90 THE UIA. [PART i. 



has been depicted by Mr. Gould, in Part III. of his 

 very splendid work, ' The Birds of Australia,' 

 from specimens which I sent to him. The great 

 difference which exists in the shape of the bill in 

 the male and female birds induced Mr. Gould for- 

 merly to regard them as two distinct species, to 

 which he gave the names Neomorpha crassirostris 

 and acutirostris ; but it is now well known that 

 there exists a whole tribe of birds showing the same 

 generic difference. This bird is of the size of a 

 magpie : its plumage is of a dark glossy black, in- 

 clining to a green metallic lustre. The ends of its 

 tail-feathers are tipped with white for about three- 

 quarters of an inch ; the bill is white, rather darker 

 at its base, where it has two wattles of a rich orange 

 colour a peculiarity of structure which several 

 birds of New Zealand possess. 



The male bird has a short, straight, and strong 

 beak, but that of the female is much longer, and 

 forms a segment of a circle. 



Accompanied by a native belonging to the tribe 

 of the former inhabitants of Port Nicholson, the 

 Nga-te-Kahohunu, and now a slave, the only per- 

 son I was told who understood the art of decoying 

 uias, I* set out for the hills, and, after a long day's 

 walk, had the pleasure of seeing that the continued 

 loud and shrill whistling of my guide, uia, uia, uia, 

 in imitation of the note of the birds, had attracted 

 four, which alighted on the lower branches of the 

 trees near him. They came silently and with a 



