266 Transaction a. 



Plagianihus hetulinus), &c., they get very thin, and the skiu gets covered 

 with a kind of scurf [maihi). 



In some districts the pigeon is called huhu and kukwpa. " He huhu hi te 

 kainga, he kaka ki te haere " (A pigeon at home, a parrot abroad) is a favourite 

 apophthegm of the Maori. It may be applied either to a person who is 

 dowdy, careless of personal appearance at home, but who puts on fine feathers 

 when going out, or to a person who is quiet at home but talkative when 

 abroad. 



Mr. J. White has preserved (" Ancient Maori History," vol. ii, page 78) 

 an old-time myth as to how the pigeon became possessed of wings, and how 

 its legs and beak acquired their red colour. 



I have seen but one specimen of an albino pigeon in this district : it 

 was shot at Tarapounamu some years ago by Mr. C. Anderson. The 

 jjlumage, however, was not white, but had a pale pink tinge. 



Kiwi {Afteryx). — This bird is still fairly numerous in some parts of 

 Tuhoeland. At Parahaki and about Tara-pounamu they are common, 

 though, of course, not often seen. When camped at Hei-pipi, near the 

 latter place, their cries were often heard at night in winter, especially so on 

 wet nights. Several were killed by us, and I noted that the fat seemed to 

 be confined to a layer under and adhering to the skin, the rest of the bird 

 being quite thin. The skin is very thick. One good skin I intended to 

 preserve, but old Tutaka, who was camped with me at the time, came across 

 it, and promptly roasted it at a fire and ate it. He rejected the larger 

 feathers. 



Kiwi are rare or unknown in some parts of this district. I have only 

 heard one near Rua-toki. As observed, kiwi were sometimes caught with 

 a tahiti, but the usual method of taking them was to hunt them with dogs 

 at night. Kakapo were hunted in the same manner. This seems to have 

 been about the only useful work that the native dog was capable of. The 

 dogs were taken after dark to a place frequented by kiwi, and a lure-call 

 was often employed by the hunters to cause the birds to reply thereto. 

 The dogs were released to find, pursue, and catch the birds, but a kind of 

 rattle was fastened to the dog's collar so that the huntei-s might be able 

 to follow the sound thereof. A dog-collar was made from flax-fibre. When 

 tied up, a stick, called a potete, was secured to the collar at one end, and had 

 a cord attached to the other end by which to tie the creature up. The 

 dogs tried to free themselves by gnawing the stick — hence its use. A muzzle, 

 termed a ponini, was semetimes used on dogs. The rattle, called kakara 

 by Tuhoe, was composed of several pieces of wood {mapara, the resinous 

 heart-wood of the kahikatea tree), or of bone, sometimes whale-bones. These 

 pieces were about 4 in. long, and about four of them were tied to a dog's 

 collar, and rattled when he moved. Major Mair states that these rattles 

 are termed tatara by the Whanganui Natives, and rore at Wai-kato. 



The word ivhakangangahu seems to define the luring of kiwi by means of 

 a call^ — " Me haere ki te whakangangahu kiwi ma tatau." The word whaka- 

 ngau is here only applied to the hunting and taking of pigs with dogs. The 

 deep whistling sound made by a kiwi hunter to cause the birds to answer 

 him, and so disclose their whereabouts, is termed whakahihi. It is one of 

 the sounds known as koroivhiti, in making which the bent finger is placed 

 in the mouth. The former name is applied only to the kiwi lure-call. 

 '■' Ka ivhakahihitia te kiwi e te tangatay 



Parties of people used to go a-hunting the kiwi in former times. It was- 

 cold work in winter for these bushmen, who possessed but little clothing. 



