NESTOR HYPOPOLILUS.

Ka-ka Parrot.

Psittacus hypopolius, Forst. Icon., 50.
—— Meridionalis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat.,
Nestor, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. 1D. WIG.
——_—— Australis, Shaw, Mus. Lever., pl. at p.

 

tom. 1. p. 333.—Dieff. Tray. in

 

New Zeal., vol. ii. p. 193.

87.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Ay.,
(Kakadoe) Nestor, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Noy. Act. &c.

Nestor hypopolius, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand. &c., pp.
pl. 12.—Gould, Syn. Birds of Aust., pl. 3 itl
Souancé, Rev. et. Mag. de Zool., 1856, p. 22
part ill. sec. i1., Psittacide, p. 99.

p. 8, Nestor, sp. 1.

 

eDDemleans Os
905 and 696.—Selby in Jard. Nat. eines
g. 2.—Bonap. Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 18
2.—G. R. Gray, List of Spec.

arrots, p. 121,

04, p. 155.—De

of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus.,

Southern Brown Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i: p. 264.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 522.—hLath. Gen. Hist.
vole uw: p. 201: ,

Nestor Nove-Zelandia, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 191.

Centrourus Australis, Swains. Class. of Birds., vol. ii. p- 303.

Ka-ka, Natives of New Zealand.

Aurnoucu New Zealand has been known to us since the days of our celebrated voyager Captain Cook, and
been a British possession for so many years, no one of its many intelligent settlers has written a line
respecting this species of Parrot; neither has the English ornithologist Swainson, who resided there for
some years, nor the German historian of its birds, Dieffenbach, nor the enlightened Governor Grey, said
one word on the subject. Had an opportunity offered for my visiting New Zealand, this void in the
history of one of the most interesting of the great group of Parrots should certainly have been filled up;
what more, then, can I do than give an accurate figure of the bird, and call the attention of the residents
of New Zealand to the subject, in the hope that one or more of them will study and record the habits and
economy of the bird before it is extirpated, and its name and a few stuffed skins alone left as an evidence
of its once having existed. Although urging this so strongly, I am aware that of all the members of
the genus the present species is the commonest, and that at this moment numbers are yet to be found
in the New Zealand group; still I feel assured that it is one of the species which before many years have
elapsed will become extinct. A very great dissimilarity both in size and colouring occurs in different
examples of this species, so much so as to induce a belief, both in my own mind and in that of others, that
they may constitute two species, a great and a little Aa-ta. Some of the specimens have the whole of the
crown and back of the neck and the outer portion of the wings bluish grey; others appear to be real
Nestors, having very hoary heads ; some have very distinct collars of beautiful-fringed feathers at the back
of the neck, while in others this feature is more feebly developed. It will be a question for the colonists to
determine if there be more than a single species, or if the differences seen in the skins sent to Europe are
indications only of local varieties, and to what cause they may be due.

This bird is the type of Dr. Wagler’s genus ‘Vesfor, the species of Se are rendered remarkable by the
depth and richness of their colouring ; the only outward difference in the sexes would appear to be the
somewhat smaller size and less brilliant colouring of the female. It is said to be one of the most noisy) and
impudent of its race, to have a voice harsh and disagreeable in the extreme, and to possess considerable
powers of imitation. “dc nae cde

Crown of the head and nape hoary, slightly tinged with green, and with a narrow edg ng ‘ a
each feather ; ear-coverts striated with dull orange and brown ; feathers at the cheeks ang at a
throat hoary bordered with brown, and washed with red at the base of the bill 5 all a ae
brown, each feather margined with dark brown, and the feathers of the neck tipped with

: Serie ee ae : ae
of orange-brown and orange; wings and tail olive, becoming paler on tl e a
: ; secondaries deeply toothed on their in-

argins and tip; under wing-

coverts scarlet, crossed by narrow bands of black ; primaries and Dee ee

ternal webs with light salmon-colour, those of the tail with deeteda sa ree a ae

breast olive, with a narrow crescent of brown near the tip, beyond wibich is ; oo - ee ae

lower part of the back, upper tail-coverts, abdomen, and under ae 2 en

rich red, within which, near the end, is a narrow erescent of brown ; De ae = ‘ - ee
The large figure on the accompanying Plate was taken from a tolerably old bird,

: ashe oy surface of the wings and tail.
the reduced figure is given to show the colouring of the under surface 0 g

  
 
  
    
    
   
    
  
   
     
   
  
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
   
    
   
  
 

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