Page:The Kea, a New Zealand problem (1909).pdf/88

84 The sheep, which for some time has been moving uneasily about, gives a jump as the beak enters the flesh, and then commences to run wildly about here and there in vain efforts to rid itself of its tormentor.

When, however, the poor beast discovers that it cannot dislodge its enemy, it seems to lose its head, and rushes blindly about, usually at a high speed.

Sometimes the birds run the sheep to death, and then gorge themselves on the dead body. At other times they



never really reach a vital part of the animal’s anatomy, but, after severely wounding it, they leave it, and the poor brute wanders about with a large gash, sometimes four or five inches across, on its rump, and torn open so much that the transverse processes of the vertebrae can be seen. The sheep struggles