Best. — Maori Forest Lore. 267 



Hence the death of Moe-tere and her husband among the snows of drear 

 Huiarau. 



The cry of the female Tiiivi is rendered by the Maori as " Poai, poai ! " 

 and that of the male bird as " Koire, koire ! " or, as some render it, 

 " Hoire ! " The cry of the male bird resembles a deep, hoarse whistle — 

 such a sound as is termed korowhiti. As old Tutaka put it, " Mehemea ka 

 poai, he uwha taua manu. Mehemea ka korowhio, penei me te korowhiti, a 

 he tane tena.'''' 



If the kiwi hunter has no dog he takes a firebrand along. He then sounds 

 the lure-call above mentioned, which closely resembles the cry of the male 

 bird. If the birds are not together, but roaming about singly, such a lone 

 bird will approach the hunter, attracted by the call. The merry fowler, 

 on seeing the bird approach hun, waves his firebrand vigorously until it 

 bursts into flames, whereupon the kiwi thrusts its beak into the earth, and 

 is easily caught by the hunter. 



If the birds are roaming in pairs they will not come to the lure-call. 

 The bird is said to be afraid of the fire when it blazes up (perhaps 

 its eyes are dazzled by the bright flame), hence it sticks its beak into the 

 ground so as to shade its eyes. 



The kiwi makes its nest in holes among roots of trees, or under over- 

 hanging banks, or holes on steep sidelings. Often they are made under 

 the roots of tawai {Fagus) trees. The Maori has an idea that the bird leaves 

 the eggs to hatch themselves and does not sit on them (awhi). This is 

 such a long process (two seasons, some say) that the tree-roots sometimes 

 grow over the egg and prevent the hatching or escape of the young bird. 

 We note a reference to this in a song composed by one Mihi-ki-te-kapua, 

 a prolific song-composer of the early part of the nineteenth century : — 



Engari te titi e tangi haere ana — e 



Tail tokoiua rawa raua 



Tena ko an nei, e manu — e 



Kai te hua kiwi i mahue i te tawai 



Ka toro te rakaii kai runga — e 



Ka hoki mai ki te pao 



Ka whai iiri ki ahau. 



Cloaks or capes of kiwi feathers are still made by Tuhoe and some other 

 tribes. The feathers are woven into and securely fastened to a woven flax- 

 fibre garment. These are termed kahu-kiwi. 



Koekoea {Urodynamis taitensis ; Long-tailed Cuckoo). — This bird and the 

 pipiwharauroa {Chalcococcyx lucidus) were somewhat of a puzzle to the 

 Natives, who never seem to have understood their habit of migrating. 

 Hence the Maoris have cherished two peculiar myths in regard to these 

 birds. One is that they appear from the ground in spring, having buried 

 themselves in the earth or mud in the fall of the year and remained there 

 throughotit the winter ; the other is that these birds are in some way the 

 offspring of the lizard called ngarara-papa. 



The cry of the koekoea is short, and is rendered by Natives as "Hoi!" 

 It emits a hoarse whistling sound, often heard in the dead of night. This 

 cry may be heard from about the time the manuka blossoms until the white- 

 pine has ceased to shed pollen. 



The local Natives state that the young of the koekoea and pipiwharauroa 

 are fed by the tataeto (syn., tataihore). The pipiwharauroa appears at 

 Rua-tahuna about the end of October, or early in November. It is also 

 known here as nakonako and whenakonako, on account of the peculiar 

 markings of plumage. The first of this species heard by me at Ruatoki 



