34 



they never make any attempt to fly. They are found on the mountains at all elevations ; but 

 their favorite haunts are either on the flats by the sides of the rivers, or at 3000 to 4000 feet ele- 

 vation, where the forest is very scrubby and dense and merges into open ground, and where the 

 spurs that lead to the precipitous and rocky ridges are covered with coarse grass. In their 

 nocturnal rambles on the mountain-tops — which the Kakapos seem at some seasons to indulge in 

 — they appear to keep in line along the spurs and ridges, as they beat down broad tracks which 

 it would be quite excusable to mistake for the well-frequented paths leading to some encampment 

 in the woods. They seem strictly herbivorous, their food being principally grass and the slender 

 juicy twigs of shrubs, such as the New-Zealand broom (Carmichellia), which they chew up into a 

 ball without detaching it from the plant — satisfying themselves with the juice which they extract. 

 Their haunts are therefore easily recognized by the little woolly balls of chewed fibre which 

 dangle from the branches of the shrubs, or strew the ground where they have been feasting on 

 the succulent grasses. It is stated by the Maories that in winter they assemble in large numbers, 

 as if for business ; for after confabulating together for some time with great uproar, they march 

 off in bands in different directions. However, they are not gregarious at all seasons of the year, 

 but are generally found in families of two or three together. They breed in February, having 

 two eggs at a time, which they lay in the holes they scrape for dormitories under the roots of 

 decayed trees and fallen rocks. 



" The Kakapo can only be successfully hunted with dogs. The best time for hunting these 

 birds is in the early morning, as soon as it is sufficiently light to permit of the sportsman passing 

 rapidly through the bush, as at that time the scent is still fresh of the birds that were abroad 

 during the night. The Maori dogs enjoy the sport very keenly, and follow it largely on their 

 own account — so much so that, when the Maories encamp in a locality where these nocturnal 

 birds abound, the dogs grow fat and sleek, and the birds are soon exterminated. The Kakapo is 

 esteemed a great delicacy by the natives ; but its flesh has a strong and slightly stringent flavour." 

 Probably no New-Zealand explorer has enjoyed more favourable opportunities for investi- 

 gating the natural history of the Kakapo than Dr. Haast, whose observations on the subject were 

 embodied in a paper, full of scientific interest, read before the Canterbury Philosophical Society 

 on the 4th June, 18G3. 



A German version of this paper was contributed by the author to the ' Verhandlungen ' of 

 the Zoological and Botanical Association of Vienna, of October 10, 1863. A translation appeared 

 in ' The Ibis ' of the following year (pp. 340-346) ; and, curiously enough, a retranslation was 

 published in the 'Journal fur Ornithologie ' for 1864 (pp. 458-464). But the paper as originally 

 written has never been published ; and as Dr. Haast has favoured me with a copy of it, I have 

 much pleasure in finding room for the following copious extracts : — 



" So little is known of this solitary inhabitant of our primeval forests, that the following 

 short narrative of observations which I was fortunate enough to make during my recent west-coast 

 journey may interest you. Although I was travelling almost continuously for several years in 

 the interior of these islands, it was only during my last journey that I was enabled to study its 

 natural history. I was well acquainted with its call, and had often observed its tracks in the 

 sands of the river-beds and in the fresh fallen snow, but I had not actually seen it. The principal 

 reason for this was, that formerly I had no dog with me ; and consequently it would only be by 



