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Ordee PSITTACIFORMES.] 



[Family NESTORID^E. 



NESTOR MERIDI0NAL1S. 



(KAKA PARROT.) 



Nestor meridionalis (G-melin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 150. 



This fine Parrot is far less plentiful than it formerly was, and this is the inevitable result 

 of settlement and the consequent destruction of the forests. In districts where formerly it 

 existed in thousands, its scream is never heard, and to many of the new settlers the bird is 

 quite unknown. It is semi-nocturnal in its habits, and towards evening becomes very 

 animated, flying over the tree-tops in an excited manner, generally in parties of three, uttering 

 its harsh scream. This changes to a soft musical whistle as the birds alight ; and in doing 

 this they always select, as a post of observation, the withered top of some aged tree, always 

 climbing to the highest limbs, their progression being by a succession of short hops. 



At certain irregular periods, owing to some natural cause — possibly the failure of the 

 ordinary food supply — the Kaka, leaving the woods, makes an irruption in large numbers 

 into the settled districts. One such occasion is mentioned by an anonymous correspondent 

 in the Lyttelton Times of June 10, 1903 : — 



About the year 1856 the Kaka invaded Otago in such large numbers as to become almost a plague. 

 It is stated that not only in the bush, but in the open, on stacks, fences, or the ridges of houses, they 

 could be even seen perched in rows as close as they could sit. They were seen sitting on a post-and-rail 

 fence in the Tokomairiro Plains, in Otago, so close together that new arrivals had to fight for perching 

 room, and if a person shot along the line of a fence he could knock over half a dozen at one shot. On 

 the occasion of that migration, they caused a great deal of damage, especially to stacks and thatched 

 houses. Settlers, thinking that the pest would increase year by year, seriously discussed what means 

 should be taken to deal with the birds. The following year, however, hardly any Kakas w T ere seen 

 in the district, and the visitation has never been repeated. 



As I have fully explained in the body of this work, there are many well-defined varieties 

 of this characteristic species. I have enumerated and described (at pages 151-157 of vol. i.) 

 no less than twelve of such varieties. One of these is the large Kaka of the South Island 

 (Nestor montanus, Haast). The late Sir Julius von Haast, in sending me specimens, wrote, 

 " Even judging from its habits alone, it is quite distinct from the common Kaka. It is never 

 found in the Fagus forest, whilst the other species never goes above it into the subalpine 

 vegetation." And Sir James Hector, writing to me of the same bird said, " I never met 

 with it in the forests of the lowlands. It is more active in its habits and more hawk-like 

 in its flight than the common Nestor. It often sweeps suddenly to the ground ; and its cry 

 differs from that of the common Kaka in being more shrill and wild." Eeviewing these 

 opinions, I said (pp. cit., p. 153), " No doubt some naturalists will be disposed to regard this 

 larger race as a distinct bird, and for a considerable time my own inclinations were in that 

 direction; but, looking to the extreme tendency to variation in this species, and to the 

 difficulty of drawing a clear line between the larger and smaller races in consequence of the 

 occasional intermediate or connecting forms, I feel that I am taking a safe course, concurrently 

 with Dr. Finsch, in refusing, for the present at least, to separate these birds." That is how 

 the matter rests now; but I am always open to conviction, and would welcome any further 

 information on the subject. I have already a piece of evidence which, so far as it goes, 



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