Ornith. [f. Gr. ἀ priv. + πτέρυξ wing: cf. ἀπτέρυγος wingless.] A New Zealand bird, about the size of a goose, with merely rudimentary wings and no tail, called by the natives Kiwi.
1813. G. Shaw, Natur. Misc., XXIV. 1058. The Southern Apteryx.
1854. Owen, in Orr’s Circ. Sc., I. 221. Birds devoid of the power of flight, such as the ostrich and apteryx.
