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contrary, the bird does good service in this respect, for its vigilant eye is the first to detect the 
insidious attacks of the small longicorn beetles and other borers, and it is to search out and devour 
these enemies to forest conservation that it takes the trouble to break the bark at all. I have seen a 
vigorous limb cut to a depth of two inches or more by the Kaka’s beak, for that purpose only, the 
cutting or rasping being effected by means of the under mandible, the hook of the upper giving the 
necessary leverage. Such a wound in a healthy tree rapidly heals over and thus the limb is saved 
through the intervention of the bird at the right moment. 
This is one of our highly characteristic forms and is met with, more or less, in every part of the 
country. Far away in the depths of the forest — where the trees are clad with rich mosses, crypto- 
gams, and lycopods to their very tops — where, as if to hide the mouldering decay of nature, huge 
masses of green vines and creeping plants cover the aged trunks and bind the bush together — where 
the sunlight, struggling through the leafy tops, discloses here and there a feathery tassel of Asplenium 
flaccidum hanging from the branches or a clump of the scarlet-flowered mistletoe— there the Kaka is 
at home and may be studied to advantage. So long as he does not know he is watched, he may be 
seen twisting and turning among the sprays, hopping Cockatoo-fashion along a branch, then climbing 
higher with graceful agility ; resting for a moment to whistle for his mate and, when she has joined 
him, expressing his pleasure in a sharp chuckling note, like the striking together of two quartz 
pebbles ; then, as if suspecting some treachery below, he suddenly takes wing with loud cries of 
Jca-ka and glides smoothly through the leafy maze, closely followed by his spouse. On a near view 
the brilliant plumage under the wings is very conspicuous when the bird is flying ; but when the 
bird is climbing or hopping, in the manner habitual to it, the wings are kept closed. Then on 
the outskirts of the forest you meet with him again — more generally in the early morning- — hunting 
diligently for his insect food or regaling himself on ripe berries of various kinds in the thick under- 
wood; and towards evening three or more of them may be seen in company, flying high above the 
forest level; then alighting on the withered, naked top of some lofty kahikatea or kauri tree — always 
perching on the highest points — resting a few moments, and taking wing again till they are fairly 
out of sight. In the early watches of the night, too, especially during the breeding- season, and just 
before the break of dawn, its peculiar cry betrays its wakeful restlessness. 
In the dark Fagus- forests, both north and south, it shares the domain with the stealthy Woodhen, 
descending often to the ground to hunt for grubs and insects among the moss-covered roots and 
decaying wood. In the low-lying woods, where the climbing kiekie ( Freycinetia banksii ) attaches 
its rooted stems to the larger trunks and, spreading upwards its tufted coils, wraps the whole tree 
in a flowing mantle of brilliant green, there too at flowering-time the Kaka will be found, feasting on 
the sugary bractem and fleshy-white spadices of this remarkable plant. He fills his crop with this 
delicious food, and then betakes himself to some leafy shade to avoid the heat of the noonday sun. 
In more open places, on the outskirts of the bush, where huge clumps of Astelia fasten themselves to 
the dead or withering branches, the Kaka may sometimes be seen eagerly tearing open the matted 
roots of this parasite, in quest of the worms and beetles which find an abode there, attracted by the 
moisture. 
In the South Island, during certain seasons, it frequents the open land, alternately perching on 
the rough blocks of trachyte and feeding among the grass and other stunted vegetation. 1 remember 
on one occasion, some years ago, counting upwards of twenty at a time on the Port hills which divide 
Lyttelton from Christchurch. 
On its feeding-habits Captain Mail 1 writes to me: — “ In June 1875 I was at Tuhua in the upper 
Wanganui. I found the Kakas there so fat that they could not fly. I actually caught fifteen of 
them on the ground, as they were unable to take wing.” 
Mr. Buchanan informs me that he has seen the Kaka stripping off the bark from a green tree 
