Page:The Kea, a New Zealand problem (1909).pdf/42

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38
THE KEA.

Subsequent writers, however, seem entirely to have passed over this clear statement, and in all the popular articles on the subject that I have seen a wrong habitat is given.

Sir Julius von Haast saw two Keas flying over the Godley Glacier; but, though he saw Keas several times while

A kea on the ground (with snow and tussock around) using its beak to hunt for insect larvae.

The Kea: Hunting for insect larvae.

exploring the alpine country of Canterbury, once only did he meet them in perpetually snow-clad regions and amongst glaciers.

Another significant fact is that many accounts of sheep killing have come from districts which are situated many miles from the region erroneously described as the Kea’s home,.

Dr. L. Cockayne, in a communication to me, gives what I take to be the Kea’s correct habitat. He says “I have observed the Kea in various parts of the Southern