Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS

THE PARROTS

The Owl-Parrot

(Subfamily Stringopince).— The Kakapo, Ground, or Owl-Parrot (Stringops habroplilus) of New Zealand is the sole tenant! of its genus and subfamily, and is altogether the most anomalous member of the entire group of Parrots. Dr. Gadow places it first in the second family (Psittacidce), while others, perhaps more correctly, have assigned it a position on the outskirts of the group and not in its very midst. Be that as it may, the Kakapo is one of the most peculiar and interesting of the many feathered anomalies to be found in the little island continent, being two feet or slightly over in length, with the entire outer plumage rather soft and lax, and the hairlike feathers about the eyes disposed somewhat in the form of a disk as in many Owls, whence, of course, its name of Owl-Parrot.

The bill is short and thick, much swollen on the sides, without a notch, and has the under side of the hook provided with a filelike surface.

The nostrils open in the swollen cere and the base of the bill is covered with feathers, each with its shaft prolonged into a”hair,”while the bony ring surrounding the orbit is complete. The wings are short and rounded, the tail long, rounded, and with each feather pointed. In color the plumage is green, varied with brown above and yellow-green varied with brown and yellowish white below.

A further marked peculiarity of the skeleton is an incomplete sternum and a very much reduced keel, — in fact, this is almost absent, for the bird is a very poor flyer, spending most of its time on the ground, and furthermore is practically nocturnal in its habits.

 

 

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