262 Transactions. 



tiaka walks round the outer edge of tlie playground, as a sort of sentry. 

 Near morn the tiaka leads the flock back from the feeding-grounds to the 

 common living-place, which is always situated in a rough, steep locality. 

 {Ahakoa he rau nga pokorua, ka kiia tena whenua he whawharun. Ko te 

 mahi a nga kakapo ki te whawharua, he patu i ona paihau ki te whenua, me 

 te rara a tona waha ki te tangi.) 



I have before me an article on the American grouse, in which the follow- 

 ing occurs : " It is the custom of these birds to prepare their ballroom by 

 beating down the grass with their wings, and then to dance something 

 suspiciously like the "lancers." By twos and fours they advance, bowing 

 their heads and drooping their wings ; then they recede and then advance 

 again, and turn on their toes, swelling their feathers and clucking gently." 



As to the tiaka, or sentinel-bird, a note at page 192, " Journal of the 

 Polynesian Society," vol. ii, says, " These birds when feeding placed one 

 of their number as a sentinel, which hung by its beak to the branches of a 

 tree, uttering a warning cry." This double performance, doubtless a some- 

 what difficult one, does not seem to have been performed by the kakapo of 

 Tuhoeland. 



The Natives hunted the kakapo (as also the kiwi) at night, with dogs. 

 Kakara, or rattles, were tied on the necks of the dogs, and the hunters 

 followed the sound of these. They would be careful to approach the 

 whawharua on the opposite side to that from which the wind was blowing. 

 When the birds were assembled, and began their dance, elevating their 

 wings preparatory to striking them on the ground, it is said that they could 

 be caught by hand. But it was necessary to catch the tiaka (leader and 

 sentinel) first, then the others could be easily caught. If the leader was not 

 so caught, then all would escape. The lure-call used when hunting these 

 birds was made by placing the hand at the side of the movith. 



Kakapo are said to collect berries of the hinau and tawa trees, and also 

 fern-root (aruhe), in the fall of the year, and carry such food to secluded 

 pools of water, in which they place it to preserve it for future use. When 

 summer begins the birds commence to feed on these stores of food. 



The kakapo, kiwi, kaka, kereru, koko, and weka were all preserved in 

 their own fat in former times, and so kept for future use. 



In former times cloaks were made of kakapo, the skin being stripped 

 off, with feathers adhering to it, for this purpose. Such garments were 

 known as kahu kakapo. Old Pio, in his quaint way, says, " This is another 

 remark ^ — a different subject: a kakapo. This ancestor was like a bird 

 in appearance : it had two wings. It was a bird of high rank. The 

 feathers and skin were stripped off to make garments for chiefs. Then it 

 would be said, ' So-and-so has a kakapo cloak.' " 



Kakariki ; syn., Kakawariki and Porete {Cynanorhawphus novce-zea- 

 landicB ; Green Parrakeet). — This bird is generally termed porete by the 

 Tuhoe people. These birds were formerly very numerous, and appeared 

 in flocks about clearings and on the edges of forests, very much as the pihi- 

 pihi, or silver-eye, is now seen. 



" The origin or parent of the parrakeet," says old Pio, " was one Hine- 

 porete. Her descendants are the kakariki, whose cry is ' Torete, kaurehe ! 

 Torete, kaurehe ! ' The Maori people slay these birds in the autumn by 

 erecting a tanga, and using a lure-call to attract the birds. Now, there was 

 an ancestor named Tutunui (or Tunui), who planted a crop of kumara (sweet 

 potatoes) on the land of Hine-porete and her folk. When the kumara grew 

 above ground those porete folk came and pulled up the whole crop. Tutu- 

 nui observed the loss of his crop, and so he fixed a kapakapa (1) and caught 



