Cockayne. — Leaf -variation in Coprosina baueri. 341 



the dead "boom " towns of the old digging days. The southern 

 Maoris say that the kotuku is an inhabitant of the nether world, 

 the spirit-land of the Reinga. An old funeral lament ends with 

 these words, in apostrophe to the departed : " Ko te kotuku to 

 tapui, e Tama — e/" (" The white heron is now thy sole com- 

 panion, my son ! ") 



The beautiful onomatopoetic Maori names of many New 

 Zealand birds have no doubt been remarked upon by some of 

 our nature -lovers. A considerable number of our indigenous 

 birds derive their names from their cries and songs. To enu- 

 merate a few, there are the kuku (or pigeon), the koko (or tui, the 

 parson-bird), the kaka parrot, the hakoakoa (seabird), the whio 

 (blue mountain duck), kea (mountain parrot), and the riroriro, 

 the little grey warbler. One can readily understand how these 

 names came to be given, particularly in the case of the wild 

 pigeon ; ku-ku is simply an imitation of the sound uttered by 

 the bird as it flaps from tree to tree, or sits up in the branches 

 feasting on the berries — literally a " coo," the softest, most 

 loving of forest calls. The whio, or " whistler," generally called 

 the blue mountain duck, is much more abundant in the South 

 Island than the North, and is to be seen at particularly close 

 quarters on such routes as the foot-track leading through the 

 mountains from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound. Here, in 

 many of the clear pools and calm reaches on the Clinton River, 

 you will see little fleets of whio sailing round and round, uttering 

 now and then the peculiar cry, like a whistle with a cold in it, 

 that has gained for them their Maori name. They have never 

 learned to fear man or his gun, and their confidence and tame- 

 ness are pretty to see. Finally, there is the kea, the remarkable 

 alpine parrot, the outlawed of squatterdom. Far up in the 

 mountains, in the wastes of rock and ice, the kea's scream will 

 be heard, as he circles round you on the cliffs, or hops across 

 the surface of the glacier after you — for he is as inquisitive 

 and impudent as the weka — yelling " Kay-ah ! kay-ah ! " at you 

 at the top of his voice. 



Art. XLIII. — On a Specific Case of Leaf-variation in Coprosma 

 baueri, Endl. (Rubiacese). 



By L. Cockayne, Ph.D., Cor.F.B.S.Ed. 

 [Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury/, (ifh September, 1905.] 



Plate LEE. 

 Coprosma baueri is a common New Zealand shrub or small tree 

 frequently occurring in exposed situations on the North Island 

 coast. It also extends to the South Island, having its southern 



