MANTELL'S APTERYX (_Apteryx Mantelli_) is smaller than the above bird, the
plumage darker and redder, the wing smaller, and formed of strong thick
quills, and the face covered with long, straggling hairs; the tarsus is
longer, and scutellated in front, and the toes and claws shorter than in
the _A. Australis_. The length of the body is twenty-three inches; the
bill measures four, the tarsus two inches and three-quarters, and the
centre toe, with claw, two inches and a half. An unmated female, in the
London Zoological Gardens, several times laid an egg, in all about nine,
and, according to Mr. Layard, manifested a strong desire to sit, placing
herself upon the egg, and resisting all attempts to remove her from her
position. This Apteryx, and the _A. Australis_, are regarded by Gould as
belonging to the same species.