Kiwi

“ The Maori have legends respecting enormous ngarara that they say once existed here. They have a tale of these taniwha which is somewhat parallel to our nursery stories of dragons.
Instead of animals New Zealand possessed an extraordinary class of gigantic birds, the famous moa, in fact. The kiwi (Apteryx) remains as an example of this family. The kiwi, of which there are four known species, varies from the size of a common hen to that of a goose. It has neither wings nor tail; and its dull brown feathers resemble coarse hair. ”

“ New Zealand possesses the only other existing genus of Ratitae, the kiwi, the most remarkable among living birds. It has a most peculiar walk, its feathers are hair-like, its wings vestigial and apparently absent, its eggs are large out of all proportion, its habits are nocturnal, and it is the only bird which has its nostrils at the extremity of its beak. The kiwi is dying out, and of the four known species, one, Haast's kiwi, is represented by only two skins (in the Christchurch museum) , and a solitary but very perfect skeleton in the Otago museum. ”

“ The Maori used to catch considerable numbers of them, and do still in some parts, using their flesh for food, their skins for leather, and their feathers for weaving into chiefs' robes. Having eaten kiwi old and young, baked and boiled, roast and fried, I am able to state that its meat is tougher and more tasteless than barbecued boot-soles.
The Maori have two ways of catching kiwi. They hunt them with dogs trained to the work; that is one method. The dog flushes the kiwi, which runs swiftly and silently off among the undergrowth. ”

“ Inch by inch he wormed his way out, 90reaching with his feet for the strut where it joined the fuselage.
The Skipper banked the plane over to help Kiwi as much as he could. He saw the perspiration stand out on Jack’s face, and noticed its set expression as Kiwi’s feet groped about for support. Another inch and he might reach it! The force of the wind was terrific.
Kiwi, under this strain, was not conscious of the cold now. He had to look down to find the strut. Just at this time they were passing over mountains of clouds. ”

“ Every now and then he would come into the hut to see how we fared: "To think of it! Who would have supposed it? a Bishop with nothing on but his hat, and one of my red blankets, sitting by my fireside! My Lord, I trust that the wind which percolates through the interstices of my poor house does not inconvenience you." At night, for supper, we had a fresh delicacy, a roasted Kiwi, locally called a "wood-hen," rather like a hen pheasant, one of the surviving specimens of the Apteryx, or "wingless" bird, in New Zealand. ”

“ 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 England, some of which were distributed to the various museums of the Continent and of America. [3]
Kiwi. ”

“ He throttled back his motor to make the attempt. Now was the test!
No strain ever quite equals that of a pupil’s first landing. No matter who the pupil is, everyone within sight or hearing 159pauses tense until it is over. The group stared, fascinated, as young Kiwi glided down, flattened out a few inches above the surface, and settled down to a perfect three-point landing.
Kiwi had done it!
A shout went up and they pounded the Skipper on the back as he watched, almost unbelieving. Kiwi was a pilot! He had mounted into the air alone, had mastered the air, and had landed beautifully. ”

“ The kiwi, as large as a hen and brown of color, however, has been furnished with two legs, but has no wings. Its feet are similar to those of other fowl; it has a long bill, and thin, scattering feathers grow straight from its head. The sides of the kiwi appear as free of wings as those of a cat. ”

“ For, on the one hand, the kiwi, an early type of nocturnal bird, preserved for us in isolated New Zealand, has some marked reptilian and mammalian affinities, not only in the external character of its hair-like feathers, but also in the more important structural points of its diaphragm, its movable vertebræ, and its keelless breast-bone, which are questions rather for the professed anatomist than for mere idle loungers basking lazily in the sun on a Provençal hill-side. ”

