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Keas' Nests.
The position of the kea's nest depends a good deal on the surrounding country. If the mountains have numerous long narrow tunnels running for some yards into solid rock the kea will make use of them; but otherwise a rabbit-burrow or a cairn of stones will suffice. When the birds build, as they usually do, in the face of almost inaccessible cliffs, their nests are invulnerable, for even if a mountaineer can manage, at the risk of his life, to reach the exit of the “run” he will have to use a crowbar to force an opening, and in many cases nothing but a charge of blasting-powder would make a hole large enough to effect an entrance. The nest that we visited was situated in a narrow tunnel at the top of a 900 ft. cliff, caused by the Chimera Creek cutting a deep narrow gorge through Jack's Hill. We had to leave our horses in the gorge, and climb along the top of the cliff for some distance, which, owing to the slippery nature of the ground, made our progress very slow. The nest was fairly easy of access, owing to it being situated near the bottom of a small ravine, about 10 ft. deep, which poured its waters over the top of the cliff.
In the spring of 1906 Mr. Urquhart, having discovered the nest, determined to plunder it, and so one night he, with several of his men, climbed along the top of the cliff, but owing to the darkness they were unable exactly to locate the nest. The difficulty was overcome, however, by one of the men imitating the call of a kea, to which the young birds responded. A large
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stone was forced away from the opening with the aid of a crowbar, thus enabling a man to crawl in and reach the nest. The female bird was killed, but the male escaped, and the four young birds were carried back to the station. Mr. Urquhart brought two of the young birds to Christchurch for me, thus enabling me to photograph them.
The nest of a kea is almost a misnomer, for the bird chooses some natural hole in the rocks which has a narrow opening just wide enough to allow the adult birds to pass in and out, and then, placing a few pieces of tussock-grass at the far end, she lays her eggs.
The first nest that I saw was situated at the end of a long narrow tunnel running some 6 ft. into solid rock. The opening, after the removal of a large stone, was in the shape of a triangle; the distance from the apex to the base was 14 in., and the length of the base 19 in. The tunnel, or “run,” narrowed as it approached the end, and here, in the narrowest part, was the nest placed, which, when it was robbed some months before, contained four keas.
On the opposite side of the ravine the remains of another nest were found, which could not have been reached without blasting the rock. The opening was 30 in. deep and some 13 in. wide, and the tunnel ran back some 10 ft. into solid rock, and a more secure place for a nest could hardly be imagined.
With such inaccessible nesting-places there seems very little chance at present of these interesting but cruel birds being exterminated.