98 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
we have seen, apart from such we have no traces of the animal in question 
(save fragmentary and mythical ones) left in their language. 
à Additional Remarks. 
A few other additional remarks I would also offer; gleaned, I may say, 
by the way we have come in our enquiry :— 
1. The very peculiar names (Rau-o-piopio and Kowhakaroro) repeatedly 
given by the chief Hawea to that “ one Moa's feather" he had seen:— 
observe (1.) that such is not that of the bird itself; it is not here called a 
Rau (or Piki) Moa—the plume or fine feather of the Moa; while such is 
commonly the case with the feathers of other birds which are prized 
for head decoration,—which are always named after the bird itself; as, 
Rau (or Piki) huia—the plume or fine feather of the huia,—Rau (or 
Piki) kotuku—the plume. or fine feather of the kotuku (white crane),— 
Rau parera—the plume of the duck, ete., etc. (2.) That the term Rau-o- 
piopio would properly mean—feather, or plume, of (the bird) Piopio; and 
there is a bird of that name known to the Maoris ; or, rather, I should say, 
there are three! all widely differing from each other :—(a.) the New Zealand 
thrush (Turnagra crassirostris) ;—(b.) a small reddish bird ;—(c.) a bird 
(unknown to me) said to have been a kind of ground game and largely 
used as, food, but now extinct !* Of these three birds I only know the first 
one, having both seen and heard it in the forests on the west side of the 
Ruahine mountain range, although it is a South Island bird, and but 
rarely met with so far north as Hawke’s Bay; it is also called by the 
Maoris korokio, and koropio; by this last name it is best known in these 
parts. As the first of these three birds (the thrush) is not unfrequently 
mentioned by the Maoris in their songs, owing to its cry ( piopio), and also 
in their proverbs, I have made special enquiry, whether the said “ one 
feather" bearing its name could have belonged to it; but met with a direct 
negative. Neither have I succeeded any better in all my endeavours to 
learn why that one feather should have obtained those two long names. 
(3.) The other term for that one feather, ** Kowhakaroro," has, curiously 
enough, a peculiar meaning, that is etymologically,—a reference to another 
bird, the karoro, or large white and brown gull (i.e., it may have had some 
such meaning). One meaning of the word kowha is,—favourable consider- 
ation, kind gracious words or dealings, a kind parting word, regret, a gift, 
souvenir, etc. And the karoro, with its long and melancholy ery, is also 
mentioned in their legends, as causing them, the old Maoris of ancient 
* Nearly all that I know of this bird is from a letter from a Maori chief, written in 
1873, in which he says:—''The foreigner introduced the dog and the cat, which com- 
pletely destroyed the food-birds of this island,—the weka, the kiwi, the kaakaapoo, the 
piopio, and many other birds." 