“ In the centre of this spacious hall sat the king flanked by his four wives, the principal and most attractive of whom was Pare Hauraki, [Pg 21] a fine buxom woman with oval features and artistically tattooed lips, habited in native costume, with a korowhai, or cape, bound with kiwi feathers, thrown carelessly across her shoulders, over which her dark raven hair fell in thick, waving clusters. A number of chiefs of the various tribes assembled, squatted in a semicircle in front of the king, who rose from his seat—a rush mat—as I approached, and motioned for me to be seated in front of him. ”

“ Now a kiwi, “for the information of all concerned,” as the technical bulletins put it, is the human counterpart of a certain type of training plane with reduced wing surface which roars like a lion but never leaves the ground.
Billy was still thinking anathema on the score of kiwis in general and Weifer in particular when he reached the hangar and was confronted with Jennie. His own scout ship was standing just outside the curtains with the blocks at the wheels and the engine idling gently. The crew chief, Hansen, was in the seat, holding back the stick. ”

“ Seddon is represented as a Kiwi (Apteryx) , a flightless bird peculiar to New Zealand, which lays an extraordinarily large egg, quite out of proportion to the size of its body. An enthusiastic Liberal, eighty-two years of age, sent the following letter from Auckland:—
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the noble stand you are making to benefit our colony and to conciliate our kindred and neighbours abroad. We remember your sickness and weakness and weariness, and we know that those who are on your side are greater, more powerful, and outnumber those who are opposed to you. ”

“ As it is man has preferred to let the kiwis go and to import insectivorous allies, most of which have turned out to be doubtful blessings. Among both kiwis and wekas the males are the most dutiful of husbands and fathers. After the eggs are laid they do most of the sitting, and at a later stage provide the chicks with food. The female kiwi, too, is the larger bird, and has the longer beak—points of interest in the avifauna of a land where women’s franchise is law. Very different is the division of labour between the sexes in the case of the kakapo or night-parrot. ”

“ G. A. Keartland, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Zoology, p. 55:
"At any stockyard or station passed Kites were seen . . . at Henbury one female bird was bold enough to come right into camp and pick up the flesh thrown to it from birds I was skinning."
Kiwi, n. Maori name for a wingless struthious bird of New Zealand, the Apteryx (q.v.) , so called from the note of the bird. The species are—
Large Grey Kiwi (Roa roa, generally shortened to Roa, q.v.) — Apteryx haastii, Potts. ”

“ Only one machine was standing on the line, and the mechanics were half-heartedly turning the propeller over.
At their own hangar the two smudgy mechanics were still busy with the stream-lining. There seemed little chance that the plane would be ready much before noon.
Kiwi wandered up the line of hangars to see what other excitement he could find. He liked to listen to the flying talk that was practically the only topic of conversation around the field. He had learned to respect those rather dingy buildings, some of which were now in a sad state of disrepair. ”

“ The bird nests in holes and hollow logs, and close observers say that apparently its eyesight is defective and that it is guided almost wholly by smell. In its egg-laying capacity the kiwi is, perhaps, the most unusual bird in the world. Although only as large as an ordinary domestic fowl, it lays an egg five inches long and three inches wide and averaging between eleven and twelve ounces in weight. ”

“ A bird about the size of a common fowl, with a long bill; it cannot fly, as the wings are extremely small and hidden amongst the plumage, being only 21⁄2 inches long. The plumage of the Northern Kiwi is brown, and that of the South Island grey, the feathers are very much like hair, and when walking it steadies itself with its long bill. In summer it inhabits dense and secluded gullies, and in winter the spurs of the forest-covered hills. During the day the Kiwis sleep in burrows, under roots, or in hollow trees. ”

“ Some time afterwards Hinetekakara conceived, and Ihenga went to catch kiwi for her turukanga. [12] He took with him his dog Potakatahiti, one of the same breed as the dog of the same name which was devoured by Toi and Uenuku. [13] Crossing the swamp Kawa, he went to Papanui, and arriving at the cross-road at Waipumuka ascended the hill Paretawa. Thence he went on to Hakomiti, and Pukerangiora, and began to hunt kiwi. The dog feeling the heat, and becoming thirsty, went off in search of water, at the same time hunting kiwi. When he caught a kiwi he left it on the ground. ”

