Bullek. — Note on Mus maorium. 49 



Colonel McDonnell informs us generally of an incident which 

 he witnessed himself in 1866 in the north-west part of the 

 North Island : "Sir George Grey, then Governor of New 

 Zealand, was at the time visiting this locality ; and an old 

 Maori called Kawana Paipai told him that when a young man 

 he had often joined in moa-hunts with his countrymen on 

 the Waimate Plains. He described the way in which the 

 hunt was conducted. When a certain number of young men 

 had discovered a moa they pursued it till they were exhausted. 

 Another party then took their place, and so on. When the 

 moa got tired they killed it with stones or sticks. Some 

 doubt having been expressed about Paipai's testimony, he got 

 very angry, and said that if a few men were sent with him, 

 and brought picks along with them, he would show them 

 where moa-bones could be found in the ancient ovens. So it 

 was done ; and accordingly moa-bones were found 3ft. deep 

 among ancient ovens. Kawana added that when the moas 

 were hunted down they fought with great fury, striking with 

 their feet." Colonel McDonnell calculated that this hunt must 

 have taken place at the beginning of this century. It is there- 

 fore clear that, far from being too bold, I had under-estimated 

 the time of the disappearance of the moa in carrying it back 

 so far as the end of the last century. 



Art. VI. — Note on Mus maorium (Hutton), with Exhibi- 

 tion of Specimen. 



By Sir Walter L. Buller, K.C.M.G., F.B.S. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 5th October, 1892.] 

 I HAve much pleasure in exhibiting this evening a specimen of 

 the true Maori rat (Mus maorium), about which there has 

 been from time to time much discussion in the pages of our 

 Transactions. This example came from Nelson, where it was 

 obtained at the time of the great irruption of rats into that 

 district so fully recorded by Mr. Meeson and other local ob- 

 servers. It is identical with the species of rat collected by 

 Mr. Eeischek some years ago on the Little Barrier and other 

 islands in the Hauraki Gulf, specimens of which were taken 

 by me to England in 1386. I compared these with snecimens 

 sent to the British Museum by H.E. Sir George Grey about 

 the year 1848, and found the rat to be the same. Mr. Old- 

 field Thomas, of the Zoological Department, who assisted me 

 in this examination and comparison, is of opinion that the 

 species is identical with the Polynesian rat [Mus exulans) 

 4 



