ORANGE-WATTLED CROW

Forest and Bird, Issue 96, 1 May 1950, Page 3

ORANGE-WATTLED CROW

COVER PICTURE (From a Water-Colour by the late Miss L. A. Daft)

Callaeas cinerea Kokako

“ r H S HE gentle confiding manners, the rich, A flute-like notes, the peculiar mode of progression even, cannot fail to draw the attention of the observer, albeit he may not be imbued with enthusiasm for gazing on the life that stirs in our woods. The ardent naturalist who has the chance of knowing this bird must learn to love it.” Unfortunately, few of us are able to see the kokako as Potts saw it, as it is now confined to Stewart Island and parts of the forested mountainous districts of the South

Island. It is exceedingly tame, and this, added to the fact that it is largely a ground feeder, has made it the easy prey of dogs, cats, and other vermin.

In the North Island is a very similar bird, the blue-wattled crow. Whereas in the South Island crow the wattles are orange with a little blue at the base, in the North Island bird the wattles are bright blue all over. “Few sounds are so enchanting as when a party of these birds is practising a number of rich flute and organ-like notes, many as if in chord, and some ventriloquial.”