18



Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds



the most amusing encounter with these birds. I was attracted by the

cries of three of them in a very high forest tree in which the birds were

searching for wood-boring grubs. Sitting down near the tree I whistled

and made various noises ; after a minute or two the birds stopped their

work and became very attentive ; eventually they descended lower

and lower, whistling and calling and making altogether an amazing

variety of sounds. Finally, they began to “ show off ” very much as

an Amazon or Grey Parrot does when spoken to. I continued to

whistle and call, and eventually the noise attracted the Kakas from

the neighbourhood, until at last twelve or more were within twenty

feet or so, all calling and screaming at once. How long this strange

concert would have lasted I do not know, but, getting tired and short

of breath with so much whistling, I moved away and the birds then

dispersed in different directions.


The Kaka is another bird which requires large areas of forest to

support it. As soon as the forest burning begins and settlement creeps

in, the Kaka disappears, and it is only far from the beaten track,

especially where there are large areas of protected forest, that one is

at all likely to see this Parrot. As long as these areas are preserved

there is no danger of the Kaka becoming extinct. If once these

districts are given over to settlement, of which there is a danger,

with a change of Government, it will not only mean the death-knell

of the Kaka, but many other birds as well. Fortunately, this bird

is very plentiful on both the island sanctuaries of Little Barrier and

Kapati, so there is no danger of its becoming extinct altogether.


The Nestoridse is the family to which this bird belongs, and is

composed of large and sombrely-coloured Parrots confined now to New

Zealand and represented by only two species, this and the better-known

Kea. Formerly there were several other species much brighter in colour

than the two surviving ones. How many there were we shall never

know, for they are now extinct except these two already mentioned.

There are skins and records of three more, one from Lord Howe Island,

another from Norfolk Island, and the strangest of all from Philip

Island, a small islet only a few miles from Norfolk Island. Without

a doubt there were more of these strange birds confined to the various

Antipodean Islands, but owing to their size and edible qualities they



