245 
the bird is doomed, and at the present rate of destruction a few years at most will witness its exter- 
mination. For this reason, if for no other, it was incumbent on me as its historian to give the fullest 
possible account of its natural history. 
Mr. Walter Chamberlain, of Harborne Hall, Birmingham, in an interesting paper read befoie 
the Largo Field-Naturalists’ Society last year, makes the following observations on this remarkable 
Parrot : — 
“ Between 1865 and 1870 the shepherds who were pushing their flocks in the south further and further up the slopes of the 
central range began to complain that the KSas visited their huts and ate the hanging meat, more particularly the kidneys and fat. 
Here, then, we have the first evidence of the pernicious and, to them, fatal taste for kidneys which has since so rapidly developed 
They found the meat hanging with the kidneys in situ. They took a special liking to the latter and sought for them hig an 
low, all the more zealously no doubt that the shepherds took counter precautions to preserve the delicacies for themselves. It is 
most likely that they soon began to find and tear open with their strong bills the sheep that died among the hills, and were t us 
guided by degrees to the actual seat of the kidneys in the living animals and the readiest way of approaching them. At any rate, 
about the year 1875, the first sheep-still in the far south-were found wounded just over the loins. There was much puzzhng 
over these wounds, and not unnaturally they were at first ascribed to wild dogs, that is dogs run wild ; but at last a 1 dou s 
were set at rest by a shepherd actually catching a bird on the back of a live sheep hacking at its loins m order to reach the 
kidneys. Gradually since then the habit has travelled northwards, until only in 1885 the first sheep was attacked m the Rakaia 
district, not very far south of the extreme northern range, as at present known, of the species. In the meantime the southern birds 
that had already learnt the trick, commenced to follow the flocks lower down during the winter, and to carry on their devastations 
more systematically Now, this sudden acquisition of an altogether strange habit by birds m a state of nature is, I think 
absolutely unique, and it is certainly a case of great interest to naturalists everywhere as well as to New Zealand run-holders. I 
cannot call to mind any instance that I have heard or road of which at all runs parallel with it. New habits when they are 
acquired by species in a natural state have always hitherto, so far as I know, been very slowly developed, and the habit itself, as 
a rule, is little more than a modification of some previous one performed by instinct, as for instance the painfully acquired 
experience which teaches wild creatures to avoid a new form of danger, or the easily made experiments which teach them that 
some crop newly grown by man near their haunts is suitable for food as it stands. 
“ Consider for a moment the sequence of events and the extraordinary change of habit involved to the parrot. Between 
1865 and 1S70 the Kda first comes in contact with the shepherd, and commences to steal his meat with a marked preference or 
the kidneys. This is natural enough, and any other parrot with a tendency to animal food might do the same, but here the 
matter would ordinarily rest. The shepherds would protect their meat, and the parrots would return to their usual food. Not 
so with the Keas. Between five and ten years later they have found out not only that kidneys are somewhere inside living 
sheep, but whereabouts inside and the nearest point on the back from which to reach them. A few years more and they 
have learnt further, not only that sheep are incapable of defence and unable to hurt their aggressors, but that they are singularly 
stupid animals, and may be reduced to a still further state of impotence by the simple expedient of worrying, and, moreover, they 
have worked out a plan of thus worrying the sheep by combining together and attacking the unfortunate animals one after another 
“ In the first part of these notes I have stated that I see no reason to rate the intelligence of the PsUtacida : generally above 
the average of other families of birds, but certainly if we were to meet with a few more instances among the former of habits 
acquired by a process which bears such a striking resemblance to inductive reasoning, or at least to the putting of two and two 
together we should not be able to deny them possession of intelligence which, were they a more power u fami y, mig t be 
dangerous to man himself I have stated elsewhere on the authority of Dr. Karl Buss, and as a matter of common 
observation, parrots are not flesh-eaters, and in confinement even the Nestor can be kept in health without it, whilst a moderate 
amount only is apt to cause disease. Yet the Kea seems able suddenly to abandon to a large extent its natural food and to gorge 
itself incessantly on raw meat, like a Hawk. Altogether the matter is one well worthy the attention of ornithologists, and it is 
to be regretted that the too probable extermination of the species may prevent the present or succeeding generations of naturalists 
glaciers; and the middle distance is veiled in mist, partly obscuring the stunted 2%«-forest which clothes the lower ranges. 
In the foreground, below the gorge, a sheep attacked by a Kea is writhing its body in agony and kicking up the loose snow from 
the ground in its frantic efforts to rid itself of this cruel tormentor, which clings tenaciously to its back. Two other Keas on the 
win g are coming to assist in this work of torture. A small mob of sheep are huddled together under a projecting cliff, trying to 
obtain a little warmth, whilst one sheep, more inquisitive than the rest, has advanced a hundied j aids or more lowar s 6 
suffering victim, and is looking on, in silent wonderment, showing that these animals have hardly yet learnt to regard this 
Parrot as their natural enemy. 
