all of which came from the South Island of New Zealand. This bird, according to Mr. Gould, is rendered conspicuously different from the _Apteryx Australis_, with which it accords in size, by the irregular transverse barring of the entire plumage, which, together with its extreme density and hair-like appearance, gives it more the resemblance of a mammal than of a bird. It has a shorter, slenderer, and more curved bill, and the feathers also differ in structure, being broader throughout, especially at the tip, and of a loose, decomposed, and hair-like texture.

"In the spurs of the Southern Alps, on Cook's Straits, in the province of Nelson," says Dr. Hochstetter, "that is, in the higher wooded mountain-valleys of the Wairau chain, and westward of Blind Bay, in the wooded mountains between the Motucha and Aorere valleys, this species is still found in great numbers. During my stay in the province of Nelson I had two living examples, a male and a female; they were procured by some natives I sent out for the purpose in the upper wooded valleys of the river Slate, a confluent of the Aorere, in a country elevated from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the sea-level."

As might naturally be expected, these interesting but defenceless birds are rapidly becoming extinct; a few, however, may still be found in the more unfrequented and thickly-wooded parts of the Northern Island of New Zealand. From the inhabited districts they have been completely extirpated; indeed, Dieffenbach tells us that during the eighteen months of his residence in New Zealand, notwithstanding the liberal rewards promised to the natives, he only succeeded in procuring a single skin, and even that was obtained from a European settler, who said that he procured it from Mongonui Station, to the northward of the Bay of Islands.

Among the localities where the Kivi is still obtainable may be mentioned Little Barrier Island, a small, wooded island in Hauraki Bay, near Auckland, which is evidently the top of a high mountain, rising some 2,383 feet above the level of the sea, and only approachable in the calmest weather.

There seems to be little difficulty in keeping these birds in a state of captivity, and in the Gardens of the London Zoological Society, in the Regent's Park, several specimens have been successfully exhibited. Their cage is simply a dark kennel, having in one corner a sufficient quantity of straw, among which the birds remain carefully hidden during the day. Should their keeper take them forcibly from their retreat, they immediately run back again, as soon as they find themselves at liberty, and eagerly cover themselves as completely as possible. After sunset, however, they become quite lively and active, running about in all directions, and probing the soft earth with their beaks, much after the manner of a Woodcock. They readily devour finely-chopped mutton and earthworms, consuming of the first-mentioned article of diet almost half a pound a day.

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