48 



liant plumage under the wings is very conspicuous when the bird is flying. On the ground it 

 generally moves by a succession of hops, after the manner of the Corvidse, and not with the 

 awkward waddling gait peculiar to most Parrots. In the trees, where it is more at home, it is 

 perpetually on the move, often walking deliberately along a branch, and then climbing to another 

 by a dexterous use of both beak and feet, or silently winging its way to a station in a neighbouring 

 tree. Its alarm-cry resembles that of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, of Australia. During the 

 pairing-season the two birds are always together, and when on the wing keep side by side, both 

 calling as they go. They commence breeding in the early part of November ; and at Christmas 

 the young birds are old enough to be taken from the nest, although, if unmolested, they probably 

 do not leave it before the second week of January, or even later. The place usually selected 

 for depositing the eggs is the deep hollow of a tree the heart of which is completely decayed. 

 There is very little attempt at forming a nest, the eggs being placed on the dry pulverized wood 

 which these cavities usually contain. The eggs are generally four in number (sometimes, accord- 

 ing to the natives, six), broadly oval, measuring 16x1 25, and pure white in colour till they 

 become soiled and stained in the process of incubation. Much care, and even some degree of 

 fastidiousness, is displayed in the choice of a suitable tree ; and once decided on, it is often resorted 

 to by the same birds for many seasons in succession. On this account the natives set a high value 

 on their " rua Kaka." The mere robbing of the nest, if accomplished with caution, does not cause 

 the birds to abandon it ; but the natives consider it of importance not to breathe into the cavity 

 or to touch any part of it with their hands, for fear of "polluting" the nesting-place and 

 endangering its desertion. A nest which I discovered in the Otairi range, on my journey to 

 Taupo, on the 23rd December, contained two young ones, apparently about ten days old. In a 

 large mairi tree with a decayed heart, about three feet from the ground there was a long narrow 

 opening (measuring 2 feet in length by only 14 inches in width) leading into an inner chamber 

 more than a foot in diameter. The walls of this chamber were smooth ; and on the floor there 

 was a deep layer of decayed wood, mixed with fragments of dry rata bark, evidently collected by 

 the birds and brought into the cavity. The natives state that two females, attended by one male 

 bird, sometimes breed in the same cavity, their nests being placed side by side. The fact that 

 during the breeding-season three birds are frequently seen in company, appears to give some 

 colour of truth to this statement. 



Mr. Enys informs me that, on Sir Charles Clifford's station at Stonyhurst, he found two 

 nests of the Kaka, one of them situated in the crevice of a rock in a low mountain-gully, and the 

 other in a deep cavity under the roots of a tree. This was on the 24th of December ; and both 

 nests contained young birds. 



Possessing excellent powers of mimicry, and useful to the natives as a decoy-bird, the Kaka 

 is much sought after, and almost every native village has its " mokai." Like most Parrots, it is a 

 long-lived bird ; and one which had been in the possession of the Upper Wanganui tribes for 

 nearly twenty years, presented the curious feature of its overgrown mandibles completely crossing 

 each other. This was no doubt attributable to the fact of its having been constantly fed with 

 soft food, thereby depriving the bill of the wear and tear incident to a state of nature. 



The tame Kaka is very susceptible to kindness, and forms strong attachments. It soon 

 learns to distinguish its keeper's voice, and will respond to his call. It often, however, proves a 



