186 



THE OOLOGIST. 



stantly, though not strong enough to 

 kill it single-handed. The squeaking 

 of the rat is a signal to another weka, 

 who rushes up, and helps to kill the 

 enemy. 



It is surmised that the kakapo, or 

 great ground parrot — the only parrot 

 which does not fly— had once the use 

 of its wings. Finding in New Zealand 

 no ground enemies and abundance of 

 food and cover, it ceased to use its 

 wings, which only subjected it to the 

 risk of being taken by a hawk, and as 

 the wings degenerated from disuse, the 

 legs developed in the same proportion, 

 so that now it is a good runner. Tree 

 parrots in Australia are awkward on 

 the ground, but the seed-eating grass 

 parrots all run quickly. In addition 

 to the islands, which are so convenient 

 a sanctuary, the Government has two 

 preserves for kakapos on the main- 

 land. They are nightfeeders, though 

 fruit-eaters — an unusual com- 

 bination, as Mr, Henry points out. 

 Like the owls, they have a disc of 

 prominent feathers about the eyes and 

 near the nose, those long hair-like 

 feathers or feelers common to noctur- 

 nal birds or those which have their 

 home underground. They are so 

 feeble, so unconscious of having 

 enemies, that one may go up to them 

 without their showing any alarm If 

 touched they are resentful, but if you 

 sit down beside the bird a little while 

 in daylight it tucks its head calmly 

 under its wing and goes off to sleep 

 again. Unlike the weka, the t kakapo 

 hides her nest away carefully from her 

 own mate, who is generally both fat 

 and indolent. These birds only breed 

 every second year, and the curious 

 point about them is that all the birds 

 lay in the same season — a peculiarity 

 which naturalists are quite unable to 

 understand. Their call at night is 

 very much like the booming of a bit- 

 tern in the swamps, and the night- 

 drumming is only heard just before 



the nesting time. In the following 

 year they are silent. The birds are 

 always plentiful where wild berries 

 grow thickly, and New Zealanders 

 speak of such spots as "kakapo-gard- 

 ens." The young, when first hatched, 

 are covered with a snow-white down. 

 The holes so frequently found in their 

 gardens, where they have scratched, 

 suggest that they dig for truffles, and 

 it is known that they eat mushrooms. 



The roa, another of the wingless 

 birds, is distinguished by its wonder- 

 ful beak — long, slender, and slightly 

 curved. This, too, is a night bird,, 

 and rarely found far away from for- 

 ests. It uses its long, snipe-like bill 

 just for the same purpose that the 

 snipe does its bill, except that it works 

 in harder ground, and its chief food 

 is earthworms. Its sight is poor, but 

 Nature, as is usually the case, com- 

 pensates for this defect by sharpening 

 up its sense of smell and hearing. 

 When seen in the moonlight, it moves 

 slowly along with its bill outstretched, 

 and often stands with the point of its 

 bill resting upon the earth, as though 

 either trying to scent the worms or 

 feel for their movements underground. 

 The peculiar thing about their breed- 

 ing habits is that a young bird a week 

 or so old and a fresh egg are frequently 

 found in the same nest. Like the 

 wekas, the parent roas share the cares 

 of a family, though in another way — 

 the male bird does all the hatching. 

 The young are born with all their 

 feathers like mature birds, and appar- 

 ently all their intelligence as well, for 

 as soon as they are hatched they start 

 to search for their own food, and 

 require no hints as to the best place to 

 find it. The single egg, like that of 

 the mutton bird, is exceptionally 

 large. Thus, in the nesting season the 

 hen, always in fine condition, weighs 

 about 81b.. the "hatcher" 51b., and 

 the egg 18oz. 



The grey kiwi is described as a shy. 



