262 
THE OWL-PARROT. 
While describing the ways and habits of" the cockatoos, we ai-e 
reminded of a member of the great parrakeet family which is found in 
New Zealand only, — the owl-parrot, or Strigops habroptilus. The 
natives call him kakapo, — that is, the "night -parrot." In size he 
approaches the common owl, but his body is more slender. His downy 
plumage is of a deep green, spotted here and there with yellow, and 
shading off into a yellowish -green on the under parts. The tail is 
gi'een, streaked with dark brown. 
According to Lyell, this remarkable bird inhabits the hill-sides, or 
the neighbourhood of rivers, where great trees abound, but neither 
ferns nor bushes. He first caught sight of the stranger on a lofty hill, 
some five thousand feet above the sea-level ; afterwards he saw several 
individuals in the plains, on the river-banks, and at no great distance 
from the sea. It is worth notice that he is never found on the western 
slopes of the New Zealand Alps, though they are covered with masses 
of forest-foliage, except in the Makavora valley, which is surrounded 
by hills of comparatively modei'ate elevation. It is easy to trace him to 
his habitat by his astonishingly long footprints, which measure fully a 
foot, and sink two or three inches into the soft moss ; in fact, they are 
not at all unlike those of a man. He excavates a kind of burrow under 
the roots of a tree, or seeks shelter in the fissures of the rocks. Many 
of the New Zealand trees having roots which rise above the ground, 
the kakapo is able easily to find accommodation ; but it is probable 
that he always enlarges by his own exertions the natural hollow. 
By day the bird is never seen unless startled from his nest — for 
which purpose dogs are employed. Prior to the introduction of these 
valuable animals into the island, and when the kakapo was more 
abundant, the natives pursued him at night with torches; but at present 
a race of half-wild dogs, which has become established in the north 
of the i.sland, incessantly hunts down the kakapo, and threatens to 
exterminate him. 
The Maoris describe him as a courageous bird, which does not fear to 
resist the dogs, and sometimes with success ; but this can be true only 
when the dogs are very young or feeble. The traveller Haast remarks 
that, as regards his own dogs, they sufl:ered much from the wounds 
