A pterygia

Order of Ratitæ, including the Kiwis ( Ap teryx ) of New Zealand. These are birds as large as a hen, with hair-like feathers, rudimentary wings, with one phalanx bearing a long claw, short stout scaly legs having three toes Apteryx. directed anteriorly and adapted for scratching, and a hind toe, short and raised above the ground. The beak is slender, with the nostrils near its point. They feed on insects by night, live in pairs, breeding twice yearly, laying a large egg, which is incubated in a hole scraped in the ground. The egg weighs fourteen ounces, or a fourth of the bird's weight. They are nearly exterminated.