“ We can moor it where we like, sleep under the awning on top, and keep the car on the shore near by so that we can run back and 12forth to the field. That will only take about twenty minutes, and it means a good swim in the morning and another after mucking around the hangars all day. Does the Kiwi swim? ”

“ The backers of the flight, having had word that the plane was nearly ready for the take-off, wrote the Skipper that they would be at the field by the end of the week. One of them suggested in the letter that there should be a formal christening. It would help the publicity. The fact that he had a very attractive daughter who photographed well may have put the idea into his head.
Kiwi’s excitement ran high at all these new preparations. His new uniform had been delivered, and he had strutted about the houseboat with it on. ”

“ Professor Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 116:
"The Kiwi, although flightless, has a small but well-formed wing, provided with wing quills."
Knockabout, adj. a species of labourer employed on a station; applied to a man of all work on a station. Like Rouseabout (q.v.) .
1876. W. Harcus, `Southern Australia,' p. 275:
"Knockabout hands, 17s. to 20S. per week."
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. ”

“ The wings of birds, when they are developed so as to minister to flight, are all made upon one plan; but as examples of the variation which the organs contributing to make the fore limb manifest, I may [Pg 22] instance the short swimming limb of the Penguin, the practically useless rudiment of a wing found in the Ostrich or Kiwi, and the fully developed wing of the Pigeon. The wings of birds obtain an extensive surface to support the animal by muscular movements of three modifications of structure. ”

“ For landscape interest conjoined to the traditional and historic I know of no part of New Zealand more attractive than the zone along the old frontier line of the Waipa country of which Te Awamutu may be described as the metropolis to-day. Beauty of physical configuration! fertility of soil, poetic Maori folklore, memories of the heroic pioneer days, tales of sadness and glory of the war years—all these elements combine to invest the border line of the Waipa and the Rohepotae with a singular value, above all to those who have had the fortune to be reared on this well-favoured land. ”

“ And so the tale of "Tu-nui-a-moa" is told, and we take our leave of the old pakeha-Maori—Kimble Bent, sailor, soldier, outlaw, Hauhau slave, cartridge-maker, pa-builder, canoe-carver, medicine-man, and what not—sitting smoking his pipe in the midst of his Maori friends. He is still living with the natives; working in their food-gardens, fishing with them, house-building for them. A grey old man, of mild and quiet eye, who might easily be taken for some highly respectable shopkeeper [Pg 332] who had spent all his life in city bounds. ”

“ In Australia, as we have seen, the real obstacles to settlement were the climate and the character of the country; the aborigines were pushed back into the wilder districts or simply crushed out of existence by the civilisation of the white man. Not so the Maori: he has been a very important element in the life of New Zealand, whether as friend or enemy of the white invader, from the time of the earliest settlers—the whalers of Cook Strait, and the traders, boat-builders, and missionaries of the Bay of Islands which lies on the east coast of the long northern peninsula. ”

“ As a result of the settlement we find in the south-east, south and south-west, butter, wool, meat and timber produced in large quantities; while in the centre we have nothing but the scenery and some forest as yet untouched.
If we think of the products which are most valuable to New Zealand at the present day, we shall find that with the exception of timber they have been introduced from abroad by the white settlers and were unknown to the Maoris. But the marshland, dear to the Maori heart, produces one plant which was necessary to the natives in the past and is still very useful to us. ”

“ Renegades of every European nationality have been found living with and fighting for native tribes in Africa [Pg viii] and America and the Islands of Polynesia. But none of them had a wilder story to tell than has the man whose narrative is here presented—Kimble Bent, the pakeha-Maori. Ever since 1865—when he first "took to the blanket"—he has lived with the New Zealand Maoris. For thirteen years he was completely estranged from his fellow-whites; he had deserted from a British regiment and a price was on his head. ”