BuLLer.—On some rare Species of New Zealand Birds. 817 
you can often knock them down with a stick, and apparently so inoffen- 
sive, a single Kea will swoop down on the strongest fat wether or 
hoggett, fix himself firmly on its back, generally facing the sheep's tail, 
and commence digging his daily meal. Sometimes the sheep runs till 
exhausted, sometimes contents itself by trying to dislodge its adversary 
by a series of contortions only, but the Kea troubles himself very little 
about either : he hangs on till the sheep gives in. He then digs away, 
carefully avoiding the backbone, till he reaches the kidney fat. This is his 
choicest relish. His cries soon attract others, and between them the poor 
sheep is soon fitted for a museum. Sometimes a sheep gets away from a 
timid or perhaps less experienced workman; but he carries with him an 
indelible scar. On some stations about 5 per cent. of the whole flock are 
- mustered in at shearing-time more or less marked in this manner, and the 
death-rate is almost incredible. I have no hesitation in saying that, on the 
runs bordering the Wanaka and Hawea Lakes, the loss from Keas alone is 
nothing short of from fifteen to twenty thousand sheep annually, and these 
the primest of the flocks. Although Keas are seen openly enough in the 
day-time, there is no doubt they work their mischief mostly at night, a 
bright moonlight one preferred. A severe winter, with sheep snowed in, is 
their great opportunity ; and this they avail themselves of to the uttermost. 
Although like other parrots, they are given to anything in the shape of fun 
or mischief (and, on one occasion they killed a young kaka, tethered), I 
have never known them to seriously attack any animal other than a sheep. 
But as a moiety of them have advanced so far in the course of the last 
eight or ten years, it is impossible to say to what lengths they may aspire 
in the future. 
“I cannot state for certainty that there are no Keas north of the limits 
I have here assigned as their habitat: I can only say that I have travelled 
over a considerable portion of that country without either seeing or hearing 
of them. But as to their habits and destructiveness in the neighbour- 
hood of the great lakes south, I can speak from a long and painful ex- 
perience.” 
As some of those present may not have had an opportunity of examin- 
ing this carnivorous parrot, I beg to exhibit this evening the bird sent by 
Mr. Shrimpton, and, at the same time, for purposes of comparison, its 
well-known congener, the Nestor meridionalis or common kaka. Both 
species are by nature vegetable-feeders ; and it is a most remarkable fact in 
natural history that, with the changed condition of its surroundings, this 
mountain parrot has so rapidly developed a taste for flesh that the instinct 
has become one of the first habits of life, and almost necessary to the 
existence of the species, 
