Page:The Kea, a New Zealand problem (1909).pdf/31

Rh rugged, barren peaks give place to bush-clad mountains; peak after peak, range after range, they seem to vie with one another in presenting to the traveller scenes most varied and striking. Here a peak mightier than his comrades shoots up his hoary crest into the blue, his lower slopes clothed in evergreen forest of rata, lancewood, ferns and mosses, often so dense as to be impenetrable. As the height increases the growth dwindles, until near the snow-line it gives place to the celmisia and mountain lily, which in turn give place to the cushiony vegetation of the sub-alpine flora. Above this, plant life ceases to fight against the terrible odds, and the rugged, rocky summits are clad in eternal ice and snow. Alongside this symbol of massive strength and grandeur, a deep, peaceful lake will be found quietly nestled, which, but for the bush-clad precipices and the snow-clad peaks reflecting themselves on its surface and the heavy bush fringing its sides, would fit well in some English country landscape

The whole country about this region is an endless series of craggy peaks, dark mountain gorges, sylvan lakes, picturesque fiords, which for grandeur and beauty are unsurpassed, and draw travellers from all parts of the world to gaze upon them.

This long stretch of alpine country is the home of the Kea. Here he reigns supreme. At times he may be seen flying about the snow-clad peaks and the glaciers, or hopping from rock to rock in search of food. Again, he may be found in the dense bush, seeking berries or prying curiously into the ways of the homesteads. Here, in a region of mountain, forest and flood, the bird bas lived and flourished for centuries, until man came unbidden. With man came sheep, and with sheep the great temptation, and soon also the fall that has for ever blackened the character of these interesting mountain parrots. Even yet, with the brand of Cain upon them and every man’s hand against them, they find a refuge and a home in the mountain fastnesses.