Markinek. — On the Natural Histori/ of tJie Kea. 299 



and 1867 — Sir Julius von Haast (I) saw more keas below the 

 snow-line than above is against this suggestion. 



I consider that in the future their habitat should be de- 

 scribed as follows, in the words of Dr. Cockayne : " Although 

 frequently met with on the open alpine and subalpine hill- 

 side, the kea is essentially a bird of the forest-limit, where they 

 may be seen in numbers at the junction of the forest and sub- 

 alpine meadows, and in the Nothofagus forest at lower levels 

 where such are pierced by river-beds." 



Distribution. 



The kea was first found in the Murihiku district, where it 

 was discovered by Mr. W. Mantell in 1856. 1 had a great diffi- 

 culty in finding out where that district is, but on inquiring, 

 Mr. D. Barron, Chief Surveyor of the Dunedin Lands and Sur- 

 vey Department, informed me that the Murihiku district em- 

 braces from the Mataura River south and westward, including 

 practically all Southland. 



At first the kea's area of distribution was thought to be ver}' 

 limited, but as soon as men travelled back into the mountain- 

 <ius country of the South Island it was found that the area 

 was much wider than at first supposed. A few years after 

 its discovery it was found in the mountains of Otago, South- 

 land, and in Canterbury as far north as the Rangitata Gorge. 

 In 1859 Dr. Haast (I, b) found it in the Mount Cook region, 

 and a year later — 1860 — Sir W. Buller (J, h) saw it in the Rangi- 

 tata Gorge. In 1861-62 Sir James Hector noticed it in most 

 of the snow mountains of Otago, during his surve}', and in the 

 same year Dr. Haast (I, a) saw it on the Godley Glacier. As 

 early as 1865 he found it a long way above its supposed northern 

 limit — namely, at Browning Pass, at the source of the Wilber- 

 l^orce River; and two years later he saw it still further north, 

 near Arthnr's Pass, on the West Coast Road. In 1868 they 

 were common around the lakes which lie around the border- 

 line of Otago and Canterbury, and ten years later Sir W. Buller 

 speaks of them as being plentiful in Southlajid. 



Dr. Cockayne, in a communication to me, states that his 

 brother-in-law, Mr. A. Blakely, shot a kea in Arthur's Pass in 

 June, 1881 ; and in 1882 Potts (N) reports that keas were known 

 at Grassmere, West Coast Road ; Lochinvar Station, North 

 Canterbury ; and at the head-waters of the Esk a)id Hurunui 

 Rivers — that i.s, at the northern boundary of Canterbury. 



In 1883 Sir W. Buller (J, R), quoting a letter from Mr. 

 Shrimpton, says that the kea's area of distribution did not 

 extend north of the Rakaia River. However, as both Dr. 

 Haast (I, d) and Mr. Potts (N) had already published records of 



