MAORI NATURE NOTES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 304, 10 December 1929, Page 7

MAORI NATURE NOTES

FOR TRIBUNE READERS (Copyright-J.H.S.) Readers of the "Tribune” who are interested in the flora and bird life of New Zealand, by cutting out these Maori Nature Notos eacb day as they appear and filing them in a suitable scrap book may com pile a book of reference which will be to them a source of pleasure and instruction in the years to come.

KAKA PO (parrot of night) Is a strange fellow in the bush as he is in the house. Though the wings are a foot long they are useless, except to flap when he runs. He climbs from the ground to the tree tops by his hooked beak and strong claws. The kaka po feeds on grasses and moss among which his protective colouring hides him from an en emy. As a pet he plays like a young kitten, and has been liken cd to a child in intelligence. The habit of feeding by night was only a partial protection. When approached ns he sat upon a low branch be simply fell to the ground and hid among the moss. The flesh resembled and tasted like lamb, so it cannot bo wondered that the birds he came rare, their extinction being only averted by protective measures and the bird sanctuaries. In the bush the trncks of the kakn po were as well defined by long use as the sheep trails on n hill side. They are strong fighters with beak and claw; but friendly as children, and yielded quickly to kindness.