292 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



hatches its young during June and July, the coldest months of the year. During 

 this season its habitat is swept by severe storms, and the ground — at an eleva- 

 tion of from 3000 to 4000 feet — is covered for months with snow to a depth of 

 several inches. The nest, which is a mere hollow in the ground, sometimes bare 

 and sometimes lined with a little grass, is on some occasions placed deep down 

 in a fissure or crevice in the rocks, and is entered by means of a ' run ' ; but it may 

 be situated in a cave, under a heap of rocks or stones, in a bank, in a deserted 

 rabbit-burrow, or even on the flat. In one instance, the number of eggs in a clutch 

 was four. The young are usually hatched about the end of July ; they remain in 

 the nest for an unusually long period, and are very slow in their development. A 

 pair which were about two months old when received, and nearly the size of 

 ordinary pigeons, were, for instance, unable to move about, or even to swallow 

 food without assistance. For some years the kea has been persecuted to the verge 

 of extermination on the charge of sheep-worrying ; and circumstantial accounts of 

 this misdemeanour have been published. It is stated, for instance, that the bird 

 pecks a hole in the side of its victim with its powerful beak so as to wound the 

 intestines, the animal being generally left in a moribund condition. Further, the 

 lacerations are said to be made almost invariably about the same spot, thus 

 suggesting a deliberate purpose on the part of the aggressor, although what this 

 purpose may be does not appear to have been definitely explained. The bird is, 

 however, also reported to feed on carrion in addition to its proper diet of fruit, 

 seeds, and grubs ; and it has been supposed to make a meal off some portion of the 

 sheep's interior. In some districts about one in every 300 sheep is reported to fall 

 a victim to the kea. At a conference of naturalists held a few years ago at 

 Wellington the truth of the charge was, however, disputed. All the members of 

 this conference were men well acquainted with the bird in its native haunts, but 

 not one of them, either as the result of his own experience or from the testimony 

 of others, was able to adduce evidence in support of the alleged sheep-worrying 

 charge. Moreover, all the reports of the alleged habit were traced to a single 

 valley on Lake Wanaka, and apparently to a single unknown observer, while a 

 tame kea kept under observation was stated to have persistently refused to look 

 at any kind of animal food. The result of the conference was a verdict that the 

 whole story was a myth, although it was added that the charge must be regarded 

 as non-proven rather than absolutely disproved. The opinion of the meeting was 

 to the effect that as the kea is of a very inquiring disposition, the charge originated 

 from one of these birds having been seen surveying the carcase of a sheep in its 

 own peculiar fashion. Later on, however, a local naturalist wrote that these 

 doubts as to the carnivorous habits of the kea were not justified by the facts ; and 

 it now seems to be admitted that the accusation against the kea of worrying sheep 

 for the sake of feeding on their flesh is fully proved, and it is likewise agreed that 

 the prime object of attack is not the kidneys and kidney-fat. 



Omitting mention of a host of species less peculiar than the 



foregoing, reference may be made to the New Zealand godwit 



(Limosa novm-zealandice) on account of the fact that it migrates annually from 



New Zealand to eastern Siberia. The migrating birds leave the extreme north of 



New Zealand early in April, to reappear usually in the first weeks of October. 



