DISTRIBUTION. 137 



acceptance is unfortunate ; for, on looking up all the available 

 records, I find that the evidence does not support the 

 statement. The evidence rather indicates that, whenever and 

 wherever men have penetrated the mountainous country of the 

 three lower provinces of the South Island, Keas have been 

 found in the parts explored. It was because the Otago and 

 Southland mountains were explored first, and the Canterbury 

 mountains a little later, that the idea of the northern migration 

 was suggested, and very likely, if Dr. Haast and Sir James 

 Hector had explored the Canterbury alpine region first, the 

 alleged migration might have had its direction reversed. 



Even if we take the dates and places of the Kea's 

 discovery, the facts do not uphold the theory. In 1856 Mr. W. 

 Mantell found the Kea in Southland,— the exact spot is not 

 recorded. Then, instead of finding it a few miles further north 

 in Otago, Dr. Haast discovered it three years later at Mt. Cook 

 in Canterbury, about two hundred miles further north, thus 

 missing the large Otago province which lies between. It was 

 not till three years later that Sir James Hector reported it to 

 be among the snow mountains of the intervening province. 



In the same year Dr. Haast saw it at Browning's Pass, 

 about 80 miles still further north, and in 1867 it was known 

 at the Lochinvar Station, sixty miles further north again of 

 Browning's Pass. We have no record of the Kea being 

 found further north than the Lochinvar Station until 1882. 

 This is very likely due to the fact that no scientific man 

 •explored the country. If one did, he left no available 

 records. 



It will thus be seen that, instead of the Kea's area of 

 distribution being increased a few miles further north year 

 by year, as would have been the case had the birds travelled 

 north, the birds were found at different places, sometimes 

 200 miles north of their previous location, while they were 

 not found in the intervening country until many years 

 afterwards. 



It is also very unlikely that, the moment the birds were 

 discovered, they made a rush northward, so that in eleven 

 years they had migrated 300 miles from their old homes. 



