mostly belonged to the closely allied Apteryx Mantelli of Bartlett, as we shall presently show, though specimens of the true Apteryx australis exist in the British Museum, and in several other collections.
The original bird described by Dr. Shaw is stated by Mr. Bartlett (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 276) to have come from Dusky Bay, in the province of Otago, Middle Island, whence Dr. Mantell's specimen, upon which Mr. Bartlett grounded his observations as to the distinctness of this species from Apteryx Mantelli, was also procured.
Dr. Hochstetter was able to learn nothing of the existence of this Apteryx in the province of Nelson, in the same island. In fact, the species is so closely allied to the Apteryx Mantelli as to render it very desirable that further examples of it should be obtained, and a rigid comparison instituted between the two. For the present, however, we must regard this form of Apteryx as belonging to the southern portion of the Middle Island.
2. Apteryx Owenii.
Apteryx Owenii, Gould, P.Z.S. 1817, p. 94.
„„ Birds of Austr. vi. pl. 3.
Owen's Apteryx, which is readily distinguished from the preceding species and A. Mantelli, by its smaller size, transversely barred plumage and slender bill, was first described by Mr. Gould in 1847, from an example procured by Mr. F. Strange, and "believed to have been obtained from the South Island." Since that period other specimens have been received in this country, which have sufficed to establish the species, and from the information obtained by Dr. von Hochstetter, there is no doubt of this being the common Apteryx of the northern portion of the Middle Island.
"In the spurs of the Southern Alps on Cook's Strait, in the province of Nelson," says Dr. von Hochstetter,. "that is, in the higher wooded mountain-valleys of the Wairau chain, as also westwards of Blind-Bay, in the wooded mountains between the Motucka and Aorere valleys, Kiwis of this species are still found in great numbers. During my stay in the province of Nelson I had myself two living examples (male and female) of this species. They were procured by some natives, whom I sent out for this purpose, in the upper wooded valleys of the river State, a confluent of the Aorere, in a country elevated from 2000 to 3000 feet above the sea level. It appears that this Apteryx still lives very numerously and widely spread in the extended southern continuations of the Alps."
3. Apteryx Mantelli.
Apteryx australis, Gould, Birds of Australia, xi. pl. 2.
Apteryx Mantelli, Bartlett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1817, p. 93.
The characters which distinguish this commoner and better known Apteryx from the true A. australis of Shaw were pointed out by Mr. Bartlett at the meeting of the Zoological Society, held on the 10th Dec. 1850:—"This bird differs from the original Apteryx australis of Dr. Shaw," says Mr. Bartlett, "in its smaller size, its
