480 Traiisoctions. 



During the rarangi tahi season of 1909 many haka were taken by the ancient 

 methods at Maunga-pohatu, by the followers of Eua the Keka. 



In reference to the whakawiri kaka, already described, w^e note in White's 

 Selborne a similar method employed to take daws, for which see Letter 

 No. 21. 



The term rarangitahi applies to the rata tree only. The wai kaihua or 

 nectar is the only bird-food provided by the rata. Only the kaka were 

 taken on the rata during the rarangitahi — taken with the spear — for only 

 this bird is fat at such time ; other birds are thin, for this is summer-time. 

 All rata trees are not kaihua, because for some reason birds do not frequent 

 all trees of that species. At the time of the rarangitahi the pigeon is on 

 the maire, or eating leaves of the wharangi, houhi, kowhai, hangehange, &c., 

 and is very thin. Hence it is not taken. It also eats the fruit of the kotuku- 

 tuku. The pigeon is never taken by the striking (hauhau) method. It was 

 both speared and snared on the toromiro tree when the fruit thereof was ripe. 



The tahei process of snaring was employed on matai, toromiro, maire, 

 and kahikatea trees, but not on rimu or rata. Wai tahei are streams and 

 pools at which bird-snares are set. The term rakau tipapa is applied, says 

 Paitini, to the toromiro tree only — to such as are much resorted to by pigeons, 

 and on which they are snared. The loop snare is attached to, suspended 

 from, a cord termed takeke or tarawa. In the tahei method the fowler 

 ascends to the head of a tree and clambers out on the branches so far as they 

 will bear his weight, and arranges his snares as far out as he can toward the 

 outer ends of the branches. This method is employed on trees when the 

 fruit thereof is ripe ; hence such fruit acts as a poa, or bait. In flitting 

 about to get at the berries, the birds are caught in the loop snares {ma- 

 hanga). A bird that confines itself to the very outer extremities of branches, ' 

 fluttering about or alighting on the foliage and not on the branches, is 

 termed a manu kai popoki. To take such birds the tarahanga method is 

 emploved. The fowler arranges snares on a pole, which he thrusts out- 

 wards until the snares on it are outside or among the outermost foliage. 

 A light lashing secures the pole to a branch. {Mehemea ka kore e taea a 

 waho, ka tarahanga, ara mo nga manu kai popoki.) 



The hiwi ariki, used in the mutu or tutu method, is not a pole hiwi per- 

 manently lashed to a branch, as are other hiwi, but is a branch of the tree 

 on which the kokirikiri, with its attached mutu, is suspended. Birds taken 

 in summer-time were often buried by fowlers until they returned home, in 

 order to keep the flies from them. They were carried in baskets. As a rule 

 a Native plucks the longer feathers of a bird as soon as it is taken, plucking 

 being; easier while the bird is warm. Such feathers were concealed, not left 

 to be blown about, or birds would desert that forest. The long feathers 

 only of both wings are termed kira, but the expression seems to be applied 

 to the larger birds only. The down or minute feathers, termed awe and 

 nejiu, is left on in plucking. It is said to retain the fat well when potting 

 the birds. 



The act of counting birds, in braces, when prepared for preserving, is 

 termed whakamoe. A person will say, " Tena ! Whakamoetia iho te manu nei." 



The makoi, or barbed points for bird-spears, that were made of human 

 bone, were made from the thigh-bones. 



The pewa was really used for the tihe only, but the tieke, rearea, and ko- 

 kako were occasionally taken on it. Berries of the karamu and patate were 

 ' used as poa (bait) for the pewa, while the pepe, qv call-leaf, was also em- 

 ployed to lure birds to this snare-mounted perch. 



