(iOi Transactions. 



to the removal of the rfstriction on the sale of powder (in 1857) and to the 

 increased number of white settlers, and perhaps also to the spread of diseases 

 brought by introduced birds, the kukupa, once so plentiful, is now every 

 season becoming more difficult to find. Before the introduction of guns, 

 and for many years after owing to the restriction referred to above, the 

 chief methods of taking the kukivpa were by the spear and noose. 



The spear named raivhi was of great length, the best being made of 

 kapara, the gum-preserved core found in some decayed kahikatea and rimu 

 trees after the sap-wood had rotted away. An old Maori once described 

 to me the method of making them. Very great care was taken to select 

 a piece of kapara so straight in the grain that M^hen struck at one end with 

 a toki (stone axe) and a wedge driven in it would split open from end to end. 

 The long pieces thus obtained were roughly trimmed and taken to the kainga, 

 where, by weeks and weeks of patient chipping and scraping they were 

 made round and smooth When completed they were about 25 ft. in length 

 by 1| in. in diameter. A piece of the hard black substance found in an old 

 dry ponga (tree-fern), about 10 in. long, | in. wide, and | in. thick, was 

 smoothed, sharpened to a point, with one or more barbs worked on it, and 

 then neatly bound to the end of the shaft. If accidentally broken, it was 

 quickly and easily replaced. Sometimes the spears were made of tnanuka, 

 in shorter lengths, two of which, from 12 ft. to 15 ft. in length, were bound 

 together, one end being pointed and barbed. Occasionally the spear-points 

 Avere made out of the bone of the sperm-whale. 



Now for the mode of hunting the kukupa and using the spears. One 

 or more trees of the ?niro {Podocarpus ferrugineus), loaded with fruit, and 

 regularly visited by the birds, were selected. Several long poles were placed 

 against the tree, or an adjacent one by preference, to serve as a ladder, 

 up which the hunter could easily and quickly climb. If required, a cover 

 was fixed in the tree to conceal the Maori from the birds. All being ready, 

 he climbed up, got under his cover, and waited patiently. Presently a 

 flock of, say, twenty pigeons would settle in the 7mro. Amongst the flock 

 there is always a quarrelsome cock bird, generally in poor condition, called 

 a tu-te, continually disturbing the others {tu-te is literally a person who 

 nudges another with the elbow). The tu-te is always the first bird speared, 

 so that the other birds may feed undisturbed. The spear is rested on 

 a branch exactly in line with the birds, and is pushed up very gently until 

 the point is within 18 in. of a bird. It is then suddenly thrust up, so that 

 the bird is transfixed. The spear is then quickly lowered, and the bird 

 killed and dropped to the ground. The man goes on quietly working, and 

 in a short time bags the greater part of the flock. 



When pigeons are noosed, the method usually followed is as under : 

 The top branches of trees frequented by the birds are lopped or broken off, 

 and straight rods of manuka tied across in several directions. To these the 

 nooses were fastened. Great numbers of pigeons were caught in this manner. 

 Nooses were also placed on the margin of a forest-creek where pigeons were 

 in the habit of drinking. Sometime a kumete (trough), hollowed out of a 

 log f) ft. to 8 ft. long, and filled with water, was put in a suitable place, and 

 nooses tied over and around it. 



Another method was adopted for taking small birds. A long stick, called 

 pae, was tied in a slanting position about 4 ft. above the ground ; shelter 

 or concealment was provided near it, behind which a man stood armed 

 with a long straight manuka stick called whiii (literally a whip). With a 

 leaf in his mouth, usually the leaf of the turutu {Dianella intermedia), he 

 would make a "peeping" sound resembling the call of young birds. Fan- 



