144 THE ANIMALS OP NEW ZEALAND 



were very mischievous, and nearly always cut all the buttons from 

 any article of clothing that might happen to be left within their 

 reach. In some instances, their familiarity degenerated into such 

 gross impudence that Mr. Travers's manager was obliged to kill 

 them in order to put an end to their mischief. 



The Kea. 



Nestor xotahllis. 



Dull olive green, each feather edged with black. Over the tail and 

 below the wings, red. Outer webs of the primaries, blue; their inner 

 webs banded with yellow. Tail, green with a black bar near the tip. 

 Eye black. Length of the wing, 12.5 inches; of the tarsus, 1.5 inch. 

 The sexes are alike. The young have the dark edgings to the feathers 

 broader. Egg — -White; length, 1.75 inch. South Island. 



The kea is tame by nature, and mischievous by inclination. 

 It is stated that the young birds are so tame that, if a person 

 meets with a flock of them and keeps still, they will walk up to 

 him and pull his clothes. When the young are taken, they are 

 easily tamed, and they have been taught to imitate the human 

 voice. They strongly resent attempts at ca]>tivity, and some 

 rather marvellous escapes from imprisonment have been related. 

 A captured kea was once placed on the floor under an inverted 

 bucket. The places for the handles would not allow the rim of 

 the bucket to touch the floor. Taking advantage of this, the 

 prisoner wedged his long beak through the aperture, and, using 

 its head as a lever, raised the bucket and escaped. Another 

 prisoner was known literally to eat its way out of a wooden cage. 

 It Ijrought its powerful beak to bear on the structure, and 

 performed some remarkable feats of carpentry, until escape was 

 effected. It is recorded that two keas, which were tamed by their 

 captor, were allowed to wander at large, but they returned to the 

 house with marked regularity, and then went off on their rambles 

 again, scrambling and clamoring amongst the trees and out- 

 buildings. Any kind of food seemed to meet with their approval; 

 but a piece of raw meat was what they liked best. 



It is well known that, to settlers in many parts of the outlying 

 districts of Otago, Southland, and Canterbury, the kea has 

 become a source of great anxiety, because of the evil habit it has 



