. CoLenso.—On a better Knowledge of the Maori Race. 121 
45. He kakariki kai ata! 
(Like) a little green parrot (which) eats at daybreak ! 
Spoken of a person who looks to eat on rising before going to work. 
46. He kuukuu tangae nui ! 
A pigeon bolts his food. 
Used of a greedy fellow, never satisfied. 
47. He kuukuu tangaengae nui; he parera apu paru 
The pigeon bolts, the duck gobbles up mud and all. 
Baid of a gluttonous fellow. 
48. He kaakaa kai honihoni ! 
A parrot eats leisurely, bit by bit. 
Said to a person who eats moderately and slowly. 
49. Ka whakarongo pikari nga taringa. 
(With) ears quick at listening, like young birds in their nests. 
Spoken of a fellow always on the look-out for the call to meals. 
Here is another of a similar meaning (also one of Te Hapuku's) :— 
50. Taringa muhu kai ! 
Ears on the qui vive for food ! 
51. Awhato kai paenga ; and, 
Ka mahi te awhato hohoni paenga ! 
Bravo! great caterpillar eating around the edge of the leaf! 
Those two proverbs are nearly alike. The awhato is the large larva of 
the moth Sphina convolvuli (or some allied species), which ate the leaves of 
the kumara, or sweet potatoe, in the Maori plantations (beginning at the 
edges and leaving the mid-veins), and was therefore a most noxious and 
hateful animal to them. The proverb is used of a greedy person who goes 
eating from basket to basket at meal times, selecting the best bits. 
Formerly, the New Zealanders had their cooked food served up in numerous 
small baskets; they often sat in a circle to eat their food, and always out 
of doors. 
52. Awhato ngongenga roa! 
Ugly great caterpillar, always slowly nibblin 
This is similar to the last two. 
58. Ko Uenuku to korokoro ! 
Thy throat is even as Uenuku's. 
Applied to a great glutton. This is even stronger in Maori,—‘ Thy 
throat is Uenuku.” He was a desperate old glutton of very ancient times, 
who had dwelt at * Hawaiki.” Many things are related of him. 
54. Tohu noa ana koe, e Rangikiato, he whata kei te hakii ! 
O Rangikiato! what are you after? Laying by food! a a 
food-store is in thy throat! 
