Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
KIWI
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: KHA-KRI
del.icio.us it!
|
KIWI , or Kiwi-Kiwi, the See also:Maori name—first apparently
introduced to zoological literature by See also:Lesson in 1828 (See also:Man.
15
d'Ornithologie, ii. 210, or Voy. de la " Coquille," zoologie, p. 418), and now very generally adopted in See also:English—of one of the most characteristic forms of New See also:Zealand birds, the Apteryx of scientific writers. This remarkable See also:bird was unknown till See also:George See also:Shaw described and figured it in 1813 (Nat. See also:Miscellany, pls. 10J7, 1058) from a specimen brought to him from the See also:southern See also:coast of that See also:country by See also:Captain Barcley of the See also:ship " See also:Providence." At Shaw's See also:death, in the same See also:year, it passed
into the See also:possession of See also:Lord See also:Stanley, afterwards 13th See also:earl of See also:Derby, and See also:president of the Zoological Society, and it is now with the See also:rest of his collection in the See also:Liverpool Museum. Considering the See also:state of systematic See also:ornithology at the See also:time, Shaw's See also:assignment of a position to this new and See also:strange bird, of which he had but the skin, does him See also:great See also:credit, for he said it seemed " to approach more nearly to the Struthious and Gallinaceous tribes than to any other." And his credit is still greater when we find the See also:venerable See also: See also:Zoology, xiii. 70). Meanwhile in 1820 K. J. Temminck, who had never seen a specimen, had assorted it with the See also:dodo in an See also:order to which he applied the name of Inertes (Man. d'Ornithologie, i. cxiv.). In 1831 R. P. Lesson, who had previously (loc. cit.) made some blunders about it, placed it (Traite d'Ornithologie, p. 12), though only, as he says, " See also:par analogie et a priori," in his first See also:division of birds, " Oiseaux Anomaux," which is See also:equivalent to what we now See also:call See also:Ratitae, making of it a See also:separate See also:family " Nullipennes." At that time no second example was known, and some doubt was See also:felt, especially on the See also:Continent, as to the very existence of such a bird'—though Lesson had himself when in the See also:Bay of Isiands in See also:April 1824 (Voy. " Coquille," ut supra) heard of it; and a few years later J. S. C. See also:Dumont d'Urville had seen its skin, which the naturalists of his expedition procured, worn as a tippet by a Maori See also:chief at Tolaga Bay (Houa-houa),2 and in 183o gave what proves to be on the whole very accurate in-formation concerning it (Voy. " See also:Astrolabe," ii. 107). To put all suspicion at rest, Lord Derby sent his unique specimen for See also:exhibition at a See also:meeting of the Zoological Society, on the 12th of See also:February 1833 (Proc. Zool. Society, 1833, p. 24), and a few months later (tom. cit., p. 8o) See also: Herein the systematic See also:place of the See also:species, as akin to the
r See also:Cuvier in the second edition of his Rigne See also:Animal only referred to it in a footnote (i. 49).
2 Cruise in 1822 (Journ. See also:Residence in New Zealand, p. 313) had spoken of an " See also:emeu " found in that See also:island, which must of course have been an Apteryx.
Struthious birds, was placed beyond cavil, and the author called upon all interested in zoology to aid in further See also:research as to this singular See also:form. In consequence of this See also:appeal a legless skin was within two years sent to the society (Proceedings, 1835, p. 61) obtained by W. Yate of Wairnate, who said it was the second he had seen, and that he had kept the bird alive for nearly a fortnight, while in less than another couple of years additional See also:information (op. cit., 1837, p. 24) came from T. K. See also:Short to the effect that he had seen two living, and that all Yarrell had said was substantially correct, except underrating its progressive See also:powers, Not See also:long afterwards Lord Derby received and in See also: See also:Owen, furnished that eminent anatomist, in See also:conjunction with other specimens of the same See also:kind received from Drs See also:Lyon and George See also:Bennett, with the materials of the masterly monograph laid before the society in instalments, and ultimately printed in its Transactions (ii. 257; iii. 277). From this time the whole structure of the kiwi has certainly been far better known than that of nearly any other bird, and by degrees other examples found their way to See also:England, some of which were distributed to the various museums of the Continent and of See also:America .3 In 1847 much See also:interest was excited by the reported See also:discovery of another species of the genus (Proceedings, 1847, p. 51), and though the See also:story was not confirmed, a second species was really soon after made known by John See also:Gould (tom. cit., p. 93; Transactions, vol. iii: p. 379, pl. 57) under the name of Apteryx oweni—a just See also:tribute to the great See also:master who had so minutely explained the See also:anatomy of the See also:group. Three years later A. D. See also:Bartlett See also:drew See also:attention to the See also:manifest difference existing among certain examples, all of which had hitherto been regarded as specimens of A. australis, and the examination of a large See also:series led him to conclude that under that name two distinct species were confounded. To the second of these, the third of the genus (according to his views), he gave the name of A. mantelli (Proceedings, 