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Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds



corrugated iron, the birds being amused apparently by the noise.

This must be very annoying for the inmates of the hut.


The colour of the Keas blends perfectly with the alpine vegetation

and yet the bird certainly needs no protective agency, for until the

coming of man it had no enemies except the elements.


One would think that this hardy Parrot would do well in an outdoor

aviary in England, but in its native sphere it does not meet with the

damp clinging cold of the English winter. In spite of the bitter and

intense cold there are long periods of brilliant sunshine which are

quite unknown in the Homeland in the winter time. Recent attempts

at importing Keas into England do not seem to have been very success¬

ful. A few years ago twelve were captured and sent to the London

Zoological Society on board the Tahiti on her last unfortunate voyage

and although it was a long time before the boat sank, the Keas were

deemed to be not worth saving. Two more were brought home by

the captain of a certain ship, who, rather than bother to inquire about

the Parrot restrictions, threw them, cage and all, into the London

Docks. A couple of birds were sent to me last year but they succumbed

just before they reached these shores, mainly owing, I think, to the

effects of mutton broth upon which they were largely fed. I was

more successful in landing four birds in June of last year. It is said

that the bird is called the Kea after its cry and it does not need a great

stretch of imagination to pick out the particular cry which resembles

a long drawn out “ Ke--ah ”.


Cold does not seem to effect them much, for I have seen them sit

for lengthy periods on the ice crags of the glaciers. They do not seem

to mind the extreme coldness to their feet, in fact they seemed to

enjoy it.


The birds seem to feed to a certain extent on the juicy roots of a

certain mountain tussock grass, I noticed that they always pulled

the sections out of the middle of the clump, never at the sides ; after

the edible portion was chewed off, the fibrous part would be rejected.

In captivity the birds feed mainly on roots, such as carrots, kumeras

(the native sweet potato), swedes, etc. They are also fond of biscuits ;

they seem to take very little seed of any sort, although the ones at the

Wellington Zoo seem to be fed solely on dry maize. I think mealworms



