Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds



69



It was not for love of the Kea that the subsidy was taken off, far

from that. The argument the N.Z.N.B.P.S. used was, why should

the taxpayer have to pay for ridding the sheep farms of vermin ?

Why should a man buy a farm over-run with Keas and the taxpayer

be asked to pay for the clearance and give him a good income into

the bargain ? Why did not the Government pay for rats, mice, rabbits,

etc. ? There was a publicity campaign, and a deputation sa'w various

ministers. The money question saved the day. It was the old, old

story of why should some one pay for some one else. The old saying,

“ The hand that signs the cheque book rules the world 55 is very true.

The fate of the Kea didn’t matter a little bit. They could have pleaded

for ever for the bird but when the money question came up, ah, well !

That was a totally different matter !


When the subsidy of 5s. per head was being paid, quite a few of the

alpine guides supplemented their incomes by shooting the birds

surreptitiously. They would take up small pea rifles and at a distance

of a few feet would kill half a dozen Keas. The heads would be cut

off and sent to the nearest depot and the killer would be awarded 5s.

per head. This meant quite a nice little income. It is little wonder

that these men and also farmers and the shepherds were anxious to

keep alive the rumour about the Keas sheep-eating propensities.


Travellers come into the alpine regions where the bird is found,

ask a few questions about it, usually never see the birds at all, then

write a book. The two following are extracts from such types of

books, “ These most destructive creatures are found in great numbers

at the foot of snow mountains and kill the sheep by fastening their

strong claws to the wool while they tear the flesh and eat out the livers,”

and again, “ The Kea has a strange history. Once it lived on berries

and grubs but years ago it became fond of mutton, and according to

widely credited accounts it is very destructive to sheep. Alighting on

the back of a sheep, the Kea fixes its claws in the wool or flesh and

quickly makes an opening with its two-inch beak.” And so the lies

grow. This kind of tosh is usually written by people W'ho know nothing

whatsoever about the habits of this bird, but who jump at any bit

of sensationalism to enliven the otherwise dull pages of their literary

products.



