40 



THE KEA 



indicate conclusively that the bird is not so fond of cold 

 stormy heights as many people suppose. 



People have often wondered how the birds manage to exist 

 in the alpine country when an excessively heavy fall of snow 

 absolutely covers the land for many weeks, so that even the sheep 

 out on the open hill-side are buried so deeply as to prevent 

 the birds molesting them. An experience that came to 



MOUNTAIN DAISY (Celmisia coriacea): The Kea is fond of 



THE ROOTS OF THIS PLANT. 



Mr. R. Guthrie, of Burke's Pass, throws a good deal of (light 

 on this question. Many years ago he was out looking after 

 sheep on Mistake Station during a heavy snowfall, when, 

 walking on the frozen crust of snow on a hillside, he 

 suddenly broke through and sank first into a bed of snow 

 and then through the tops of some scrub on which the smooth 

 sheet of snow was lying. The snow was so thick that, with 

 the tops of the scrub, it made all dark below. Hearing 

 some odd sounds, he struck a match to see what sort 

 of companions he had fallen in with, and there he 

 found several Keas busy pecking the ground for grubs and 

 gurgling over their work ; and further away he could hear 



