50 THE KEA. 



the snow-clad Rolleston Range on the other, until we suddenly 

 came upon some proof of the Keas' presence. On the ground 

 in front of us a fine merino ram lay dead, with a ghastly 

 hole torn in its back, and its neck stretched out as if it 

 had died in agony. 



Having photographed it, we pushed on to where the 

 Chimera Creek joins the Mathias River ; and here, tethering 

 our horses to the bushes, we commenced to climb the steep, 

 slippery side of Jack's Hill. 



The Chimera Creek flows almost through the centre of the 

 hill, and on its way has cut a deep narrow gorge, which is about 

 two hundred yards wide where the stream issues on to the 

 river flat. This gorge runs back for some miles towards the 

 centre of the range. On each side high and prependicular 

 cliffs shut out the sunlight, and, rising as they do from two 

 hundred to a thousand feet in height, they form a long, deep, 

 narrow gorge. 



At last we came to the nest, which, fortunately for us, 

 was not in an altogether inaccessible position, but situated 

 in a long narrow tunnel, whose opening was in a small ravine 

 running at right angles to the top of the gorge and opening 

 over it. 



It was situated on the top of the western cliff, but, 

 owing to the walls of rock rising sheer out of the bed 

 of the creek, we could not get a foothold anywhere ; 

 in order to reach it, we had to climb along the top of the 

 cliff. Owing to the thick drizzle that had now set in, and the 

 fact that the ground sloped to the edge of the gorge, we 

 had to take great care that we did not slip over into the dark 

 ravine below. 



In August, 1906, while trying to destroy some Keas 

 that had been killing sheep for some time, Mr. Urquhart 

 discovered the nest and determined not only to rob it, but 

 at the same time to kill the old birds. 



So one night, with several of his men, armed with spades 

 and crow-bars, he climbed along the edge of the cliff ; but 

 owing to the darkness they were unable at first to locate the 

 nest. As a last resource one of the men imitated the well-known 



