THE KAKA 141 



off-hand soaring' and gliding about the bush when on pleasure 

 bent. 



AVhen a pair of kakas have mated, they are seen constantly 

 together; if one moves from a tree, its partner follows quickly. 

 In regard to its home, it is a troglodyte, a word which was 

 applied by the ancients to some tribes that lived up the Nile, 

 and which literally means dweller in a cave. The kaka. when 

 house-hunting, generally selects a tree with a heart that is quite 

 decayed. ' There must also be a convenient hole leading from 

 the outside to the bottom of the hollow. The interior may require 

 some preparation, and the entrance may need smoothing and 

 enlarging. As the pair are very solicitous for the comfort and 

 safety of the little ones expected, they are often fastidious in 

 making these preparations. It often happens that, after the 

 home has been prepared, and is ready to be occupied, it is 

 deserted for a better site. Four white eggs are laid on the 

 decayed wood, and are there hatched. Attachment to their young 

 is a strong point with kakas. iMr. Potts adds that he has found 

 the old bird dead at the entrance of its nesting hole, after a bush 

 fire, in which it had perished sooner than desert its helpless 

 offspring, though escape was ea.sy. 



In the summer, the kakas are occupied with the cares of 

 providing for their young and protecting them. After the young 

 are able to get along by themselves, as autumn advances, the 

 old birds become very fat. "It is in winter time that they appear 

 to the greatest disadvantage, especially in the south, where the 

 snow covers the land. With rufHed feathers, they sit moping 

 and nearly silent, a picture of dull melancholy. Towards the 

 close of winter they have been known to devour with avidity the 

 hard seed of the kowhai. At this time gardens and shrubberies 

 are visited, and the blossoms of almond trees and tlowering 

 shrubs are eagerly ransacked. But, as winter passes away with 

 its coarse fare, returning spring restores the kaka 's sprightliness, 

 and it fares daintily." 



The kaka sips the honey from the flowers, and this, as well 

 as insects, constitutes part of its diet. In September it has been 

 seen in Canterbury, poised on the slender boughs of a tall panax, 



