Page:The Kea, a New Zealand problem (1909).pdf/131

Rh daylight. The best time, however, is either in the evening or the morning, when they are going to their feeding grounds or leaving them. They mostly go in pairs in the breeding season; then, when the young are able to fly about, they travel for a while in families, and afterwards towards the winter they club together. I once counted over thirty in a mob, but alas, through having been among the rabbits, my ammunition had almost run out, and I only got nine out of them. The Kea is,



I am confident, the most inquisitive bird alive. One may be just visible as a speck in the sky, but if it has no important engagement on hand a whistle will often bring it down to you at once. It was my habit when shooting Keas to pick off the outsiders or timid ones first, if there were more than two,—I always took two at a time. At the report from the gun the others would give a nervous start, erect the few feathers that