185o, p. 274), and it soon turned out that to this new form the See also:majority of the specimens already obtained belonged. In 1851 the first kiwi known to have reached England alive was presented to the Zoological Society by See also:Eyre, then See also:lieutenant-See also:governor of New Zealand. This was found to belong to the newly described A. mantelli, and some careful observations on its habits in captivity were published by John Wolley and another (Zoologist, pp. 3409, 3605).' Subsequently the society has received several other live examples of this form, besides one of the real A. australis (Proceedings, 1872, p. 861), some of A. oweni, and one of a supposed See also:fourth species, A. haasti, characterized in 1871 by Potts (See also:Ibis, 1872, p. 35; Trans. N. Zeal. See also:Institute, iv. 204; V. 195).5 The kiwis form a group of the subclass Ratitae to which the See also:rank of an order may fitly be assigned, as they differ in many important particulars from any of the other existing forms of Ratite birds. The most obvious feature the Apteryges afford is the presence of a back toe, while the extremely aborted See also:condition of the wings, the position of the nostrils—almost at the tip of the maxilla—and the See also:absence of an after-See also:shaft in the feathers, are characters nearly as manifest, and others not less determinative, though more recondite, will be found on examination. The kiwis are See also:peculiar to New Zealand, and it
3 In 1842, according to See also:Broderip (See also:Penny Cyclopaedia, See also:xxiii. 146), two had been presented to the Zoological Society by the New Zealand See also:Company, and two more obtained by Lord Derby, one of which he had given to Gould. In 1844 the See also:British Museum possessed three, and the See also:sale See also:catalogue of the Rivoli Collection, which passed in 1846 to the See also:Academy of Natural Sciences at See also:Philadelphia, includes a single specimen—probably the first taken to America.
This bird in 1859 laid an See also:egg, and afterwards continued to See also:lay one or two more every year. In 1865 a male of the same species was introduced, but though a strong disposition to breed was shown on the See also:part of both, and the eggs, after the See also:custom of the Ratitae, were incubated by him, no progeny was hatched (Proceedings, 1868,
P. 329).
5 A See also:fine series of figures of all these supposed species is given by See also:Rowley (Orn. Miscellany, vol. i. pls. 1-6). Some others, as A. See also:maxima, A. mollis, and A. fusca have also been indicated, but See also:proof of their validity has yet to be adduced.
is believed that A. mantelli is the representative in the See also:North Island of the southern A. ausiralis, both being of a dark reddish-See also: Sir See also:Walter See also:Buller writes (B. of New Zealand, p. 362): " The kiwi is in some measure compensated for the absence of wings by its swiftness of See also:foot. When See also:running it makes wide strides and carries the body in an oblique position, with the See also:neck stretched to its full extent and inclined forwards. In the See also:twilight it moves about cautiously and as noiselessly as a See also:rat, to which, indeed, at this time it bears some outward resemblance. In a quiescent posture, the body generally assumes a perfectly rotund See also:appearance; and it sometimes, but only rarely, supports itself by resting the point of its See also:bill on the ground. It often yawns when disturbed in the daytime, gaping its mandibles in a very See also:grotesque manner. When provoked it erects the body, and, raising the foot to the See also:breast, strikes downwards with considerable force and rapidity, thus using its See also:sharp and powerful claws as weapons of See also:defence. . While See also:hunting for its See also:food the bird makes a continual sniffing See also:sound through the nostrils, which are placed at the extremity of the upper mandible. Whether it is guided as much by See also:touch as by See also:smell I cannot safely say; but it appears to me that both senses are used in the See also:action. That the sense of touch is highly See also:developed seems quite certain, because the bird, although it may not be audibly sniffing, will always first touch an See also:object with the point of its bill, whether in the See also:act of feeding or of See also:surveying the ground; and when shut up in a cage or confined in a See also:room it may be heard, all through the See also:night, tapping softly at the walls. . . . It is interesting to See also:watch the bird, in a state of freedom, foraging for worms, which constitute its See also:principal food: it moves about with a slow action of the body; and the long, flexible bill is driven into the soft ground, generally See also:home to the very See also:root, and is either immediately withdrawn with a See also:worm held at the extreme tip of the mandibles, or it is gently moved to and fro, by an action of the See also:head and neck, the body of the bird being perfectly steady. It is amusing to observe the extreme care and deliberation with which the bird draws the worm from its hiding-place, coaxing it out as it were by degrees, instead of pulling roughly or breaking it. On getting the worm fairly out of the ground, it throws up its head with a jerk, and swallows it whole." The foregoing See also:extract refers to A. mantelli, but there is little doubt of the remarks being equally applicable to A. australis, and probably also to A. oweni, though the different proportion of the bill in the last points to some diversity in the mode of feeding. (A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] KIVU |
[next] KIZIL IRMAK |