Fig. 156.—The Emu, or Australian Cassowary (Dromiceius australis, Swainson).
Fig. 157.—Kivi-kivi, or Apteryx (Apteryx australis, Gould).
Kivi-kivi, or Apteryx ([Fig. 157]), so called from the Greek απτερον, "wingless," is a singular bird, bearing but little resemblance to the other members of the class. It is no larger than a Fowl, and combines the bill of the Woodcock with the feet of the Gallinaceous tribe. The shortness of its wings, which are entirely unfit for flight, is the sole characteristic which entitles it to rank with the group in which it is placed.
The plumage of the Apteryx is brown; it has no tail, and its mere stumps of wings are provided with strong and curved claws. It is a native of New Zealand, and keeps in the marshes, where it feeds on worms and grubs: being nocturnal, it does not leave its retreat until the evening. In spite of its short legs, it runs very fast, but if overtaken does not yield without an effort, using either its feet, armed as they are with long and sharp claws, or the points at the end of its wings, as weapons of defence. It builds a very rough nest among the roots of marsh-growing shrubs, and lays a single egg, excessively large in proportion to the size of the producer. The natives call the bird Kiwi. They used at one time to hunt them very perseveringly, as much for their flesh as for their feathers, which they used in making mats. Now they have renounced this work, the profits not compensating for the fatigue which it entailed. Day by day it is becoming more rare and difficult to procure. The Zoological Society of London has three specimens.
Extinct Brevipennæ.
The order of the Brevipennæ may be held to embrace some birds which have now disappeared from the surface of the globe, but which are supposed to be contemporaneous with Man. The remains which are met with in quite modern alluvium scarcely admit of any doubt in this respect.
In the first rank of extinct birds we may place the Dodo (Didus ineptus, Linn.), [Fig. 158], which was indigenous to the Mauritius and the Isle of France, where it used to be abundant, if we may believe the testimony of the companions of Vasco de Gama, who visited there in 1497. At the end of the seventeenth century some of them still existed. Former travellers have described them; and these accounts, with skeletons and an oil-painting in the British Museum, are the only items of information which we possess.
The Dodo was a fat and heavy bird, and weighed not less than fifty pounds. This portly body was supported on short legs, and provided with ridiculously small wings, making it equally incapable of running and flying, dooming the bird to a rapid destruction. Lastly and principally, it had a stupid physiognomy, but little calculated to conciliate the sympathies of the observer. Its rear was decorated with three or four curly feathers, making a pretence of a tail, whilst in front it presented an enormous curved bill, which occupied nearly the whole of the head.