[4 
196 Transactions.—Z oology. 
a party of stragglers in Sulphur Bay, in the Rotorua Lake (about forty 
miles from the sea coast), no doubt brought inland by the easterly gales, 
which sometimes prevail for a considerable time without intermission. On 
the Tauranga coast he has obtained large “bags” during the shooting 
season; and on one occasion, at Cemetery Point, killed ninety-seven at a 
single shot with a heavy charge of No. 5 from an ordinary fowling-piece. 
This will give some idea of their numbers, and of the close manner in which 
they were packed together. Thousands were crowding upon each other on 
an insular sand-bank, and numbers more were hovering overhead in the 
vain attempt to find a footing among their fellows. As he was “ shooting 
for the pot," he concealed himself with floating kelp, and crawled up under 
-Water till the birds were within easy range. 
The natives catch large numbers of them by spreading flax snares 
horizontally on manuka sticks twelve or fifteen feet high, and arranged in 
the following manner :—A number of stakes are driven into the ground at. 
equal distances so as to cover the area of the customary resting-place. A 
perfect network of flax-loops or running nooses, about twelve or fifteen 
inches in diameter, are then spread or hung in such a way as to form a 
canopy or roof supported by the stakes. The birds on assembling in the 
evening fly low and take up their position on the resting-ground to wait 
for the ebb of the tide. At this conjuncture the natives spring out from 
their concealment with lighted torches. The birds at once rise vertically, 
in confusion and alarm, and large numbers become entangled and caught in 
the running loops, sometimes as many as 200 being captured at one time 
in snares covering a space of twenty by forty yards. These snares are only 
set on calm and dark nights, for the obvious reasons that, if there was any 
wind, the loops would become disarranged, and that on moonlight nights 
the birds would see the nets and avoid them. Sometimes during wet 
easterly weather in summer the feathers of these birds become so saturated 
that they are unable to fly. The natives take advantage of this and capture 
large numbers of them by running them down. 
From what has been said, it may be inferred that they are esteemed 
good eating by both settlers and Maoris. The latter always cook the bird 
unopened, and devour the contents of the stomach with a relish. When 
very fat they are potted in the orthodox fashion and “calabashed” for 
future use. 
I have never met with a native who could tell me anything about the 
breeding habits of the godwit, and it has become a proverb amongst them: 
“ Who has seen the nest of the Kuaka ?" Nor has the egg of this species 
yet been met with in any of the other countries which it is known to visit. 
