NESTING. 53 



fortunate enough to find a Kea's nest, which he describes 

 as follows: "A bird came over and began calling, but 

 would not come near the traps, staying down by the male 

 bird we had caught the night before. I went back and saw 

 her, with tail spread and wings drooping, run to the edge of 

 a bluff and fly off into the ravine without a sound. I 

 guessed immediately that she had a nest, and as soon as there 

 was enough light we started looking for it. When we were 

 just giving up hope of finding it, and were going to turn the 

 male bird loose and follow him, we heard the female call 

 away down in the bottom of a big rock slip, and I caught a 

 glimpse of her as she moved. Hurrying to the spot, we 

 found a lot of loose feathers and droppings, which indicated 

 the presence of a nest. We soon located it, in a long hole, 

 the entrance of which was formed by two enormous boulders, 

 which leaned against one another, forming a triangular space, 

 partly blocked by a third stone. This latter we removed by 

 using a thick vine as a rope, and after much scratching and 

 scraping I reached in, and striking a match, saw the bird on 

 her nest. More scraping and digging among the small stones 

 and earth, and again I reached in, but quickly withdrew my 

 hand, minus a small piece of the middle finger. I then 

 wrapped a handkerchief round my hand, and very soon had 

 the bird out. I handed her to Mr Murchison to hold, and 

 she immediately took a piece out of his coat and clawed him 

 pretty thoroughly, but my attention was on the nest, and, to 

 my joy, I found four pure white eggs. They were laid on 

 the ground among a few chips of rotton wood and bark, about 

 five feet from the entrance of the hole. 



"More than satisfied with our night's work, we returned to 

 the Lake, and that afternoon H. and myself, with many thanks 

 for the hospitality and assistance we had received, left for the 

 Point, en route for home." 



As the Kea is really king of the Alps, and drives all the 

 other birds away from its domain, it is difficult to explain 

 the reason why it chooses such a stronghold for its nest. It 

 is only of late years that the weasels and stoats, introduced 

 from Europe, have made their way up to the snow line, and 



