PARROTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



said also to fish. Though the snowy owl is no longer 

 to be reckoned an inhabitant of Great Britain, its 

 absence from this country of late years is probably to 

 be looked upon as due to amelioration of climate. For 

 the discovery of bones, or, to be accurate, a single bone, 

 in the celebrated cavern, Kent's Hole, near Torquay, 

 shows unmistakably that the snowy owl in former and 

 colder periods was a genuine dweller in the south of 

 England. In relation to the colour of this owl and its 

 habitat, it is interesting to note that the Virginian 

 eagle owl (Bubo virginianus], a bird also to be found in 

 the Gardens), is whiter as it approaches nearer to the 

 north. 



THE KEA PARROT. 



New Zealand has only a few kinds of parrots to boast 

 of, unlike the neighbouring Australia. There are not 

 more than half a dozen species or so, but two at least 

 of these are of extreme interest ; these two are the owl 

 parrot or kakapo (Strigops habroptilus], a flightless form 

 with the face of an owl, as its name denotes, and of 

 peculiar structure, and the kea and its ally, the kaka, of 

 which we shall speak here. This bird, which is known 

 by the scientific name of Nestor notabilis, is of a dull 

 olive-green hue for the most part, the feathers being 

 tipped with black. The rump and the inside of the wing 

 are red. It has a long bill and is a good-sized parrot 

 altogether. It used to be classed with the Australian 

 and Eastern lories ; but Dr. Garrod, at one time Prosec- 

 tor of the Zoological Society, proved that it is not akin 

 to those brush- tongued parrots, although the tongue is 

 slightly frayed out at the end. He thought it to be a 

 near ally of the typical parrots represented in almost 

 every house in this country by the familiar and African 

 grey parrot. Others have thought that it should be 

 raised to the dignity of a special family among the 



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