NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 141, 18 June 1927, Page 17

NATURE NOTES

THE KIWI

SPECIES AND DISTRIBUTION

(By U. H. D. Stidolpii, E.a!o.U,)'

Much speculation existed in the past, as to the number of valid species ,'of, kiwi in New Zealand; sbmo ornithoio« gists recognising as many as se.ybiv The number now acceptedby the iliajority. of investigators is three,- 'with.' different forms inhabiting certainp»Ttsof the country. The North Island, 'tli'e South Island, and the Stewart Island kiwi,' formerly regarded as distinct species, are now considered as one, mti raecs'inhabiting the respective islands. In ■ colour—the brown kiwi (Aptery* australis) as the bird .is known ', to scientists—is rufous or greyish brown; streaked longitudinally , with : black. Thisrbird is very variable, in 'size, tha total; Icnglh varying from twenty-loss inches to about thirty, the largest specimens, being obtained oh Stewart Islands The length of the bill 'of the malejS from 3.75 inches to 5.5 inches; andYfif the female from ' 5.5 inches to 7.5 inches. A smaller specie's,.' the lit|l« grey kiwi (Apteryx ;ow'ehii) apparently occurs in both the North -and-. South Islands, but its presence in. the. former island has not been satisfactorily, determined. A form of this-bird, at .'one tninj considered a -distinct species;:'in-habits'-tho- West Coast ranges of'WVs South Island. The grey kiwi is, "a* the;name suggests, grey in colour,spotted! with yellowish . white, the spots forming.bands. , The'bill differs from! that of the;, brown, kiwi, in being straight, not.slightly.;curved. Iri.tha maje bird the length of the bill is aboub 2.85 inches, arid of the .female aboufc 5.5' inches.- The total length . of 'tha bird is about nineteen inches/ )l>uti paries considerably, mostly on th« smaller size. The remaining species; known as the great spotted kiwi (Apteryx haasti). attains a total lengUrofl from 25 to 27 inches, and inhabits-thW West Coast of the South Island, prut, cipally-sub-alpine regions. It is browlri. ish grey in colour, spotted with yellow. ish white, forming broad lightbands. The bill is slightly curved, that of th» female being considerably the larger, as is the case in all species, arid megsurjng about 5.4 inches as compared with 4.75 inches-in the case- ~ot : tha male. . . ■ .

; At the present day the brown kiwi is still numerous in certain pryts. of the country, but, of course, is not :'ko plentifnl. as was formerly the case. Tha inroads of settlement, and tho former decimation of its. numbers by ■-• Jciwi hunters—the. skins were: used; for niak. big muffs and mats—reduced, its num. bers considerably, so much so that it-is matter of wonder that the bird has remained as common as it has." Does, too, readily follow; thei scent of the kiwi, and to-day are probably the worst enemy the birds have to face. The only portion of the Wellington province in which, the brown kiwi is found 1 is the extreme northern districts. ". in the bush country of Taranaki, fiawkes 3ay, Auckland, and North Auckland, however, it still occurs/and in som* districts is comparatively 1 . common. -Uie brown kiwi, apparently, has never been recorded from the southern portion; of the "Wellington province;, riot even from the Tararna; Mountains -it was. on Mount Hector, however, that the late Mr.. Morgan.'Carkeek' obtained a specimen of the little grey kiwi That was in 1875. Mr. Carkeek found the bird comparatively abundant at that t;me. But the most puzzling feature connected with the occurrence of this species on that mountain is,''that it ha* never, been seen since," nor has-it:beea found in. other parts of the. North. Island. It is unlikely that the bird has. suffered extermination in that remote mountain retreat., In the South Island the various species—brown, grey, and great spotted—occur.on iV* western portion, from Nelson to Puy* segar, Point. • One species only occurs on Stewart Island, a form of the br'oWa kiwi. ' ' ..■'■■.' ■ ■■:'

:• The. cry of the. brown kiwi has beeii described .as harsh and resembling f'cr-r-r-ruck, cr-r-r-ruck," not. uttered until after sundown. ■ When/irritated it makes a crackling noise by snapping its mandibles together very" rapidly. The grey kiwi utters a cry like "knee, knee, knee," repeated many times'.in succession, and in reply "kurr," khrr, kurr." The kiwi has an extended breeding season. Mr. H. GuthrfeSmith describes the.actions of a young brown kiwi which he kept in: confinement; for a short period • on' Stewart Island.- At night, wrote Mr. GuthrleSmith, when .-the lights were extinguish. edy the kiwi could.be heard feeling and tapping along the sides of the buftsr box in which it was.'temporarily - confined: • At Half Moon Bay it was.placed' in a. large packing, case well littered with peat. -There it became comparatively tame. Usually the worms g»th« ored for thebird were plqced a shallow dish, and when callers came,to sea the bird its first action was to explora that dish in anticipation of extra rations. The bird would, readily takai worms out of friendly hands, or when dangled in front. Mr. Guthrie-Smitb. noticed that when the bird Was looking for worms on the ground, the bill would ber carried an inch ■ or two ■'■ above tfce litter, and the peat would be felt softly,«just as a blind man used his staff slantingly, to poke and probe the ground immediately in front. If whilgfc investigating, the peat a worm wasilpV cated, "Dick," as the bird was called, would bury his bill to the very hilt* in. the Brown mould and .then, in this uXixtude, wrench it from side to Bide as'if to obtain a wider range at its nasal ex. tr^mit}'. .. '.. ■..;'.„• .; :....:.u'