296 Transactions. 



and very plaintive. They possess a very disagreeable odour, 

 even when kept in clean apartments. 



" Head : Bill — Upper mandible large, and black in colour 

 mth. the exception of a slight tinge of yellow on the top of the 

 arch. It is not so long as the bill of an adult bird, nor so pointed. 

 Lower mandible of a yellow colour with the exception of a black- 

 tip. Wattle round the nostril plentiful and of a light-yellow 

 colour. Mouth large, and on each side of the head at the angls 

 of the jaws there is a large mass of light-yellow material, re- 

 sembling wattle in appearance, and forming a kind of sac to keep 

 the food from falling out of the sides of the mouth. 



" Body : Most of the body, except under the wings, is 

 covered with young feathers, which, like those in the adult bird, 

 are dark-green often fringed with black. The large feathers 

 of the tail and wings are just coming out of their quills. Legs 

 large, dark-grey in colour, with black claws ; very weak, and at 

 present useless. The body and head are still covered to a 

 certain extent with long grey down, but this is fast disappearing. 



" 2Uh September, 1906. — The larger bird can swallow small 

 pieces of kidnej^ if placed well in the mouth ; the other has 

 still to be fed with the aid of a stick. Both seem to enjoy the 

 kidney, and even though they have had nothing else to eat 

 they seem strong and healthy. 



" 2%th September, 1906. — Both caught a chill by being 

 left outside. Smaller one died, and I have chloroformed the 

 other." 



I think it is a noteworthy fact that the kea, though living 

 in a region where the cold and severity of the winter is espe- 

 cially felt, builds its nest, lays its eggs, and hatches its young 

 during the most severe months of winter. During this season 

 ^ts domain is swept by a succession of severe storms, and often 

 the ground is covered for months with several inches of snow. 

 That birds in warm countries do often nest in the winter months 

 is not altogether unknown, but for a bird to rear its young in 

 winter at an altitude of 3,000 ft. or 4,000 ft., in a country where 

 even at sea-level the other birds seem to find it unwise to nest 

 until the spring weather comes, is at any rate remarkable. 



It has been suggested that the taste for meat has now be- 

 come hereditary to the young keas, for when they are given 

 raw meat they eat it readily. The two forwarded to me by 

 Mr. R. Urquhart fed greedily on sheep's kidneys. Mr. W. N. 

 Ford found some kea chicks only a few days out of the shell, 

 and with their eyes still closed, and he kept them for six weeks 

 feeding them on sop and raw meat. This would appear at first 

 sight as if the taste for meat was hereditary; but as pieces of 

 meat have been found outside the nest, it is most likelv that the 



