THE OWL PARROT. 



317 



gives a good idea of the habits of this singular species : " So little is known of this solitary inhabitant 

 of our primaeval forests, that the following short narrative of observations, which I was fortunate 

 enough to make during my recent West Coast journey, may interest you. Although I was travelling 

 almost continuously for several years in the interior of these islands, it was only during my last 

 journey that I was enabled to study its natural history. I was well acquainted with its call, and had 

 often observed its tracks in the sands of the river-beds and in the fresh-fallen snow, but I had not 

 actually seen it. The principal reason for this was, that formerly I had no dog with me ; and 

 consequently it would only be by the greatest accident that this bird, not at all rare in those 

 untrodden regions, could be obtained. The true habitat of the Kakapo is the mossy Fagus forest, 

 near mountain streams, with occasional grassy plots ; but it also lives both on the hill-sides, amongst 

 enormous blocks of rock, mostly overgrown with roots of trees and a deep covering of moss, and on 

 wooded flats along th-3 banks of the larger rivers, liable to be inundated by heavy rainfalls or by the 



sudden melting of the snow It is a striking fact, that with the exception only of 



the valley of the river Makarora, forming Lake Wanaka I never found the Kakapo on the eastern 

 side of the Alps, although extensive 

 Fagiis forests exist there also. It 

 appears to have crossed the main 

 chain at the low wooded pass which 

 leads from the soui-ce of the Haast 

 to that of the Makarora, and reached 

 the mouth of this river at Lake 

 Wanaka, where probably the absence 

 of forest put a stop to its farther 

 advance. It is very abundant in 

 the valley of the last-mentioned 

 -river, and is found even in the 

 Makarora bush, notwithstanding 

 that numerous sawyers are at work 

 there. When camped on the borders 

 of that forest we continually heard its 

 call near our tents ; but none of the 

 sawyers had any idea of the existence 

 of such a large bird in their neigh- 

 bourhood, although the irregular 

 shrill call had sometimes attracted their attention. It also occiirs in the valley of the Wilkin, but is less 

 numerous there, which may be accounted for by the existence of wild dogs in this locality. We may 

 therefore safely assume that from the junction of this river with the Makarora the Kakapo ascended 

 toward the sources of the former. In the valley of the Hunter, only divided by a mountain-range of 

 great altitude but with some low saddles, no sign of it was to be observed, although large Fagus 

 forests would appear to offer a propitious abode. This bird has hitherto been pronounced to be of 

 true nocturnal habits ; but I think, from observations I was able to make, that this opinion ought to 

 be somewhat modified. It is true that generally an hour after sunset, the dense foliage of the forest 

 giving additional darkness to the country, its call began to be heard all around us. It then 

 commenced to rove about, and, attracted by the glare of our camp-fire, frequently came close to our 

 tent, when the heedless bird was immediately caught by our dog. But as we met with it on two 

 occasions in the daytime, occupied in feeding, and as I observed that it knew and understood perfectly 

 well the danger which approached, we may assume that it has, at least in this respect, some relation 

 to diurnal birds. In order to show why I come to this conclusion, I will particularise the two 

 occurrences I have mentioned, as they appear to bear directly upon some other important points in 

 the structure of this bird. When returning from the West Coast, we observed in the afternoon (the 

 sky being clouded) a Kakapo sitting on the prostrate trunk of a ti'ee in the open forest. When about 

 ten yards from it, the bird observed us, and disappeared instantly in its hole, whence, with the aid of 

 the dog, we afterwards took it. It is clear that in this case the bird was not overtaken by the 

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OAVL PAR110T. (After Keulemans) 



