Marriner. — On the Natural History of the Kea. 283 



Mr. Donald Burnett, Sawdon Station, Burke's Pass, -writes, 

 " It was in the afternoon ; I was mustering in Boundary Gully, 

 Mount Cook Station, at the time, and had a mob of sheep in 

 hand, and was about 2 chains away, when a kea — one of several 

 that were flA'ing around — settled on a sheep. The beast at 

 first gave a jump or two and then made downhill at a great 

 rate. When the sheep got into motion the bird spread out its 

 wings, and as the pace became faster the wings came together 

 at the perpendicular. The sheep continued its race uiitil both 

 were lost to view, after going some distance through the 

 storm." 



Mr. Thomas Wilson, of Alford Forest, Canterbury, writes. 

 " Some years ago a kea rode a sheep into the woolshed on the 

 Double Hill Estate ; I was an eye-witness, and closed the door. 

 The kea was caught, and I killed the sheep, which was badly 

 picked on the back, and the entrails were pulled out just over 

 the kidneys." 



Mr. J. Sutherland, of Benmore Station, Otago, writes, 

 " 111 1887 I was keeping a boundary where keas were numerous, 

 and on several occasions I saw them attack sheep. I saw a 

 sheep running down the hill with a kea hanging on. I fol- 

 lowed after it and -found the sheep lying in the gully with the 

 kea tearing away at it. I drove it off. The sheep was not dead, 

 but the wool and the skin was torn and a hole was made in the 

 sheep's back, just above the kidneys, a wound from which it 

 would have died ; however, I killed it to put it out of pain." 



Mr. H. E. Cameron, of Longslip Station, Otago, writes, 

 " One day while mustering in the summer-time of 1895 I saw 

 a kea on a sheep's back, clinging to the wool and digging his 

 beak into its back, and a number of others flying about. I 

 went down to the sheep with some other men. Some entrails 

 had been pulled through a hole in its back, and we had to kill 

 the sheep. I was camped at the foot of Davies Saddle (Long- 

 slip Station) one foggy day, and at 3 o'clock heard a great 

 screaming of keas, so I went out to see what they were at. On 

 going down the creek a short distance I saw a sheep coming 

 down the face of the hill as fast as it could, with a kea on the 

 hips, and twelve more birds following and screaming. The 

 sheep when it got to the foot of the hill ran under a bank, and 

 the others watching as if waiting for a feed. I went up to the 

 sheep, after throwing stones at the birds. When I got up to the 

 sheep it had two holes in its back ; the kidney-fat had been eaten, 

 but the kidneys were l}'ing bare in the sheep. The entrails 

 were pulled out through the hole in the back. The sheep was 

 not dead, but had to be killed." 



Mr. J. H. Bond, of Templeton, gives his experience while on 



