284



Mr. Edgar F. Stead,



blithely around me, learning everything they could about me

and my ways. The place they didn’t hop 011 was the space

covered by the traps. As they came, quite fearlessly, to within

a few feet of me, I decided to try to snare them, so I went into a

little clump of bush near by to get a rod and a piece of fine

creeper for a noose. The keas accompanied me, hopping

round in the trees above my head whiie I cut the stick and pre¬

pared my snare. Having got everything ready, I returned to the

promontory, and squatted quietly down under a big boulder.

Almost instantly a head appeared over the edge above me, and

the owner of it gave a quiet little call. Another head appeared,

and another, and then, within three feet of me, the birds sat and

watched me, a whole world of curiosity in their bright little eyes.

Gently I raised the snare and brought it towards the middle one.

He took no notice until it was almost over his head, and then he

quietly took it in his beak and began chewing it. Realising

that I could not snare th'em, I went half-way down the hill and

called to H. to bring up a coil of wire netting that we had. This

we used to make a little run, at the entrance of which we placed

Angela in her cage, hoping that we could drive the wild birds

into it, but half an hour’s vain endeavour convinced us of the

futility of this scheme. Then I decided that I would return to

camp for a camera, so that I could photograph the birds, even

though unable to trap them. I descended via a single slide, and

the noise of the stones rattling down with me attracted the birds,

which accompanied me down to camp, and when I got back with

the camera, only one had returned. The sun had by this time

risen over the mountain behind us, and the day was bright and

hot. Everything was propitious for good pictures, but before I

had the camera ready the bird flew, screaming up the gully.

Very disappointed and hot we returned to camp.


That evening at four o’clock we again climbed to the

traps. Shortly after our arrival we saw a bird, and I called it

down, when it proved to be the unattached male of the morning,

readily distinguished by the state of his moult. We set a trap

out 011 a ledge of rock, evening up the surface with small stones.

The bird came down, and, taking the stones one by one, dropped

them over tire edge. Next, standing well outside the trap, he



