32 



THE OSPREY. 



larg"er of the living- species is the Kea, 

 (A^. lloiab/7/s),^^^h{ch. is restricted to the 

 South Island of New Zealand. The}- are 

 about 19 inches in leng^th of which nearl3- 

 two inches is taken up b}- the beak. In 

 g-eneral hue the plumag'e is dull olive- 

 green with black edg-es to the feathers. 

 The wing's are dusky brown and the tail 

 blueish olive with a broad band near the 

 end. 



Their home is hig^h above the wooded 

 districts among- the rocks and cliffs where 

 there is only dwarf veg-etation. "Here," 

 says a recent writer, "the Keas may be 

 seen among- the crevices of the rocks 

 when the mountains are shrouded in 

 mist or sleet, or covered with a mantle of 

 snow; while at other times they may be 

 observed soaring- with motionless wing-s 

 from peak to peak." The birds are 

 forced, however, to seek their food at 

 lower elevations during- the winter, and 

 it is this circumstance that has led to the 

 striking- chang-e in their diet. Orig-inally 

 they probably fed on succulent vegeta- 

 bles, roots and insects, but since the in- 

 troduction of the sheep industry they 

 have developed decided carniverous pro- 

 pensities, for, according- to Sir. W. Duller, 

 those Keas which "frequent the sheep- 

 stations appear to live almost exclusively 

 on flesh. They claim the sheep's heads 

 that are thrown out from the slaug-hter 

 shed, and pick them perfectly clean, 

 leaving- nothing- but the bones. Of recent 

 years, however, the Keas have g-one even 

 farther than this, and now actually kill 

 sheep for themselves, alig-hting- upon the 

 backs of the unfortunate ruminants, and 

 tearing- down throug-h the skin and flesh 

 until they reach the kidneys, the fat of 

 which is g-reedily devoured." This habit 

 has of course broug-ht them into bad re- 

 pute with the sheep owners, and they are 

 killed by them on sig-ht, the consequence 

 being- that the Keas are much diminished 

 in numbers 



Our illustration, from a mounted g-roup 

 in the U. S. National Museum collection, 

 shows two of the Keas in the act of tear- 

 ing- open the back of a sheep. 



The Kaka ( N. mcridoualis ) the other 

 living- species, inhabits both islands of 

 New Zealand. It is but little smaller 

 than the Kea and is readily disting-uished 

 from it by the presence of a red ting-e on 



NKSTOK PKODUCTUS. 

 FiODi Spiui 1111)1 ill the r. S. Xafioiia/ Miisi'iiiii. 



the abdomen and under wing'-coverts, 

 and by the g-olden yellow on the ear- 

 coverts. Its home is in the forests and 

 it is said to be by far the noisest of the 

 denizens of the woods of its native 

 islands. It is described as being- semi- 

 nocturnal in its habits, g-oing- abroad in 

 search of its food in early morning- be- 

 fore it is fairly lig-ht. They feed on ber- 

 ries, roots and necter of flowers. 



In his iVotcs on the Birds of Nczv Zea- 

 land, Hoost says: "The noisy Kaka 

 plays a conspicuous role in the forest. 

 It is a g-reg-arious bird, perching- g-en- 

 erallv on the hig-hest trees; but as soon 



