136 THE KEA. 



Pass at the source of the Wilberforce River ; and two years 

 later he saw it still further north, near Arthur's Pass on 

 the West Coast road. 



In 1868 Keas had become common around the Lakes 

 which lie on the borderline of Otago and Canterbury, and 

 ten years later they had increased all round the spot where 

 they were first found, for Sir W. Buller speaks of them as 

 being plentiful in Southland. 



In 1881 they were again seen at Arthur's Pass, for Dr. 

 L. Cockayne (in a communication to me) states that his 

 brother-in-law, Mr. A. Blakely, shot one there at that 

 date. 



A year later, in 1882, Mr. W. Potts reported that Keas 

 were known at Grassmere on the West Coast road, and in 

 Lochinvar Station, North Canterbury, and at the head waters 

 of the Esk and Hurunui, that is, about forty miles still 

 further north of Arthur's Pass their then supposed 

 northernmost limit. 



In view of all these facts it is surprising to find Sir W. 

 Buller, in 1883, quoting a letter from a Mr. Shrimpton to 

 the effect that the Keas' area of distribution did not extend 

 north of the Rakaia River. This is the more striking, because 

 both Dr. Haast and Mr. Potts had already published 

 records of Keas seen northward of that limit. The former 

 found them at Arthur's Pass, 40 miles north of the Rakaia, 

 in 1867 ; and the latter tells of their being seen at Hurunui, 

 another 40 miles north of Arthur's Pass. 



Later, in 1888, Mr. W. W. Smith, in a published article, 

 says that Keas had, during the previous three years, just 

 reached the ranges above the Otira Gorge. However, like 

 Sir W. Buller, he had evidently not seen the report of Dr. 

 Haast as to their being seen years before at Arthur's Pass, 

 which is as far north as the Otira Gorge. 



It has been freely stated by writers on the Kea that, 

 since its discovery in Southland, the bird has gradually 

 migrated northward through the Otago and Canterbury 

 provinces. This suggestion has not only been published, but has 

 been almost universally adopted as true. This wide-spread 



