These, it is true, are probably not trained scientific observers. Nevertheless, they all live in contact with facts; and it seems to me that we are sure to get nearer to the truth by taking the experiences of men who have spent most of their lives in Kea country in preference to those of men who judge the birds mostly from caged or preserved specimens.
To make the evidence as reliable as possible, the following precautions have been taken:—
I. Nothing but the accounts from eye-witnesses themselves has been taken.
II. Evidence without the writer’s name and address has been cast out.
III. All details, such as year, have been forthcoming (as far as possible) in each case.
IV. The witnesses, if necessary, have been cross-examined by post.
V. All the accounts of Keas attacking sheep have been forwarded with a written statement to the effect that, if necessary, the writer will swear to his evidence before a Justice of the Peace.
The result of this investigation has already been published,[1] including the eye-witnesses’ names and addresses, as well as many of their written accounts.
I am fully aware that, in spite of all these precautions, inaccuracies may creep in, and I have already proved that some men will even tell lies for the sake of having their names published.
However, in order to substantiate the records, I have made several trips into the Kea country, and can testify to many of the facts myself.
To some people this question will never be satisfactorily proved until some man of scientific standing has actually seen the Kea killing the sheep. In order to satisfy these doubters, I would suggest that a number of sheep should be fenced in on some station where Keas are plentiful, and that some one of
- ↑ Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, Vol. XXVIII. page 271.
