The Zoologist — October, 1871. 2799 



Both of our species of flycatcher remain with us during the whole 

 year, merely shifting their quarters from near the sea-level to the 

 higher parts of the bushy gullies. 



Tlie Kaka (Nester meridionalis). — Our representatives of the 

 gorgeously-painted Psittacidge possess little of the brilliancy of 

 plumage or gracefulness of form which distinguishes so many of 

 the family in other lands. Our kaka, in his suit of sober brown, 

 slightly flushed with red, might be passed over in a collection 

 almost without notice by many to whom his quaint habits are un- 

 known, and even to those who are most familiar with the bird it 

 conveys little if any impression in association with the parrot tribe ; 

 it is never called by that name except, perhaps, there is a desire on 

 the part of some old settler to impress a new comer with a proper 

 sense of having arrived in a foreign country, when our noisy kakas 

 are spoken of or pointed out as "our parrots." 



Arboreal in its habits, with truth it may be said that our kaka 

 lives but amongst trees, not merely seeking the forest for the sake 

 of the shelter in which to rest or to rear its young, but it finds its 

 living on and amongst trees, and in the forest it may be found 

 throughout the whole year; nor is the economy of the bush un- 

 influenced by the habits of this bird, as we shall presently endeavour 

 to show. Although noisy and restless, the kaka at times may be, 

 and often is, observed as quiet as any bird in the bush. Let anyone 

 ramble into one of our timber forests, far beyond the outside shrubby 

 zone resounding with the cries of many birds, where all is so still 

 and silent, and he will find that there are times, about the noontide 

 hour, when the wanderer might almost dream that he had strayed 

 beyond the reach of sound, with all its soothing tones and harsh 

 discordances ; that he might — 



" In this desert inaccessible, 

 Under the shade of melancholy houghs, 

 Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time." 



All too soon the spell is broken, frequently by the wail of the 

 ubiquitous vveka, the clear ringing note of the koromako from the 

 damp moss-clad gully, and quite as often by the hard-working kaka 

 dropping a chip of the rough hard bark that had been silently- 

 stripped from some lofty tree. It may be thought not out of place 

 to make brief allusion to the influence which some of the habits of 

 the kaka exercise on the condition of the bush : admitted amongst 

 the TrichoglossinsB as a honey-eating bird, in its search after this 



