160 
(Panax colensoi), and sucking up with its tongue the gummy matter underneath, m the same manner 
that it extracts the honey from the flowers of the Phormium tenax ; and Mr. Potts has observed it 
luxuriating on the viscid nectar which fills the blossoms of this tree in spring time, till sated at last 
it cleanses its beak against a neighbouring bough, and then, with grateful clatter, glides off to join 
its fellows. . 
It is said also to feed on the sweet honey-like substance which exudes copiously from the baric 
of the Fagus when it is attacked by the fatal grub. 
When migrating from one part of the country to another, the Kakas travel in parties of three 
or more, and generally at a considerable height, their flight being slow and measured and their 
course a’ direct one. They occasionally alight, as if for the purpose of resting, and in a few minutes 
resume their laboured flight again. On these occasions the bleached and bare limbs ot a dry tree aie 
always selected, when one of the requisite elevation is within reach, as affording most fully that 
which they appear to delight in, an unobstructed prospect. 
A curious circumstance in the natural history of the Kaka was mentioned by me, on the authority 
of an eye-witness, in a communication to the Wellington Philosophical Society . At a ceitain 
season of the year, when this bird is excessively fat, large numbers of them are found washed ashore 
in Golden Bay, or on the Spit which runs out from it. They are generally dead, but if not, are so 
exhausted as to be unable to take wing. The apparent explanation is that the Kakas in their 
migration across Cook Strait, which is widest at this part, are unable to maintain the long flight, 
owing to their fat and heavy condition, and fall into the sea. The set of the current being towards 
Cape Farewell, the bodies of the perishing birds are swept in that direction and finally cast ashore. 
It is surprising how seldom one meets with dying birds in their natural or wild state. Like 
Macgillivray’s wounded Gull, seeking some quiet retreat in order to “ pass the time of its anguish 
in forgetfulness of the outer world,” birds in general, and indeed all wild animals, have the faculty 
of hiding themselves away when the time of their dissolution approaches. During the many months 
I have spent in the New-Zealand woods I never but once picked up a bird that had died fiom 
natural causes, and this was a little Kiroriro at the base of a kauri tree, as mentioned on page 45. 
On one occasion, however, at Omahu, about the end of J uly, a native brought in a Kaka which he 
had caught by the hand at the roadside. It seemed sickly, drooping its wings and uttering its kete- 
kete ” when touched. My friend, Renata Kawepo, put it on a parrot-perch as a mokai, but it died 
that night. 
On the ground it generally moves by a succession of hops, after the manner of the Corvidae, 
and not with the awkward waddling gait peculiar to most Parrots. In the trees, where it is more at 
home, it is perpetually on the move, often walking deliberately along a branch, and then climbing to 
another by a dexterous use of both beak and feet, or silently winging its way to a station in a neigh- 
bouring tree. Its alarm-cry resembles that of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo of Australia. During 
the pairing-season the two sexes are always together, and when on the wing keep side by side, both 
calling as they go. In the neighbourhood of their nests they have a low call-note, like ki-i-to, ki-i-to, 
and a very soft whistling cry. 
Possessing excellent powers of mimicry, and useful to the natives as a decoy-bird, the. Kaka is 
much sought after, and almost every native village has its “ mokai.” Like most Parrots, it is a long- 
lived bird ; and one which had been in the possession of the Upper Wanganui tribes for nearly twenty 
years presented the curious feature of its overgrown mandibles completely crossing each other. This 
was no doubt attributable to the fact of its having been constantly fed with soft food, thereby 
depriving the bill of the wear and tear incident to a state of nature. It is not so easy, however, to 
* Trans. F.-Z. Instit. 1878, vol. xi. p. 369. 
