356 Transactions. 



obtained. A few names, like toroa, torea, and titi, are applied somewhat 

 loosely to several different birds. One or two birds, like the huia, kotare 

 (kingfisher), kaka (parrot), kotuku (white heron), and iveka (woodhen), are 

 everywhere known by those names, though they may have other appel- 

 latives of local application. On the other hand, the fan tail rejoices in a 

 choice of nineteen names, while the bell-bird has no less than twenty-six. 

 But there is this difference between the two cases : the names of the fan- 

 tail all bear close resemblance to one another and would probably be re- 

 cognized anywhere, while those for the bell-bird differ very materially, 

 and are many of them very local. Of the bird-names, some were certainly 

 imported, some are onomatopoetic, and the origin of the majority must 

 remain a matter of conjecture. Of the imported names, we may mention 

 kotare (kingfisher), which is stated in the Tahitian dictionary to be a bird 

 like a woodpecker. Ruru (the morepork) appears m. many of the islands 

 as lulu, some species of owl. Maluku (bittern, or sea-heron) and kotuku 

 (white heron) are found as names for similar birds m not a few of the 

 islands. Toroa (albatross) in some islands is applied to a species of duck. 

 Kohoperoa and koekoea (names for the long-tailed cuckoo) are known IQ 

 a number of the islands. Peho and koukou are supposed to represent 

 the cry of the morepork ; while honga and Jionge are applied to the 

 kokako, as taken from its cry. Then, the nineteen names for the fan- 

 tail {hirairaka, pitakataka, tiwaiwaka, with numerous variants of these) 

 are said to denote the little bird's restless, fidgety habit. The name for 

 the shining cuckoo {pipiwharauroa) offers an interesting opportunity for 

 speculation. Pipi is a word applied to the young of birds ; wharau is at 

 present seldom, if ever, used in Maori apart from the term whare-rvkarau, 

 a temporary booth or shelter of branches. The meaning of the word has 

 been lost by the Maoris, but in a number of the Polynesian dialects it 

 survives in the word folau, where it means a journey or voyage. Roa, of 

 course, means "long." The question arises then, did the Maoris formerly 

 recognize the pipiwharauroa as a migrant (" the bird of the long journey "), 

 and preserve the fact iu the name long after they had invented myths to 

 account for the cuckoo's disappearance in the winter ? 



Before leaving the department of natural history it may be well to 

 call attention to a peculiarity that will be observed in these names. The 

 most superficial observer must be aware of the fondness of the Maoris for 

 dissyllabic reduplication. In general this reduplication denotes some slight 

 differentiation of the meaning — in verbs it may betoken frequency of action, 

 in adjectives a lessening of intensity, and so on ; but in the names with 

 which we have been dealing reduplication may remove a name from the 

 list of birds to that of fish, or even from the animal to the vegetable king- 

 dom. For instance, kotare is a kingfisher, but kotaretare is a species of eel ; 

 kotuku is the celebrated and rare white heron, while kotukutuku is the native 

 fuchsia. It is well to bear these facts in mind, as otherwise much confusion 

 may result. It has, in fact, been stated in a work upon Maori names* that 

 the name makotuku may perhaps be more correctly makotukutuku, meaning 

 in both cases " the stream of the white heron " — an interpretation which 

 can be given only to the former name. Then, too, the Maoris had other 

 ways of varying their names which produced unexpected resemblances. 

 The word papauma is the name of a fish and of a shrub ; in the former case 

 it is a contraction from papaki-uma, in the latter from paraparauma. 



* " Nomenclature," by W. Colenso. 



