Maerinek. — On tJte Natmal Histori/ of the Kea. 287 



In looking through the authentic accounts of about fifty 

 ■eye-witnesses, I cannot find any evidence to support the kid- 

 ney theory. The reason for the keas always tearing open the 

 sheep above the kidneys can be explained, I think, by the 

 way the bird attacks sheep. All my correspondents with three 

 exceptions say that, from what they have seen, the kea always 

 settles on the rump. Mr. R. Guthrie thinks that they only 

 settle on the shoulders when the sheep is stuck in the snow, 

 but I have an instance where the shoulders were eaten and the 

 sheep was not caught in the snow. 



The reasons for the keas always settling on the hind quarters 

 are as follows : Firstly, the rump of the sheep is its widest 

 part, and so it makes a firm platform for the kea to settle on 

 and to get a firm hold. Several witnesses say that it is almost 

 impossible for the kea to keep on a sheep's back unless he 

 perches on this part. Mr. Guthrie says, " It is almost im- 

 possible for a kea to stick on a sheep's back while pecking it 

 in any other position than behind the kidneys, facing the head. 

 I have seen them trying to hang on to a sheep's back, but unless 

 they were in the position described they could not stick on for 

 ten yards." Secondly, when flying after a sheep, the rump 

 is the nearest and handiest part to settle on, and as the birds 

 often have to alight on the sheep while it is running, it is no 

 wonder that the rump is that part chosen. Though keas seem 

 fond of mutton-fat, I do not consider that this is the only reason 

 why they make for the loin. It naturally follows that when 

 perched on the sheep's hind quarters the bird will commence 

 to pick the sheep's back at the handiest part : this, without 

 doubt, will be the part that is under the kea's nose — namely, 

 the loin. Again, the loin is very easy to tear open, owing to the 

 absence of ribs, and this again would commend itself to the 

 bird. 



To me it seems that the preceding reasons do more to in- 

 fluence the kea when attacking than the presence of the kidney- 

 fat. Even the first -recorded accounts of sheep-killing mention 

 that the bird attacked the loin, and the only way to explain 

 this is that the kea found the loin the easiest and handiest 

 part to attack. I can hardly believe, as some people do, that 

 by some kind of instinct the kea knew where the kidney-fat 

 was to be found in the live sheep. This latter idea is somewhat 

 upset by the fact that cases have been seen where the flesh 

 around the backbone has been eaten, and the kidney and the 

 kidney-fat left almost untouched. 



The kea appears to eat whatever part of the sheep comes 

 first — first the skin and flesh, then on to the kidney-fat. In 

 ■some cases they do not even eat all the kidnev-fat, but begin 



