

16 



in the far South. At that time there was a Government bonus of two shillings a head for 

 Keas, as the bird had been proving very destructive to the sheep. Every man on the 

 station, as a rule, carried with him a fowling-piece on his rounds and came home at night 

 with a bagful of beaks, thus adding not inconsiderably to his weekly wages. Thousands 

 of pounds were paid in the course of the year, by way of bonus, in the Wanaka district 

 alone. The last payment made by my informant was .£500 in one lump sum. It may 

 be gathered from this what the destruction of Keas was at that time. In consequence of 

 this persistent slaughter they rapidly grew scarcer, till at length there were so few to be 

 seen that the men at work on the run would not encumber themselves with a gun. When, 

 however, the killing fever was at its height, one of the men, on delivering his tale of 



KEAS IN CAMP. 



beaks, said: "I shot to-day the queerest Kea I ever saw— all yellow!" He added that 

 there was another similar one which he could not get. Finding that the man, after cutting 

 off the beak, had thrown the body aside, the manager sent out to search for the bird, 

 but was unsuccessful, some vagrant dog or hawk having carried it away. In a short time, 

 however, the other was shot and was carefully preserved by the manager, who sent it to 

 Mr. C. Turnbull, of Dunedin. 



This beautiful specimen has since come into my son's possession. The whole of the 

 body-plumage is vivid canary-yellow, deepening on the neck, sides of the body and rump 

 into a rich orange-yellow; most of the scapulars and the quills are of the normal colour, 

 except the first primary in each wing which is yellowish-white; tail-feathers canary yellow, 

 excepting two of the outer lateral ones, which are partly normal; lining of wings delicate 

 orange. Here and there, especially on the head, there is a feather or two of the normal 

 colour. 



