Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-04-13

about sixty years ago. The bird existed in
New Zealand within a very recent period
and there are Ma1riS who Will tell YOU that
their iur-iatHers hunted it. The probability,
however is that il ant-dar-s the advent VI
the Ma"ri-. hut there is no doubt that II
was once eaten in great numbers. for in
Tn. old ovens which have been eXcayated
GGautiti"S "f cooked mua bones have been
found But as To when that time was ard
VII" IN" in"a hunters We're no one knows.
Eggs as Big Foot BALLS.
The m0a eggs We're each about a foot
long one was found some years ago by a
man when digging the foundation of
house He had gone down several feet
when he came upon the skeleton Of a man
in a sitting posture. The egg was held in
the mans bony fingers in such a manner
as I" bring IL Immediately opposite his
mouth. and il Is supposed that it was placed
there with the idea that the ghost of the
dead would have something to eat during
the intervals of his long sleep. There were
a stone spear and an by the side of the
man, showing that he probably a war
rlor, and his skull Dor" evidence of having
received several hard knocks, probably on
the battlefield The egg was ten inches long
and seven inches In diameter and it's shell
was about as thick a silver twenty-five
cent piece. Its inside Was perfectly empty,
but whether time or the dead native had
sucked out the contents the records do not
say.
The WinSle>s BIRDS of New Zealand.
The moa was wiugless. 1t seems to
have been giant edition of some
of the strange birds New Zealand has now.
There are wingless birds in New Zealand
not larger than good-sized chickens. which
ere mOaS in miniature. | refer to the kiws
some OF which. ] have seen here at Christ
church The kiWiS have hairlike feathers
of somewhat tn" color OF a quail They
have long bills. sharp at the point. with
which they can bore down into the mud
those of thu m0a.
! have had several Of them In my hands
and 10y feeling carefully l can discover
what ems like little lump on each side
where the wing ought to be. Otherwise
than this Ur wings are perCcptibie
The kIwI d night bird. At the college
here, whore 1 saw them, the birds were
pruurd su like chickens and had to be
brought ont of tine coon for me to examine
them They seemed almost blinded by the
light aud ran about this way and that in
apparent terror The birds are now grow
ing very scare" in New Zealand. The Ma
OriS ar" fond II them for food. and their
skins ar" highly priced dresses for the
chiefs Tho. are now only To be found in
the dense. beds Of ferns which cover parts
OF New Zealand. II Is very difficult to
catch them. for they look much like the
dead fern leaves and they take refuge in
CrcVICrS IN IN, rocks and in deep holes
which they eNCaFate in the ground for their
nests
one 81 the most curious things about the
big as the bird itself. being of creamy
" hit. color as smooth and as glossy as
ivory. The kiwi is rapidly being cXter-
minated. The dogs hunt it in the thicket,
and il is now rare that You find one out
side tho museums.
The Shcrp-EntinE Parrot.
There is another bird in New Zealand
which is quite as curious as the kiwi.
This is the kea parrot. which eats sheep
fastenirgs its claws into the wool of the
back and digging out the choice bits of
flesh, Thousands Of sheep have been de
stroyed by this bird, the loss from them
being so great that the government once
offered a reward of scventy-five cents a
head when as many as fifteen thousand
keas were killed in a year. The kea has
ariStOcratic tastes. 1t does not care for
any part Of the sheep except the Kidneys
and the tat which surrounds them.
Through several generations of birds il has
learned by instinct or tradition-whethcr
birds talk or not l cannot Say-jUst where
the kidneys lie in the Sleeps anatomy. i
am told that il strikes the right SPOT ev-
cry time, and that 1t bores u hole into
the side Of the sheep right over the kidneys
boring hole in with its bill as smooth as
though the flesh was cut round with a
knife. The kea tears out the kidneys and
the fat. and then leaves the sheep, which
of course dies.
There are different theories as to how
the keas acquired this taste for the finest
of mutton. They had had nothing bl,t
berries and insects until sheep We're intro
duced. Then they began to pick the meat
from the sheep skins hung up to dry.
Later on they attacked the live sheep and
after n time having discovered lust where
the kidneys We're devoted their labors 20
no other part. There is no doubt of the
fact that they take only the kidneys anti
that every kea knows just where TO
strike Il sheep the first time. Whether the