MOUNTAIN PARROT. 121 



completely off in the parts it touches, and in many cases death is 

 the result." 



At last a shepherd, more observant, or perhaps more imaginative 

 than his fellows, " noticed one of the Mountain Parrots sticking* to a 

 sheep, pecking at a sore, while the animal seemed unable to get rid 

 of its tormentor", and reported the matter to his employer; after 

 having, not without difficulty, driven away the Kea, and rescued, for 

 the time at all events, the poor bleeding sheep. 



•"•"The runholder gave directions to his shepherds, when mustering 

 their flocks on the high grounds, to watch the Parrots, with the result 

 that when near the snow line on the upper ranges, they saw several 

 of the birds surrounding a sheep, which was bleeding from a recent 

 wound in the side; while on other sheep were noticed places where 

 the Keas had begun to attack them, small patches of wool having been 

 plucked out." 



"The birds come in flocks", continues the narrator, '"'"single out a 

 sheep at random, and each alighting on its back, in turn tears out the 

 wool, and makes the sheep bleed, till the animal runs away from the 

 rest of the flock. The birds then pursue it, continue to attack it, 

 and force it to run about till it becomes stupid and exhausted. If in 

 that state it throws itself down, and lies as much as possible on its 

 back to keep the Parrots from pecking the part attacked, they pick a 

 fresh hole in its side, and the animal thus set upon frequently dies." 



A most extraordinary story, which, as Dr. Russ, in quoting it, 

 appositely remarks, it takes no inconsiderable amount of faith to believe. 

 For our part we confess it appears too circumstantial for implicit 

 credence; but if true, the mode of attack evinces the possession of no 

 inconsiderable amount of sagacity, not to say intelligence, by these 

 carnivorous honeysuckers; combining, as they do, for a common object, 

 and working in relays to attain it with a minimum of labour and 

 fatigue. Credat Judceus ! 



Sir Walter Buller, who quotes the article, from which the foregoing 

 extracts are taken, in his History of the Birds of New Zealand, expresses 

 no opinion of his own in regard to it, but leaves it to his readers, 

 apparently, to reject or accept as they please. At the Zoological Gardens 

 the Keas did not evince a great liking for the lumps of raw mutton 

 that were ostentatiously hung up in their cage, but evidently preferred 

 maize and oats, with which they were always provided. 



It is possible that in time they might have taken to their provision 

 of raw flesh, but they did not live long enough to acquire the unnatural 

 taste, or rather to indulge in it while other and more palatable diet 

 was available; for with less than their usual discrimination, the 



III K 



