Page:EB1911 - Volume 15.djvu/872

Rh is believed that A. mantelli is the representative in the North Island of the southern A. australis, both being of a dark reddish-brown, longitudinally striped with light yellowish-brown, while A. oweni, of a light greyish-brown transversely barred with black, is said to occur in both islands. About the size of a large domestic fowl, they are birds of nocturnal habit, sleeping, or at least inactive, by day, feeding mostly on earth-worms, but occasionally swallowing berries, though in captivity they will eat flesh suitably minced. Sir Walter Buller writes (B. of New Zealand, p. 362):—

“The kiwi is in some measure compensated for the absence of wings by its swiftness of foot. When running it makes wide strides and carries the body in an oblique position, with the neck stretched to its full extent and inclined forwards. In the twilight it moves about cautiously and as noiselessly as a rat, to which, indeed, at this time it bears some outward resemblance. In a quiescent posture, the body generally assumes a perfectly rotund appearance; and it sometimes, but only rarely, supports itself by resting the point of its bill on the ground. It often yawns when disturbed in the daytime, gaping its mandibles in a very grotesque manner. When provoked it erects the body, and, raising the foot to the breast, strikes downwards with considerable force and rapidity, thus using its sharp and powerful claws as weapons of defence While hunting for its food the bird makes a continual sniffing sound through the nostrils, which are placed at the extremity of the upper mandible. Whether it is guided as much by touch as by smell I cannot safely say; but it appears to me that both senses are used in the action. That the sense of touch is highly developed seems quite certain, because the bird, although it may not be audibly sniffing, will always first touch an object with the point of its bill, whether in the act of feeding or of surveying the ground; and when shut up in a cage or confined in a room it may be heard, all through the night, tapping softly at the walls It is interesting to watch the bird, in a state of freedom, foraging for worms, which constitute its principal food: it moves about with a slow action of the body; and the long, flexible bill is driven into the soft ground, generally home to the very root, and is either immediately withdrawn with a worm held at the extreme tip of the mandibles, or it is gently moved to and fro, by an action of the head and neck, the body of the bird being perfectly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 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.

KIZILBASHES (Turkish, “Red-Heads”), the nickname given by the Orthodox Turks to the Shiitic Turkish immigrants from Persia, who are found chiefly in the plains from Kara-Hissar along Tokat and Amasia to Angora. During the wars with Persia the Turkish sultans settled them in these districts. They are strictly speaking persianized Turks, and speak pure Persian. There are many Kizilbashes in Afghanistan. Their immigration dates only from the time of Nadir Shah (1737). They are an industrious honest folk, chiefly engaged in trade and as physicians, scribes, and so on. They form the bulk of the amir’s cavalry. Their name seems to have been first used in Persia of the Shiites in allusion to their red caps.

See Ernest Chantre, Recherches anthropologiques dans l’Asie occidentale (Lyons, 1895).

KIZIL IRMAK, i.e. “Red River” (anc. Halys), the largest river in Asia Minor, rising in the Kizil Dagh at an altitude of 6500 ft., and running south-west past Zara to Sivas. Below Sivas it flows south to the latitude of Kaisarieh, and then curves gradually round to the north. Finally, after a course of about 600 m., it discharges its waters into the Black Sea between Sinope and Samsun, where it forms a large delta. The only important tributaries are the Delije Irmak on the right and the Geuk Irmak on the left bank.

KIZLYAR (, or ), a town of Russia, in Caucasia, in the province of Terek, 120 m. N.E. of Vladikavkaz, in the low-lying delta of the river Terek, about 35 m. from the Caspian. The population decreased from 8309 in 1861 to 7353 in 1897. The town lies to the left of the main stream between two of the larger secondary branches, and is subject to flooding. The town proper, which spreads out round the citadel, has Tatar, Georgian and Armenian quarters. The public buildings include the Greek cathedral, dating from 1786; a Greek nunnery, founded by the Georgian chief Daniel in 1736; the Armenian church of SS Peter and Paul, remarkable for its size and wealth. The population is mainly supported by the gardens and vineyards irrigated by canals from the river. A government vineyard and school of viticulture are situated 3 m. from the town. About 1,200,000 gallons of Kizlyar wine are sold annually at the fair of Nizhniy-Novgorod. Silk and cotton are woven. Kizlyar is mentioned as early as 1616, but the most notable accession of inhabitants (Armenians, Georgians and Persians) took place in 1715. Its importance as a fortress dates from 1736, but the fortress is no longer kept in repair.

KIZYL-KUM, a desert of Western Asia, stretching S.E. of the Aral Lake between the river Syr-darya on the N.E. and the river Amu-darya on the S.W. It measures some 370 by 220 m., and is in part covered with drift-sand or dunes, many of which are advancing slowly but steadily towards the S.W. In character they resemble those of the neighbouring Kara-kum desert (see ). On the whole the Kizyl-kum slopes S.W. towards the Aral Lake, where its altitude is only about 160 ft. as compared with 2000 in the S.E. In the vicinity of that lake the surface is covered with Aralo-Caspian deposits; but in the S.E., as it ascends towards the foothills of the Tian-shan system, it is braided with deep accumulations of fertile loess.

KJERULF, HALFDAN (1815–1868), Norwegian musical composer, the son of a high government official, was born at Christiania on the 15th of September 1815. His early education was at Christiania University, for a legal career, and not till he was nearly 26—on the death of his father—was he able to devote himself entirely to music. As a fact, he actually started on his career as a music teacher and composer of songs before ever having seriously studied music at all, and not for ten years did he attract any particular notice. Then, however, his Government paid for a year’s instruction for him at Leipzig. For many years after his return to Norway Kjerulf tried in vain to establish serial classical concerts, while he himself was working with Björnson and other writers at the composition of lyrical songs. His fame rests almost entirely on his beautiful and manly national part-songs and solos; but his pianoforte music is equally charming and simple. Kjerulf died at Grefsen, on the 11th of August 1868.

KJERULF, THEODOR (1825–1888), Norwegian geologist, was born at Christiania on the 30th of March 1825. He was educated in the university at Christiania, and subsequently studied at Heidelberg, working in Bunsen’s laboratory. In 1858 he became professor of geology in the university of his native city, and he was afterwards placed in charge of the geological survey of the country, then established mainly through his influence. His contributions to the geology of Norway were numerous and important, especially in reference to the southern portion of the country, and to the structure and relations of the Archaean and Palaeozoic rocks, and the glacial phenomena. His principal results were embodied in his work Udsigt over det sydlige Norges Geologi (1879). He was author also of some poetical works. He died at Christiania on the 25th of October 1888.

KLADNO, a mining town of Bohemia, Austria, 18 m. W.N.W. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900), 18,600, mostly Czech. It is situated in a region very rich in iron-mines and coal-fields and possesses some of the largest iron and steel works in Bohemia. Near it is the mining town of Buschtĕhrad (pop. 3510), situated in the centre of very extensive coal-fields. Buschtĕhrad was originally the name of the castle only. This was from the 15th century to 1630 the property of the lords of Kolovrat, and came by devious inheritance through the grand-dukes of Tuscany, to the emperor Francis Joseph. The name Buschtĕhrad was first given to the railway, and then to the town, which had been called Buckow since its foundation in 1700. There is another castle of Buschtĕhrad near Hořic. Kladno, which for centuries had been a village of no importance, was sold in 1705 by the grand-duchess Anna Maria of Tuscany to the cloister in