64 Transactions. 



One of my old Maori friends went to the Wakatipu diggings in 1862. 

 He says, " When in Moonlight Gully my dog caught some big moreporks 

 in the rocks there, and we called the place ,Kohaka-ruru (nest of more- 

 porks). These birds were not the small bush-owls known as ruru, but 

 the bigger open-country ones known as ruru-whenua. They were big and 

 fat, and when cooked the whole party ate them, and they tasted so good 

 that even the white men smacked their lips over them." I have never 

 heard of the Maori eating owls except this instance, it being generally 

 supposed they regarded the bird with a good deal of awe. A place near 

 Colac Bay is Ruru-koukou (" the cry of the morepork " — rum being the 

 bird and koukou its call). 



In securing Maori nomenclature I ascertained that many place-names 

 in the South are reminiscent of birds. The native lark is pioioi, and the 

 name of Dunback Hill is Te Av.-apioioi ; the native quail was called 

 koreke, and a range of hills between Milton and the sea is Whatu-koreke ; 

 the kingfisher is kotare, and a hill near Nuggets Point is Taumata-kotare ; 

 the teal duck is patake, and a creek near Invercargill is Te Awapatake ; 

 the seagull is karoro, and an island in the Mataura River above Gore is 

 Pokai-karoro ; the parrakeet is kakariki, and a place near Charlton was 

 known as Pokai-kakariki, while a beach near Fortrose is Kakariki-taunoa ; 

 and so on. 



One of the aged men said to me, " There used to be a small bird at 

 Roto-nui-a-Whatu (now called by the white people Lake Tuakitoto). It 

 was about the size of a redbill (forea), and had a white breast and a black 

 back. We called it pouakakai, but its European name I do not know." 



The common name of the swamp-turkey in the South was pakura, and 

 a swamp near Balfour was called Kai-pakura (to eat swamp-hens). The 

 bird was also called pukaki because of a habit it has of stretching up its 

 neck when alarmed and so bulging its throat. The North Island name 

 of this bird is pukeko, and how often has one heard it said, " Look at those 

 awful Southerners massacring the beautiful Maori language ! Fancy them 

 corrupting the word pukeko into pukaki ! " This is not so ; it is only one of 

 the numerous instances where northern and southern names differ. 



The native pigeon is a celebrated bird in southern estimation. My 

 Maori friends laid great stress on its connection with the story of Maui. 

 It is commonly called kereru, but is also known as kukupa. When Maui 

 was a boy he went down into the underworld to find his father, and he 

 painted his mouth and legs red and put on a white maro, or kilt, and 

 transformed himself into a pigeon. One of my informants said, " The 

 white on the breast of the kereru is the napkin, or maro, Maui was wrapped 

 in as a babe." Maui in the shape of a pigeon flew on to the handle of 

 the ko (spade) of his .father, who spoke to the bird ; but all it could do 

 was to nod its head and answer, " Ku, ku.'' Any one familiar with the bird 

 knows the way it wags and nods its head — this is in memory of Maui — 

 and all it can say is what Maui answered his father, " Ku, ku.'^ 



• Speaking of Maui reminds me that legend says it was the mirth of 

 the titakatahi (fantail) which caused his death. ()n(> of the old men said 

 the word titakatahi meant " flitting about," and the bird was so named 

 because of its restless disposition. ,The correct name of Akatore, in Otago, 

 is Aka - torea, and it means " the harbour of the redbills (or oyster- 

 catchers)." The North Island form of the name would be Whanga-torea. 

 The southern Maori used the ordinary manuka to make bird-spears, and I 

 have a note that the clump of manuka called Pokai-kakariki, near Charlton, 

 was celebrated in this connection. 



