THE KIWI IN VERSE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 77, 2 April 1910, Page 10

THE KIWI IN VERSE.

HIS DANCING AND UNDOING. Naw Zealand's kiwi is quaintly treated in tho Fetoruary St. Nicholas, by Mr. G. F. Hill in verses well illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke. The verso is not startliugly brilliant, but the theme is worked out with pleasing drollery. Tho kiwi of New Zealand it a very curious fowl ; Ho sleeps by day and wakes by night, as if Ho wero an owl. Mott other birds have wings, of course, but here's a little chap Who cannot flap tin wings because he has no wings to flap But ho runs about and snuffles Liko a pig that's after truffles, And he whistles "Kiwi, kiwi" in a most peculiar tone; And ho dances liko an angel, though it's ycry little known. Oh ! St. George he is for England, and St. Denis is for France, But the kiwi's for New Zealand, and a •plendid chap to dance. HU beak is long and slender, with the nostrils at the tip — (But perhaps this doesn't matter since his beak'fl his upper lip)— Ho lives, when he's allowed to, on a hillside in the wood, And it's generally considered that his taato is very good. Yo6, the natives of Now Zealand Think he makes a dainty meal and 'So they hunt him in the sunshine, and they hunt him in the rain, And, if onco they catch him _ napping ? well, ho doesn't danco again. Oh I St. Georgo he is for England, and St. Denis is for France, But the kiwi's for New Zealand, and a splendid chap to danco. The "historee" seta out that the king of tho birds was the Royal Hoopoe, and his Majesty had a notion to award the nightingale as a bride for tho best dancer in a public competition. This was a chance for tho kiwi, but he foolishly decided to improve on nature by dyeing his feathers and equipping himself with a pair of artificial wings. After the dancing had progressed for a fortnight only the kiwi and the crested crane were left in. Warming up to his work, the kiwi developed a warmth which melted the wax that helped to attach his wings and the strings broke. He lost the nightingale and was laughed out of court by all the jeering winged spectators. Tho concluding verse runs : — Now since that day the kiwi lives a lonely lifo and shy : He irrubbles in the underwood and never tries to fly. He's a dingy brown because ho never dyed himself again ; He was too much disgusted with the victory of the crnno. His feathers aro liko bristles, And ho muffles and ki-whistles, And (though but few have seen him, so * it's very littlo known), Very often in tho moonlight he dances all alone. Oh ! St. Goorgo he is for England, and St. Deni« is for Franco, But tho kiwi's for Now Zealand, and a splendid chap to dance.