240 Transactions.— Zoology. 
favourite food, jumped boldly down. On seeking to return they were pre- 
vented by the overhanging sides of the pit, and in the morning the Maori 
hunter found them safely trapped. These pits may still be seen on remote 
ranges; they formed a fruitful subject for dispute; and a common claim 
made by a native in the present Land Courts is, that his ancestors hunted 
rats over the part under discussion. 
But the Maori species seems to have been a vegetarian, and with him 
we have no more to do. Our rat on the other hand appears to have but 
little choice in the article of diet, eating indiscriminately berries and fruit, 
fish, flesh, offal, and carrion ; eggs they have a special predilection for, and 
some amusing stories are related of their clever theft and adroit removal of 
these delicacies, under circumstances of unusual difficulty. 
They are expert climbers, and any old bushman must have witnessed 
the celerity with which they run along a small twig or supplejack ; in fact, 
they appear quite as much at home amongst the tree-tops as in the sewers ` 
of London or Paris. In the bush their numbers are prodigious; and if a 
party remain at a camp long, they become very bold and troublesome, 
causing sometimes thoughts of being eaten alive by them, which fate is said 
to have actually overtaken men in the sewers of Paris. With those tastes, 
then, coupled with their enterprising disposition and ferocious habits, it can 
be readily imagined how, after the slaughter of their Maori brethren, they 
should direct their attention to robbing birds’ nests and eating the young. 
After thus noticing the rats we now come to the birds, which have 
suffered most from their ravages; and it is a significant circumstance that, 
while some birds below a certain size have almost entirely disappeared, 
_the larger ones seem to remain as plentiful as ever; and those of middle 
size, such as the kokako and tui, although diminished in number, still 
continue to enliven the forests with their song. This fact points to a 
defence of their nests, made by the larger birds with success, but doubtful 
in the case of the middle-sized ones, and depending on the boldness of the 
rat; while it would be almost hopeless in the case of the smaller ones. 
Amongst the birds which are becoming scarce, the first we shall notice 
is the kokako, a brown bird somewhat larger than a tui, with a bluish 
tinge about the head and throat; it has a long-drawn note, somewhat nasal, 
but very melodious withal, and which harmonized well with a full chorus of 
birds; but this is now seldom heard. 
The appearance of the tui must be so familiar to all as to need no 
further notice than a simple mention of the fact, that their numbers are 
sadly thinned within the last twenty years. 
: Amongst the birds which have altogether disappeared, we must include 
. ihe bell-bird (korimako) and robin (pitoitoi) The former seemed to be 
