108 THE KEA. 



by the Kea. A hole had been made in the sheep's loin, — 

 the kidneys were protruding, and some of the fat had been 

 eaten." 



Other correspondents write in a similar strain, stating that 

 the kidneys were usually untouched and the fat eaten. 



If the kidneys were the special delicacy, as "Darwinism" 

 states, then the Keas, I am certain, would have devoured 

 them as soon as they were exposed. 



Whatever may have been the attraction in the early days, 

 the Kea does not now kill sheep for the sake of the 

 kidneys. 



People have been led to suppose that the Kea always 

 went for the kidney, because it always attacked the sheep 

 just over these organs ; but, after having gone through the 

 accounts of about fifty eye-witnesses, I cannot find any 

 trustworthy evidence in support of the kidney theory. 



Without crediting the Kea with any special powers of 

 reasoning, there are several better reasons that easily explain 

 its procedure ; and these show that the bird simply attacks in 

 the easiest, most natural and most effective way. It is, I 

 think, too much to assume that the Kea has inherited from 

 its parents the knowledge as to where the sheep's kidneys 

 are situated ; and yet from the first the rump has been the 

 favourite part of attack. The shoulders are injured 

 sometimes, but this is only in the case of sheep buried in 

 the snow. Even if we assume that the Kea has intelligence 

 enough to discover the position of the kidneys, we are still 

 left with a difficulty. We are asked to believe that, within 

 the last fifty years, or even a mui^h shorter period, the 

 acquired character of being able to locate the sheep's 

 kidneys has become an inherited character and is passed on 

 to the offspring. In believing this we accept as a basis for 

 agrument that which is a matter for keen controversy among 

 our leading biologists, and is by no means decided. No good 

 case can be built on such insecure foundation. We must look 

 in some other direction for an explanation of the Kea's 

 habit. 



If we look at the facts we shall see that the Kea 



