Page:Picturesque Dunedin.djvu/119

Rh this bird's appearance in life, placed above the desk-cases.

Coming to the eastern side, the argus pheasant at once catches the eye, with its fine display of fan-like feathers. The markings on these, called ocelli, are very beautiful, and exactly, resemble balls placed in cups. The head is concealed behind one of the wings, as if the bird were aware of what a remarkable contrast to its splendid plumage this unadorned member presents. Here, too, are the different varieties of the domestic fowl, which illustrate how different species may be formed from the same ancestors. The jungle-fowl of India, a bird something like a game-fowl, and a little bigger than a bantam, becoming domesticated has given rise to all the domestic fowls, and it is remarkable how some of these, for example, the Cochin-China, and the Polish, differ from each other.

Passing over the rest of the birds on the side of this gallery, the New Zealand species of the Ratitae, or true flightless birds are met with in the cases at the south end.

The Ratitae are the lowest among birds, and originally widely spread, are now disappearing, and with one exception—the ostrich—are confined to the southern hemisphere. One species of the ostrich is found in Africa and Arabia, another in South America, the emu in Australia, the cassowary in North Australia and New Guinea. Attached to these, and to many of the specimens throughout the museum are detailed descriptions, giving an interesting account of the chief characters and peculiarities.

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. Penguins, showing the enormous mass of down on the young birds, are well represented. Although not able to fly, they do not belong to Ratitae. Being sea-birds, their wings have become