Darlene Blow, age 11, of Victor, D. C., for her question:

What does a kiwi look like?

The kiwi is a strange bird of New Zealand. At first sight you might wonder whether he is a bird at all. For he seems to have no wings and no tail. What’s more, his pear shaped body seems to be covered with long and shaggy greyish brown hair. Nevertheless, the kiwi is a bird.

The little useless wings are hidden under the shaggy coat, His ancestors may have had tails, but in the modern kiwi, the tail has almost disappeared, The shaggy furs when we examine it closely, turns out to be feathers after all. Each feather is a long and supple shaft rather like a thick, silken hair. The kiwi has a small head and a very long, thin beak. Altogether he is about as big and as heavy as a sizable chicken