APPENDIX. 531 



and, while engaged upon his valuable little work entitled ' A 

 List of the Genera of Birds,' conceiving they were sexes of 

 the same species, and that, therefore, both my names were 

 inappropriate, inasmuch as, if either were retained, it might 

 lead to some misconception, has been pleased to dedicate it 

 to myself, a compliment which I duly appreciate ; and I have 

 only to hope that this name may be adopted by ornitho- 

 logists. 



" These birds," says Dr. Dieffenbach, " which the natives call 

 Hida, are confined to the hills in the neighbourhood of Port 

 Nicholson, whence the feathers of the tail, which are in great 

 request among the natives, are sent as presents to all parts of the 

 island. The Maories regard the bird with the straight and 

 stout beak as the male, and the other as the female. In three 

 specimens I shot this was the case, and both birds are always 

 together. These fine birds can only be obtained with the help 

 of a native, who calls them with a shrill and long-continued 

 whistle, resembling the sound of the native name of the 

 species. After an extensive journey in the hilly forest in 

 search of them, I had at last the pleasure of seeing four alight 

 on the lower branches of the trees near which the native 

 accompanying me stood. They came quick as Hghtning, 

 descending from branch to branch, spreading out the tail, and 

 throwing up the wings. Anxious to obtain them I fired, but 

 they generally come so near that tlie natives kill them with 

 sticks. Their food consists of seeds and insects : of their 

 mode of nidification the natives could give me no information. 



Mr. E. L. Layard, in his ' Ornithological Notes from the 

 Antipodes,' says, " The ' Huia,' ever a rare bird, is said to be 

 almost extinct. The tail-feathers are still sought after to 

 adorn the heads of the chiefs. It is singular that birds not 

 now used as food by the natives should be scarce and more 

 wary than in olden times when they formed one of the staple 

 articles of diet. Can this arise from their fear at the sound qI 

 firearms?"—/^/*, 1863, p. 244. 



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