84 Transactions. 



grub eater, has been observed to devour mutton. Travers (3) 

 states that " They are fond of raw flesh, and I have seen 

 them hovering in front of a sheep's pluck hung on a tree 

 . . . . eating fragments which they tear off, giving prefer- 

 ence to the lungs." 



At the time that Wallace referred to this new food-habit 

 of the kea it was the only case of the sort known. But a closely 

 analogous instance has been described for an African starling, 

 the " rhinoceros-bird " (Buphaga), which formerly fed upon 

 ticks and insects infesting the skin of herbivora. But a few 

 years ago the cattle-plague decimated the herds of wild and 

 domestic cattle, antelopes, &c., and it is now found that the 

 bird, thus deprived of its natural food, has become carnivorous. 

 It pecks holes in the skin of healthy beasts, and even eats their 

 ears off, causing wounds from which the animals frequently 

 die — at any rate, causing considerable damage (9). 



Correspondence and Inquiries. 



I wi'ote letters containing a series of questions to some fifteen 

 persons, whose names had been given to me by various people 

 as likely to have first-hand acquaintance with the bird and 

 its depredations. These fifteen persons are, or have been, 

 actively engaged in connection with sheep-runs in the neighbour- 

 hood of Lakes Wanaka, Hawea, and Wakatipu, and elsewhere. 

 I have received replies from ten, which replies are embodied in 

 the present article. 



To these ten gentlemen I am extremely obliged for the 

 courtesy and readiness with which they gave me every infor- 

 mation I asked for : — 



Dougald Bell, now owner of Hawea Lake Station, has had 

 thirty-three years' experience of sheep-farming in the district 

 round Lakes Wakatipu, Hawea, and Wanaka. His first ob- 

 servation was in the Hunter Valley (Hawea) in 1874 ; his last, 

 in 1906, at Lake Hawea. 



Ewan Cameron, of Pembroke, was shepherding on the Crown 

 Range in 1868 ; and has had experience of kea-attacks on the 

 Matukituki, and Matatapu, and right branch of the Shotover. 



John Campbell, now of Cromwell, at one time shepherd at 

 Wanaka West. 



William Ford, at one time shepherd on Mr. H. Campbell's 

 station, has ever since been sheep-farming in the Wanaka dis- 

 trict. 



Alexander Fraser, now Stock Inspector in Nelson, was at 

 one time sheep-farming in the Wanaka and Hawea districts 

 (1871-83), and suffered severe losses of sheep from kea-attacks. 



