118 Bird-Lore
Canary. It is one of the Grass Warblers, a very loosely defined family of Old World birds. As its name implies. the bright yellow head is a dis- tinctive mark of recognition. The yellow extends over the throat and under parts, while the back, wings and tail are olive-brown in tone. I had no opportunity of observing a near relative of this species, the Whiter head, which, though nearly extinct. may still be occasionally encountered in the North Island.
On this same ride into the heart of the Routeburn Valley, through forests of windAswept beeches, with lofty peaks rising on either hand, in whose drear hollows glaciers crawled from summits of perennial snow, I saw the famous Kaka Parrot and heard its wild, shrill call. It is a large bird, a foot and a half long, of an olive-brown color, suffused with dark red and varied here and there with a tinge of yellow. This bird, which, before the advent of the white man was a vegetarian, has changed its habits with the introduction of sheep, having discovered that kidneys are excellent rating and may be secured With the aid of its sharp curved beak. In consequence of this Epicurean taste for sheep's kidneys, the colonists are waging incessant warfare on the Kaka, and the bird has become very rare except in remote solitudes.
Another member of the Parrot tribe, the Orange—fronted Parrakeet, crossed my path and gave me a glimpse of his showy plumage. He was dressed in a regulation parrot-green. with an orange band on the fore- head and a stripe of crimson across the head. The bright blue of the flight»feathers completed his coat of many colors, making him altogether one of the most gaudy birds of all New Zealand. The Kaltapo, or Ow Parrot, occurs also in this region, but is so rare that extinction threatens it in the near future. Although provided with wings, the flight muscles are so inadequately developed that the Kakapo is unable to lift itself from the ground. It is about the size of one of the larger Owls, and of a dull mottled-green color. Like the Owls, it is nocturnal in habit, and in structure differs so considerably from all other Parrots that systematists have placed it in a separate family.
liven in such mountain fastnesses as the country about the head of Lake Wakatipuc some of the most interesting birds of New Zealand can Seldom be seen. The Kiwis or Apteryxes, several species of which were once abundant in the fernyrjungles, are becoming very scarce despite their shy- ness and nocturnal habits. They are quaint creatures without wings, with long, delicate snipe-like bills. and feet that might belong to a fowl. They are allies of the Ostrich family and in some respects arc the lowest of living birds. Four species of Kiwis still exist. but they are daily getting nearer to extinction. Such is also the case with the interesting flightless Wood—hen, or VVeka, a curious member of the Rail family, once abundant in the wooded parts of New Zealand. The great family of Wingless
