Marrinee. — Additional Notes on the Kea. 535 



time of the year to visit this kind of country, owing to frequent 

 heavy storms of snow and rain, yet in order to catch the kea 

 at work one must travel at this time of the year. 



I was not fortunate enough to actually catch the bird in the 

 act of killing sheep, yet I was able to follow closely in his tracks 

 and obtain several photographs of dead sheep which had evi- 

 dently been killed by him. Also, through the kindness of Mi-. 

 R. Urquhart, manager of the station, who did all in his power 

 to aid me in my investigations, I was able to get some photo- 

 graphs of keas' nests. As I believe that these are the first 

 photographs that have been taken of these interesting phases 

 in the natural history of the kea, I thought that some of the 

 pictures, accompanied by a detailed description, would be of 

 sufficient interest to place on record. 



Sheep killed by Keas. 



The first dead sheep was found at the foot of the Rolleston 

 Range, about ten miles above the Rakaia Forks, on a broad 

 expanse of river-flat, known at the homestead as the " Top 

 Flat." The animal was a merino ram, in splendid condition, 

 and, from the place in which it was found, it had apparently 

 been chased by the bird or birds until it was cornered where 

 two wire fences met, and there injured. The sheep was quite 

 dead, and lying on its wounded side. On turning the beast 

 over we found an ugly black-looking wound on the right loin 

 at 11 in. from the tail. The hole was 5 in. long by 4 in. wide. 

 The wool was all torn off, and the flesh was removed so that the 

 transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae were visible. Though 

 a deep hole had been made in the flesh, the birds had not reached 

 the body-cavity, nor had they injured the kidneys, and from 

 the appearance of the animal it seemed as if it had died from 

 blood-poisoning. Further up the back there were several 

 other places where the wool had been picked. We propped the 

 sheep up in order to photograph it, and on returning next day 

 we found that the keas had evidently been at it, as was shown 

 by the wool which was scattered around the carcase. 



On the same flat we noticed another merino ram which had 

 apparently been picked, and on rounding up the mob and captur- 

 ing the animal we found a V-shaped scar 6 in. by 4 in. on the 

 right loin. The sheep was still running with the mob, but, as 

 the wound was dirty and very much festered, there was all 

 probability of the animal succumbing to its injuries. 



On my return to the Lake Coleridge Station I found that 

 during my short absence the keas had been at work, and a 

 wounded sheep was found dead near the homestead. Through 

 the kindness of Mr. J. Murchison, who kept it for me, I was 



