302 Transactions. 



Mantell found it in Southland — the exact place is not known ; 

 three years later Dr. Haast found it about two hundred miles 

 further north, at Mount Cook. It was not till three years later 

 that Sir James Hector (J), during January, foimd it on th'> 

 snow mountains of Otago : yet these mountains are closer to 

 Southland than Mount Cook. 



In the same year Dr. Haast (I, a) found it on the Godley 

 Glacier, and three years later, in 1865, he saw it on Brov\'^ning's 

 Pass (I, c), about eighty miles north of Mount Cook. In 1867 

 Mr. D. Macfarlane, Peel Forest, says that it was known on the 

 Ijochinvar Station, about sixty miles north of Browning's Pass ; 

 yet at Arthur's Pass, which is situated between Browning's 

 Pass and Lochinvar Station, though no doubt the kea was there 

 all the time, it ^\as not reported to be there until Dr. Haast 

 explored that country in J 867. 



With the exception of tlie instance stated in Mr. Macfar- 

 laiio's letter, we have no record of the kea being found further 

 north until 1882. This is very likely because no one explored 

 that part of the country — or, if they did, the}' left no records of 

 what they saw. However, in 1882, Potts (N) reported them 

 as far north as the head-waters of the Esk and Hurunui Rivers. 

 ]*"rom what I can see from the recorded eA'idence, at the time 

 of its discovery in 1856 the kea's area of distribution extended 

 from Southland to the Hurunui River i)i North Canterbury, 

 and very likely north of this limit. No doubt the reason why 

 the keas are common now on some stations where they were 

 unknown is that since their discovery they have greatly in- 

 creased in numbers, and have therefore had to widen their area 

 of distribution both east and west, for they have been seen on 

 the coast-line of Westland, and have extended to the eastern 

 limit of the mountainous country in Canterbury. 



There is, however, some evidence of a migration at the 

 present time into the north of the Nelson and in the Marl- 

 borough Province, but whether they have been there for some 

 time and have not been seen, or that they are really spreading 

 into these provinces, is uncertain. However, even if they were 

 present in the northern part of Nelson and in Marlborough 

 they were not common, and within the last three years they 

 have been recorded from places where before they were un- 

 known. Now that they are spreading into Marlborough, one 

 wonders if the Cook Strait will prove a sufficient barrier to 

 prevent them from P.ying over to the North Island. The two 

 islands are only about fifteen miles apart at their nearest points, 

 and on a clear day the opposite coast can easily be seen. 



If the kea had migrated north from Southland, as many 

 suppose, one would expect the bird to be rare in the south 



