THE KAKAPO 153 



nature endears it to all who know it well. It repays kindness 

 with grratitude, and is as affectionate as a dog, and as playfnl as 

 a kitten. 



Almost every writer who has written about the kakapo has 

 dwelt upon these characteristics. Sir George Grey, writing at 

 an early date, says that its behaviour towards friends is more 

 that of a dog than a bird. Professor G. S. Sale has seen it run 

 from the corner of a room, seize his hand with claw and beak, 

 and tumble over and over with it, just as a kitten would. It 

 then rushed back again, so as to be invited to make another 

 playful attack. The professor was amused by the kakapo 's 

 humour when a dog was placed close to its cage. It first danced 

 backwards and forwards with outstretched wings, evidently with 

 the intention of shamming anger, and showed its glee at the 

 success of the manoeuvre by assuming absurd and grotesque 

 attitudes. When pleased, it marched about with its head 

 twisted round, and its beak in the air, wishing, the professor 

 presumed, to see how things looked the wrong way up. The 

 highest compliment it could pay to anyone was to nestle down 

 on his hand, ruffle out its feathers, and low^er its wings, fluttering 

 them alternately, and shaking its head from side to side. When 

 it did that, it was in a superlative state of enjoyment. He says 

 that its principal resorts are the grass plots in the open and mossy 

 beech woods near the mountain streams, rocky declivities, beneath 

 large moss-covered stones, overgrown by beech-roots, and the 

 mossy banks of large rivers. 



Being mostly a night bird, the kakapo spends a great deal of 

 the daji:ime in holes in the ground, sometimes under the roots 

 of trees. Its wings are both large and strong, but their muscles 

 are so weak that the bird cannot fly. In diet it is a gluttonous 

 vegetarian, feeding on grass, weeds, fruit, seeds, and roots. 

 When taken from one of its holes, it will endeavour to hide again, 

 as soon as possible, in its dark retreat. The use of the wings 

 is not altogether discarded, as they are brought into requisition 

 when the bird is running, and are also used on trees as a means 

 of balancing. In making a descent, the bird sometimes half 

 jumps and half flies, l)ut on some occasions it drops to the ground 



