size of a Pullet's; they are pure white, aud the shell is minutely granulated, but without any gloss or polish. 
The average measurement is about two inches long by one inch four lines broad. 
The young Kakapo chick is extremely small for the offspring of such a bird, and is covered with thick 
fluffy down of a creamy white colour ; bill and feet white ; but before it leaves the nest it assumes the plumage 
of the adult bird, although the colours are duller, with a less admixture of yellow ; the ear coverts are darker, and 
the facial disk less conspicuous. 
A distinct variation in the plumage is observable in specimens procured from different localities, of 
them all the Alpine Kakapo is the most beautiful. Air. Reischek writes of it : " The Alpine Kakapo — so called 
by me, as I have never found this beautiful bird anywhere except on high mountains— is considerably larger and 
much brighter than the ordinary Kakapo. The young ones are much duller in plumage than their parents. 
These Alpine birds are rare, but I was fortunate in securing about a dozen of them. Amongst them was a 
specimen of a beautiful varied plumage ; on the top of the head, very light green ; back, wing coverts, and tail, 
yellowish green, with crimson spots ; round the bill, crimson ; throat, breast, and abdomen, yellow, with crimson 
spots ; bill, bright yellow ; legs, silver grey ; eyes, dark brown." 
General colour of upper surfaces, dark sap green, brighter on the wings and lower part of the back, 
each feather marked with dark brown and yellow ; the under surfaces are a lighter green, with a metallic lustre, 
and radiating lines of yellow ; on the croAvn and nape each feather is vandyked with brown and outlined with a 
dirty yellow streak ; under tail surfaces, barred with dull brown, green and yellow ; also the tertiary wing 
feathers ; irides, black ; bill, yellowish white ; tarsi, yellowish brown. 
The sexes are alike in plumage, though individuals vary a good deal in the brilliancy of their tints and 
the details of their colouring. Sap green to bright grass green is a safe generalisation, but sometimes the whole 
of the plumage of the under parts is strongly coloured with lemon yellow. 
Total length, two feet four inches. 
Habitats : North and South Islands, New Zealand. 
