154 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



like a stone. Ascents of trees are made by a climbing habit, beak, 

 claws and wings being used. When feeding, and when pleased 

 with its food, it emits a curious grunt. Its general cry has been 

 described as not altogether a shrill scream, but a muffled screech, 

 more like a mingled grunt and screech. 



The phunage is remarkable because it resembles in appearance 

 the moss in which the bird finds large quantities of its favourite 

 foods, so that, when seeking protection from enemies, it has some 

 kind of compensation for the weakness of its wings. 



The literature in connection with the kakapo commences in 

 1852, when Dr. Lyall published a long article on the subject in 

 the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London. Since that 

 time, many other articles have appeared in various publications. 

 One of the best was Avritten by Sir Julius Von Haast, and 

 published in the VerJiaudJihigen of the Zoological and Botanical 

 Associaticm of Vienna, on October 10th, 1863. The writer 

 describes his accpiaintance with the bird on the west coast of the 

 South Island. 



"The black hairy feathers on each side of the beak," he says, 

 in describing the bird's appearance, "give it a somewhat wild 

 appearance ; and the curious radiating wreaths of feathers round 

 the eyes make it look like an owl ; but the large parrot-like beak 

 and the two reversed toes determine at once its affinities." The 

 first time he saw the kakapo by daylight was on an afternoon. 

 The bird was sitting on a stump in an open part of the forest, not 

 far from the Haast River. On his approach, it quickly disap- 

 peared, but was soon caught by his dog. On another occasion, he 

 saw a large specimen in the daytime in a mountain pass. It was 

 sitting on a fuchsia tree, ten feet from the ground, eating berries. 

 As soon as it saw him, it threw itself otf the tree as if it had been 

 shot, and escaped under some large fragments of rock. He was 

 greatly surprised to note that it did not open its wings or use 

 them in any way to break its fall. 



To see whether or not the kakapo would fly or flutter when 

 pursued, he had a large specimen brought to an open place, where 

 there was sufficient space for it to open its wings whilst running. 

 Instead of doing that, the bird, when released, ran towards the 



