272 Transactions. 



The skins of the koko (and also those of some other birds) were used 

 as pohoi, or ear-pendants. The skins, with feathers on, but minus heads, 

 wings, and tails, were prepared by inserting a round stick in them, and 

 hanging them up to dry. Thus the skins assumed a cylindrical form. They 

 were suspended from the ears. 



Besides being potted and steamed in an earth-oven, the koko was often 

 cooked after being wrapped in leaves. A favourite method was roasting 

 before a fire. A green stick with one end cleft, split doAvn the middle, was 

 used as a spit. It was termed a rapa or korapa, whereas an unsplit stick 

 used as a spit is called a kohuki. Five or more koko or other small birds 

 were stuck in the cleft of a korapa, and the spit was stuck in the ground 

 near a fire. 



When fowlers were counting a day's takings they did not count two koko 

 as a brace, but reckoned two birds as one, or, in some places, three as one. 

 Hence a pu koko, or brace of koko, consisted of four birds, or, in some parts, 

 of six birds. This was on account of their small size. 



Tahei koko, or snares for taking this bird, were set all over the top branches 

 of trees frequented by them. When visited again by the fowler, he would 

 often find dozens of birds caught on one tree. Then would be heard the 

 saving, " Me te raparapa tuna.'^ So many birds were hanging from the 

 snares that they looked like a lot of eels hung on a stick to dry. Another 

 such simile was applied to pigeons when so caught in large numbers : " Me 

 te rau rangiora " (Like rangiora leaves). In this case the birds are compared 

 to leaves of the rangiora, which are white on the under-side. 



"■ He koko kai kohe " (A kohe-eating koko). When these birds are feeding 

 on the berries of the kohe tree they become very fat. This saying is applied 

 to a stout person as a simile. He is compared to a koko that has fattened 

 on kohe berries. Both the koko and pigeon eat these berries. 



" He koko ivhakamoe, ka mate te tangata " (When like a benumbed koko, 

 men perish). Applied to sleepy-headed, lethargic persons who do not keep 

 a good watch at night ; hence they are surprised and slain by enemies. 

 The koko gets so benumbed on frosty nights as to be unable to fly, and is 

 then taken by hand. 



" Me he korokoro tui " (Like a tui's throat) is said of an eloquent speaker. 

 This is given by Sir George Grey in his " Maori Proverbs." I have not heard 

 it used among Tuhoe. 



Kotare {Halcyon vagans ; Kingfisher). — The kingfisher is not numerous 

 in the Tuhoe district ; a few are seen, usually on the outskirts of the forest 

 region. I have seen them pecking into dead, half-decayed tree-trunks 

 in order to form their nests. At a place called Te Puta-kotare, at Whiri- 

 naki, these birds used to make holes for nests in a blufl' overlooking a lagoon : 

 hence the place-name. The Natives say that these birds eat lizards, and 

 hence some persons will not use them as food. The young were in former 

 times taken from the nest just before they could fly, and eaten by those 

 who were not too deeply imbued with superstitious dread of consequences. 

 Kotuku {Herodias timoriensis ; White Heron). — This bird is no longer 

 seen in these parts, and seems to have been only occasionally seen in former 

 times : hence the saying, " He kotuku taunga kotahi.''' 



In olden days the kotuku is said to have frequented a pond or lagoon 

 at Manuoha, a very wild spot and remote, and also the Kaipo Lagoon, 

 which is the source of the Mokau Stream, at W^ai-kare Moana. 



The plumes of the kotuku were highly prized by the Maori in former 

 times, being used by chiefs for sticking in their hair. These feathers or 



