MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1940, Page 2

MAORI MEMORIES

THE STRANGE KIWI.

(Recorded by J.U.S. for the “Times-Age. )

What a strange contrast we have betwen our birds, some without wings, others that fly only about 100 yards, and several known to make regular periodic flights of about 2000 miles m vast numbers. Of those without outward sign of wings, the kiwi was, in our pioneer days, the best known and most numerous. His brown feathers are more like hair, and the kiwi mats woven in fine flax resembled costly fur. There are five varieties, varying in size and shades of colour, from the size of a small game cock to that of a turkey. Naturalists regarded the kiwi and the giant moa as first cousins, though separated by countless ages. The kiwi is. a real night bird and remains hidden in swamps or bushes sound asleep all day. Its legs and feet are heavy and clumsy. Perhaps its strangest featureis the long thin sharp straight beak with nostrils at the point. This enables him to smell the worms and pull them out of the fine holes six inches deep. The body of the bird is shaped like • cone. In the place of wings it has two crooked flaps ending in curved hooks of horny appearance. The male bird is only half the size of the hen, which lays an egg as large as the father bird. The problem of hatching this great ball is solved by half burying it in the ground. Though generally silent, its call is like the grunt of a pig.