AUTHOR'S NOTE. 



To write a book about a bird may seem to some a needless 

 task. That depends more on the bird than on the writer. The 

 New Zealand mountain parrot we call the Kea presents a topic 

 of importance from many points of view. For half a century 

 he has been accused of being a sheep-killer. That accusation, 

 persistently and vehemently made, has drawn the attention of the 

 scientific and non-scientific alike. For a parrot of but average 

 proportions to develop a furious carnivoi'ous propensity is 

 zoologically remarkable enough. When this alleged habit is held 

 to be the cause of heavy losses to the sheep-farming industry of 

 a country it demands study also on other than zoological grounds. 

 Naturally enough, much has been written and said already. For 

 fifty years the Kea has been a veritable Ishmael, and has been 

 treated on the principle : give a bird a bad name and shoot 

 him. Not all that has been told of him, however, is true. 

 Much has been wildest conjecture ; part is but colourably 

 accurate ; all, until lately, was more or less uncertain. There 

 seemed to be room for a careful and detailed examination of the 

 subject. Such an examination is here attempted. 



The writer cannot claim that he is quite alone in either the 

 matter or the method of his investigation. After he had begun 

 his work upon the sheep-killing problem, he found that Professor 

 W. B. Benham, D.Sc, F.R.S., of Otago University, had entered 

 upon the same inquiry, and (as the Transactions of the New 

 Zealand Institute show) had reached a similar conclusion on 

 similar data. To Dr. Benham the writer's thanks are gratefully 

 tendered for much general help given. 



For aid in securing the photographs reproduced he desires to 

 thank Dr. L. Cockayne, F.L.S., the Revs. A. B. Chappell and 

 H. E. Newton, Messrs. Harold Larkin, G. E. Mannering, A. P. 

 Harper, R. P. Freville, Malcolm Ross, E. F. Stead and F. Field. 



Expeditions into the Kea country have been made possible by 



