278 Transactions, 



Some of my correspondents have written to say that the 

 keas under their observation prefer vegetables, insects, &c., 

 to meat. These instances are not very numerous, but are, 

 I think, worth while recording. 



Mr. A. J. McKay, Geraldine, wi'ites, " I had a kea sent me 

 from the Mackenzie country, and I observed its habits very 

 closely. He would eat flies, spiders, and caterpillars of any de- 

 scription, and was fond of vegetables such as peas and beans in 

 the pod. I tried him with kidney-fat (sheep) and the kidneys them- 

 selves, but he would hardly deign to put his beak into them." 



Mr. Gully, Nelson, writes, " I beg to acknowledge your 

 letter, and in reply beg to inform you that we have a live kea 

 in the gardens here. It eats bread-and-milk, sugar, apples, 

 dock -leaves, &c., and since its confinement has preferred a 

 vegetable diet, eating no meat." 



Dr. F. W. Hilgendorf, Agricultural College, Lincoln, gives 

 me the following account of a kea that lives near Malte Bvun, 

 Mount Cook : " A plate of meat which was put on a platform 

 was pulled over the edge immediately by the kea, without 

 tasting the meat, and this we could never get him to eat, 

 although he would pick up crumbs of bread." 



Mr. C. V. Rides, of the Christchurch Acclimatisation Gardens, 

 gives the following account of two keas in the aviary, which 

 shows that these birds often like both the vegetable and the 

 meat diets. He says, " We have two keas here, which we have 

 had in a cage for about eighteen months with a hawk, with 

 which they agree very well. Although these birds will and do 

 eat meat, always preferring the fat and suet, they are equally 

 fond of all kinds of fruit, such as apples, plums, cherries, elder- 

 berries, green peas, bits of cabbage-stumps, &c., not caring for 

 wheat or maize, such as other parrots are fed on When dead 

 rats are put in for the hawk the keas never attempt to pull 

 them to pieces. I do not think that the information concern- 

 ing these birds in captivity is of much value as regards their 

 native life ; I notice that most birds in confinement lose 

 character to a large extent. Even the wild ducks prefer cakes 

 and buns to the usual wheat and maize, &c." 



From what has been said it can be seen that many, if not 

 most, keas in captivity will eat meat ; a few keep to both diets, 

 as no doubt the wild keas do, and others seem to abhor meat 

 and keep to a vegetable or insectivorous diet. 



These accounts may at first seem very contradictory, but 

 I think the explanation is that all keas have not acquired the 

 taste for meat ; and very likely, if a bird is captured before it 

 has got the taste for meat, it is not likely to acquire it as long 

 as it has a plentiful supply of ordinary food. 



