94 



THE KFA. 



thirty-eight wethers, most of them being quite warm and in 

 splendid condition." 



Many more such instances could be cited, but enough has 

 l)een said to show the methods and the results of the Keas' 

 attacks on sheep. 



The greatest damage is flone to the flocks in winter, 

 when the country is snow-bound. In the mountainous 

 regions, the sheep are usually kept down on the low 



CLOSE VIEW OF WOUND made by Keas on the Sheep found at 

 Lake Coleridoe Station. 



•country until the mountains get a good coat of snow, for 

 once the tops are covered there is very little danger of the 

 sheep going far in the snow. 



However, if the sheep have been allowed to remain on 

 the tops of the ranges until the snow comes, as is sometimes 

 the case on a big run, they gather together in a basin near 

 the summit and are buried by the snow. It is at this time 

 that the Kea finds them an easy prey, and many a bloody 

 battlefield, the snow being deeply tinged with red, shows 



