49 



mischievous pet, especially if it gets access to the orchard, where I have known it, in a single day, 

 nip off thousands of blossoms from a promising pear-tree. I have seen it treat a favourite vine in 

 a similar manner, and, apparently, from a sheer love of mischief. If it be allowed the freedom 

 of the house, it will destroy the furniture in the most wanton manner with its powerful beak, and 

 proclaim itself a nuisance in a variety of ways. 



When the korari-flower (Phormium tenax) is in season, the Kakas repair in flocks to the 

 flax-fields to feast on the flower-honey ; and on these occasions numbers of them are speared by 

 the natives as an article of food. In the woods also, at certain periods, they are captured in 

 abundance by means of an ingenious snare called a " tutu," worked by a decoy-bird. The tame 

 village-Kaka is not the useless pet that Parrots generally are. It may amuse the young people 

 by its wonderful articulation of Maori words and phrases, and by its whistling-powers ; but it has 

 far more substantial attractions for the owner. It is a source of profit and subsistence to him ; 

 and as it requires the experience of several seasons to give it proficiency as a decoy-bird, it 

 acquires a specific value according to its age and training. I have known a native refuse an offer 

 of £10 for a well-trained " mokai," although an aged bird and in a very ragged condition of 

 plumage. 



As will be seen from the full descriptive notes given above, very beautiful varieties of the 

 Kaka are frequently met with. I have never seen a pure albino ; but I am assured by the natives 

 that they are occasionally found. One very nearly approaching that condition was shot at the 

 Whauwhau (in the county of Marsden) in the summer of 1863. The value set on these rare 

 varieties by the natives may be inferred from the following circumstance: — A " Kaka-korako " 

 was seen by a party of Rangitane in the Upper Manawatu, and followed through the woods as far 

 as the Oroua river, every effort being made to take it alive. The Oroua people (of another tribe) 

 then took up the chase, and followed the bird to the foot of the Ruahine range ; and although 

 carrying guns, to their infinite credit they allowed it to escape rather than shoot it, in the remote 

 hope that it might hereafter reappear in their district. 



From some unaccountable cause the Kaka has always been a comparatively scarce bird in the 

 forests north of Auckland, although there is no lack of its ordinary food-supply. In some other 

 districts it is less common than it formerly was ; but it still exists in very considerable numbers in 

 various parts of the country. In the months of December and January, when the rata (Metrosi- 

 de.os robusta) is in flower, thousands of these birds are trapped by the natives, in the manner 

 already indicated, and preserved in their own fat for winter use. Partly owing to this cause, and 

 partly to the extension of settlement in some districts where, in former years, they were exces- 

 sively abundant, their cry is now seldom or never heard ; but in the wooded parts of the interior 

 they are as plentiful as ever. Certain wooded ranges are noted as Kaka-preserves, and are very 

 jealously protected by the native tribes owning them, who annually resort to them for the purpose 

 of trapping these birds. 



