!296 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



not have died from the wound if it had not been for the 

 heating they received from the drive of the muster. One day 

 my brother John came home and said that he now knew what 

 caused the holes in the back of the sheep ; it was done by the 

 Kea. This surprised me greatly, but I soon afterwards had 

 evidence of the fact myself, for when some of these birds had 

 once found out that the blood of the sheep was good for food, 

 others were soon initiated into the performance. It was seen 

 that the sheep (merinoes) with the longest wool were those which 

 chiefly suffered, from which I concluded that the length of wool 

 gave the bird better facilities for holding on with his feet during 

 the time occupied in drilling a hole into the unfortunate sheep, 

 which would at first run madly about with the bird fixed to its 

 back. Those sheep which were penned in by a recent fall of 

 snow would be an easy prey. 



A person living in this district brought some fifteen hundred 

 crossbred cheviot and merino, and wintered them on these hills, 

 but the extra length of wool on these sheep caused them to be 

 specially attacked bj r the Kea, and on mustering in the spring 

 very few of this flock were found alive. Mr. W. M. Hodgkins, 

 of Dunedin, obtained for me two brace of old-fashioned horse- 

 pistols, which we would take with us when shepherding, loading 

 with shot, and so peppering the Keas ; for to carry a gun was a 

 heavy load when climbing about. The birds soon found out that 

 we were enemies, and, in place of a friendly interview, were 

 mostly seen flying about, screaming, far away on the opposite 

 range. It became quite a rare thing to get within shooting- 

 distance of these treacherous birds, and all our friendly interest 

 in them was turned to murderous thoughts. I do not think they 

 went specially for the kidney-fat of the sheep, or had any 

 particular choice, but that that point was chiefly selected owing 

 to the bird having a better hold when in that position. They 

 would nest in the crevices of the rocks, but I never was able to 

 take either eggs or young birds, the fissures being too deep and 

 narrow to admit of approach. 



Dr. Wallace asks me, Did the Kea mistake the live sheep for 

 the vegetable sheep — a peculiar growth of lichen ? I would say 

 not, for I have never to my knowledge seen a vegetable sheep, or 

 mistaken such for a living one, as the story goes. Therefore my 

 particular Keas were not likely to see this vegetable substance 



