119 



Fountain ISarrot 



OF §EW |eALAND, OR f§:EA. 



Psittacus notabilis. 



Synonym: Nestor notabilis, Gld. 



German: Der olivengriine Stumjofschwanzlori. 



French: Le Perroquet Ka-Ka des Montagues. 



THIS curious bird has been frequently confounded with its relation 

 the Ka-Ka Parrot (Nestor meridionalis) , from which it differs in 

 many material points; however it is now fully differentiated as a distinct 

 species, although the Zoological Society of London tries to perpetuate 

 the confusion by naming one the Ka-Ka, and the other the Mountain 

 Ka-Ka; which is, to say the least, injudicious. 



The Kea is a large bird, measuring nineteen and a half inches in 

 length, of which the tail occupies seven and a half, and the bill, along 

 the ridge of the upper mandible, one and three quarters. The lower 

 mandible along its edge measures one inch. 



The tarsi are short, measuring 1.5 inch; but the toes, claws inclusive, 

 are rather long, the longest measuring two and a quarter inches. 



The first recorded notice we have of this species is that given by 

 Mantell in 1856, not 1848 as quoted by Dr. Euss. It was figured by 

 the late John Gould in the Supplement to his Birds of Australia, and 

 was found to be plentiful in the snowy mountains in the province of 

 Otago, by Dr. Hector, who saw it "among the holes and fissures of 

 all but inaccessible rocks; which are often shrouded with dense mists 

 or clouds of driving sleet, impelled with terrific violence by the north- 

 west wind." 



"The Green Parrot", writes Mr. Potts in this connection, "may be 

 observed entering or leaving crevices in the rocks, or soaring with 

 motionless wings from peak to peak; far above the screaming Ka-Kas 



