Jennifer Pitchford, age 9., of Scottsville, Kentucky, for her question

What exactly is a kiwi?

Let's take a trip to New Zealand and climb up a grand green mountain. When the sun goes down cue wait there; wide awake in a damp, ferny forest. If we came to the right spot, soon we hear a shrill Kee wee: There's also a rustling among the fallen leaves. Then, if our eyes are used to the gloom, we see a small furry form. No, it's not a rabbit. It's a kiwi  and the kiwi is the most unusual bird in the world.

Birds, we know, are supposed to wear feathers and most of then: have wings for flying. The kiwi looks like a ball of shaggy dark fur and his wings are nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless he is a bird about as big as a chicken. his feet and legs look, as if they belong to a chicken, though they seem much too big for his size. The claws on his three toes are extra big and strong.

What looks like fur is really a tangle of long thin feathers, streaked with brown, dart, brown and black. Hidden in the tangles are two little wings, shorter than your two smallest fingers. Even if he wanted to fly, these wins are too weak to lift his bulky body off the ground. What's more, flying birds need stiff feathers in their tails and the unusual kiwi has no tail.

Other birds have nostrils high on their beaks and experts think that they cannot smell very well. The kiwi has large nostrils near the tip of his beak and tests prove that he has an excellent sniffer. In fact, he can smell a worm that is snuggled down three inches under the ground. This is very useful because worms are his favorite food.

His remarkable beak looks like a long strong spear and he    uses it to dig himself burrows and cozy little rooms, usually among the roots of a friendly tree. This is where he does to doze during the day. After dark, he waddles forth on his bi  feet and prods around in the dirt, sniffling for worms. The kiwi is a very shy bird and he looks rather clumsy. But when visitors startle him, he can run through his ferny forest faster than you could.

Though he prefers to run and hide, the kiwi is no coward. When captured, he fights like a hero. He uses his sturdy legs to kick forward and his mighty claws can rip a man's hands to ribbons.

Mr. and Mrs. Kiwi share a pleasant family life to ether. When time comes to raise a family, they scoop out a special burrow for a nest. Then she lays a whopping white egg. She weighs only about eight pounds and the remarkable egg weighs at least one pound. Then the proud father takes over and keeps the egg warm for about 80 days. Sometimes he does not leave the nest, even to eat, for a whole week. When at last the chick hatches, Mrs. Kiwi may lay another egg.

There is no other bird in the world like the kiwi. iIo wonder the people of flew Zealand chose him and cherish him as their national emblem. Long ago they passed laws to protect him and nowadays, no more kiwis may be taken from their native homeland. And, the bird who cannot fly by himself flies proudly on the flag of New Zealand.