PARROTS 



291 



is developing an air-sac in his throat which he can puff up like a drum, and which 

 may act like a sounding-board to assist in making the curious drumming notes in 

 the spring. This note is not unlike the boom of the bittern, but is repeated five 

 or six times in succession, and can be heard at a great distance. ... It appears as 

 if the breeding-season were controlled by the males, for when there is no drumming 

 in the early summer, there are no eggs or young ones." 



The second type is represented by the kaka (Nestor meridionalis) and the 

 kea (N~. notabilis) of the South Island. These parrots bear no near relationship 

 to the kakapo, from which they differ by the long curved beak, the absence of a 

 disc of feathers round the eyej and the more or less uniform olive-brown or olive- 



KAKAPO, OR OWL-PARROT. 



green of the plumage. In marked contrast to the kakapo, they are strong fliers. 

 The genus also includes N~. norfolcensis of Norfolk Island, and N. productios 

 of Phillip Island, both of which are extinct. According to the observations 

 of a local naturalist, the kea is confined to the mountainous districts of 

 the South Island, in the provinces of Canterbury, Otago, and Westland; and 

 although it has been seen among the glaciers, and is frequently observed on the 

 open alpine and sub-alpine mountain-sides, it may be regarded as essentially a 

 denizen of the forest limit, being abundant at the junction of the forest and the 

 sub-alpine meadows, and in the beech-forests at lower levels where these are 

 traversed by river-beds. Although living in a region where the cold and severity 

 of winter are great, it is remarkable that the kea builds its nest, lays its eggs, and 



