256 Transactions. 



Hakuwai. — This is possibly but a mythical bird. The Native account 

 is that it was a large bird, very rarely seen. It flew at a great height above 

 the earth, in the night-time, and its cry is given as " Hakuwai, hakuwai ! 

 Ho .' " It is probably the hokioi of other tribes. Native tradition says 

 that this bird had four joints in each wing, and that it lived in the sky. Old 

 Pio, of Nga'ti-Awa, has the pedigree of the nimble hakuwai,* which is now 

 no longer seen or heard. He says, " The ancestors who live in the sky 

 are Whaitiri, Nuhe, Toronu, Moka, and Hakuai." (The first is the emblem- 

 atical name for thunder ; the next three are names of three species of 

 caterpillar that when they appeared on the kumara plants were said to^ 

 have come from the sky.) " Tangaroa's offspring were Makara, Tangaroa- 

 akiukiu, Tangaroa-a-roto, and Rona. Tangaroa-akiukiu had Tu-te-wehiwehi, 

 Tu-te-wanawana, Noho-tumutimiu, Moe-tahuna, Haere-awaawa, Turuki, and 

 Hakuai." Again Pio says, " The descendant of the star Rehua (Antares), 

 was Hakuai. This bird always stays in the heavens. It has four joints 

 (tuke) in each wing, and was heard flying at night and crying ' Hakuai, 

 hakuai ! Hoho ! ' It was an evil omen to see that bird. Te Rangihoki, 

 an ancestor of ours, came across one near Putauaki, and caught it, hence 

 that place is still known as Te Hakuwai." At another time old Pio said, 

 " Maui-mua married Te Papa-tu-rangi, who was a daughter of Maui-potiki.. 

 Their son was Tiwakawaka. The hakuwai, who was related to Maui, heard 

 of this, and came and said to Tiwakawaka, ' Get on my back, that I may 

 carry you to the ao ma tonga, to Ka-pu-te-rangi.' So Tiwakawaka reached 

 that place, and married Haumia-nui, a descendant of the original Haumia. 

 Tiwakawaka was the permanent settler in these lands (New Zealand). In 

 after-days one Maku came here and found Tiwakawaka living at Ka-pu-te- 

 rangi (at Whakatane). This place, Aotearoa, belonged to the hakuwai^ 

 who arranged that Tiwakawaka should reside here." 



An interesting note on the hakuwai, or hokioi, may be found at page 435 

 of the " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute " vol. v. See also 

 vol. vi, page 64 ; vol. vii, page 494 ; and vol. xii, page 99. 



Sir George Grey gives the following as an old-time saying : " Pekapeka 

 rere ahiahi. hokioi rere 2>o " (A bat flies at twilight, a hokioi by night). 



Hirorirori. — See Riroriro. 



Hiivaiwaka. — See Piwakawaka. 



Horirerire. — See Riroriro. 



Huia. — Given as Heteralocha acutirostris in the Rev. H. Williams's list.. 

 This bird was never, say my Native informants, a denizen of the Tuhoe 

 district, but of the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges. The long black tail- 

 feathers {kotore huia), tipped with white, are highly prized by Natives as 

 plumes for the hair. 



Mr. Guthrie Smith, of Tutira, states that he heard of a huia having been 

 shot at Wai-reka, near Te Putere, on the Waiau tributary of the Wairoa 

 River ; but the Rua-tahuna Natives sav that they never heard of the birds- 

 as being found in those parts. 



Kaeaea (also known as Karearea) (Nesierax novce-zealandice ; Sparrow- 

 hawk). — The male bird is known as kakarapiti. 



Kaha {Podicipes cristatus ; Crested Grebe). — This bird has long dis- 

 appeared from this district. It was formerly found at the Wai-kare-iti 

 Lake, near Wai-kare Moana. The Natives say that it built its nest on 

 the surface of the waters of the above lake, and anchored the nest to the 



* Williams queries hakuwai as the great frigate-bird. 



