344 Mr. J. Haast 07i the Ground- Parrot of New Zealand. 



appears much smaller when the crop is empty. The mass of 

 this little nutritious food which the bird must collect shows why 

 it lives on the ground, and in barren and unproductive districts 

 where no other species of the same family could exist. Another 

 peculiarity, perhaps likewise resulting from its vegetable diet, 

 is, that the bird, instead of having, like others, an oily soft 

 kind of fat under the skin, possesses a great quantity of firm 

 and white fat. Its flesh is better and more substantial than that 

 of any other species of Parrot, and of exquisite flavour. To 

 travellers in the wilderness this bird is a great dainty, and I 

 can well understand that the old Maori from the west coast, 

 who accompanied us, felt his mouth water when anybody men- 

 tioned the Kakapo. 



It is certain that a bird unable to fly, no matter how strong 

 its claws and beak are, could not defend itself from its enemies by 

 merely climbing trees or hiding in holes in the earth. We may 

 be sure that wherever man, with his two domestic animals, dog 

 and cat (many of which have become wild here), has not yet 

 been, the Kakapo is to be found in great numbers; and that, 

 before the appearance of man, neither the native dog " Kuri '^ 

 (now no longer to be found) nor any other animal existed that 

 hunted birds for its support. Equally certain is it, that those 

 quadrupeds, traces of the feet of which have been found on 

 alpine river-beds, but none of which have ever been seen or 

 obtained by scientific travellers, must subsist entirely on fishes. 

 My examinations of the subterranean habitations of the Kakapo 

 corroborate these opinions. I expected to find the Kakapo in 

 well-excavated caves, with entrances which would only permit the 

 inhabitant to enter — something like the lair of a fox or badger. 

 Such, at least, the natives assured me to be the case ; but I found, 

 with the exception of a single instance, that the habitations con- 

 sisted of clefts or fissures in rocks, holes between the roots of 

 decayed trees, or natural openings between fragments of rock, 

 where my large dog easily entered, and generally returned head 

 foremost, carrying his prey in his mouth. This proves the dog 

 must have been able to turn round when within. At first my 

 dog was severely punished by the beak and claws of the Kakapo ; 

 but, after a little experience, he learned how to grasp the bird 



