132 Transactions. — Zoology. 



songsters of the woods, but it is only seen or heard for about 

 four months in the height of sumnaer. It secures itself during 

 the winter months in the holes of the puriri-tree, and does 

 not leave its retreat till all danger of its being overtaken with 

 cold has passed away. The natives say that always when 

 the wind is about to blow from the south the Kohoperoa 

 ceases its song, and does not commence again until the west 

 wind blows or a breeze springs up in the north." A good 

 many of Mr. Yate's statements appear to have been got 

 secondhand, for he has evidently confused the two Cuckoos. 

 He says, " The Pipiwharauroa, or Shining Cuckoo, has no song 

 at all," whereas we know it is the finest whistler we have in 

 the Islands. He also says, " It is a bird of passage, and sup- 

 posed to come from the islands north of New Zealand, though 

 the natives assure us that it retires in the winter into the 

 holes of trees or into the crevices of the rocks, and does not 

 fiy away for winter quarters to other and warmer climes "(48). 

 According to Mr. Elsdon Best, the Urewera natives say. 

 "These birds disappear into the earth in autumn and come 

 forth during the spring ; we do not see them appear from the 

 eaith, but such was told us by our elders. Perhaps they 

 retire to caves. They do not eat berries, but lizards, &c. 

 There is no sign of the coming of this bird, as a wind or any 

 other tohii — nothing but its cry ; that is the only sign. We 

 take the Koekoea for the sake of its kotare, or tail-feathers, 

 which we prize as plumes for head-ornaments. I have not 

 seen it eaten "(49c). 



Mr. Taylor says the natives call it " Kawekawea " and 

 " He piri rewa," the " Flying-lizard " or " Tree-hzard." The 

 name Kawekawea may have been formed from the word ka- 

 iveau, which means a "large lizard," or from a mere misspelling 

 of the word koekoea, which has an entirely dilfei'ent origin. 



Mr. Tregear says, " The natives have a curious fancy that 

 the bird loses its feathers at the approach of winter, hiber- 

 nating in holes in the ground. Its feathers begin to grow as 

 spring advances, its tail drops off, and it again becomes a l)ird. 

 In its lizard form it is called Gnaha at Taupo and Wanganui. 

 To the native mind the green lizard is moko kakariki, a very 

 fearsome creature, from its spiritual influences, and is the 

 incarnation of a god. It is born from the shells left in the 

 nest of the Kakariki, or Green Parrakeet, after the young birds 

 are hatched out ; but the Cuckoo is the child of a lizard that 

 is mottled or speckled, and the name of this lizard is Moko- 

 tapiri or Gnarara-papa or Moko-papa"(49a). 



The name Kawekawea may thus have arisen from the idea 

 that the bird turns into a lizard ; or it may be called the Tree- 

 lizard from the peculiar mottled markings on the feathers, 

 or from the fact of its appearing about the time that the 



