Marrinei;. — Oil the Natural Histov)/ of the Kea. 277 



Mr. Fred Daw, Miller's Flat, Otago, writes of an experience 

 of his when on the Red Mountains, Southland : " The bird 

 [kea] not only made a hole in the tent, but started eating the 

 fat which was hanging on the ridge-pole." 



Mr. George Rutherford, Dalethorpe, Canterbury, states, " I 

 have had a kea on the chain here this last four months, and he 

 seems as lively now as the first day we got him, and his only diet 

 is kidneys, liver, and warm fat. He won't eat much cold fat. 

 He seems very fond of raw carrots, and eats them every day." 



Dr. L. Cockayne writes as follows : " In the summer of 

 1897-98 I was camped for some weeks on Arthur's Pass, at an 

 altitude of 2,800 ft. During a part of that time three keas 

 lived round the camp, frequently perching on the beech-trees 

 and at times climbing over the tents. These birds fed greedily 

 on any meat which was thrown to them, picking bones and 

 so on. They were by no means friendly with one another, 

 one being especially the ' cock of the walk ' and driving away 

 the others when they came after the food. These particular 

 birds were extremely tame, and would actually perch upon the 

 long ends of wood jutting from our fire." Dr. Cockayne add& 

 the following to the above and his other statements about the 

 kea : " All the above is wTitten from memory, and therefore 

 I do not vouch for its accuracy. Observations of animals and 

 plants should be entered in a note-book at the time of observa- 

 tion, otherwise they can only be accepted with caution." 



Others testifying to the keas eating meat are Messrs. W. N. 

 Ford, J. Morgan, J. Mcintosh, John McGregor, A. Watherston, 

 H. T. Heckler, P. Dunbar, &c. Without going into the evi- 

 dence of these men, I think enough has been said to prove 

 that many keas, whether wild or tame, will eat meat and even 

 relish it. Not only does the kea eat meat, but twice it has 

 been seen acting the cannibal. 



Mr. J. Morgan, Lake Coleridge Station, writes, " When 

 going up to the Big Basin, Forks, Mesopotamia, one day, a mob 

 of keas came and settled close to me. I knocked one over 

 and cut off its beak and let it roll down the snow-slips to the 

 bottom of the basin. Immediately the mob swooped down 

 on it and started pulling the feathers out as it was rolling down. 

 I was rather curious to see if they would eat their dead mate, 

 so when going back I went and saw the bird. The mob of keas 

 wore still there, kicking up a great fuss, and all that remained 

 of their dead mate was the head and bones, which were picked 

 clean. It could not have been more than three-quarters of an 

 hour since I killed the bird until I saw it again ' stripped.* 

 I have seen the same on more than one occasion since, though. 

 I never investigated it the same as the above." 



