Page:The Kea, a New Zealand problem (1909).pdf/71

Rh enjoying the fun. Clothes hung out to dry at the shepherds’ huts or camp often get torn up, coloured clothes more than white. I, along with two or three other men at a musterer’s camp, saw a Kea take a piece the size of its beak out of a turkish towel, with one peck, almost as clean as it could have been done with a pair of scissors. The towel was almost a new one, so that you will have an idea of the strength of the beak.”

A botanist was one day working among the ranges, and for convenience’ sake left a bundle of precious specimens on a rock. A Kea that must have had a decided taste for botany began to investigate; and when the man returned he found that the whole of his rare collection had been tumbled down the precipice, far beyond recovery.

Not only do they play most outrageous pranks, but they often display a good deal of method in their madness.

One of my correspondents gave me the following instance:—“To show you how tame and inquisitive a Kea is; I was one day resting on a hill when one perched on my shoulder. I caught him and put him in a box an inch thick, but he cut it through by the morning and got out. I then chained him with a dog’s chain, with a leather strap round his leg. The Kea would run the iron chain through his beak until he got to the leather, and then with a stroke or two of his beak he cut it right through.”

Mr. Kinsey of Christchurch, narrates the following curious incident concerning the Keas at Mt. Cook Hermitage:—

Wishing to take some live Keas to town, he had several placed in a wooden box; and, in order to secure them, he placed several fairly large stones on the top of the cage. His daughter some time afterwards found that the stones had been removed, so, after putting them on again, she went and told her father. He, however, knew nothing about their removal; but by keeping watch he was able to discover the culprits.

Through his field glasses, he saw several birds alight on