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65 



Manawatu 



species, which have of late years diminished and become more confined in their range, the Huia 

 was from time immemorial limited in its distribution to the district I have indicated. 



My first specimen of this singular bird (an adult female) was obtained in 1855, from tlie 

 Wainuiomata Hills, a continuation of the Rimutaka range, bounding the Wellington harbour 

 on the northern side-the same locality from which Dr. DiefFenbach, nearly twenty years before, 

 received the examples figured by Mr. Gould in his magnificent work ' The Birds of Australia.' 

 I have since obtamed many fine specimens, and in the summer of 1864 I succeeded m^gettmg a 

 pair of live ones. They were caught by a native in the ranges, and brought down to " 

 a distance of more than fifty miles, on horseback. The owner refused to take money for them ; 

 but I negotiated an exchange for a valuable greenstone. I kept these birds for more than a year, 

 waiting 1 favourable opportunity of forwarding them to the Zoological Society of London. 

 Through the carelessness, however, of a servant, the male bird was accidently killed ; and the 

 other, manifesting the utmost distress, pined for her mate, and died ten days afterwards. 



The readiness with which these birds adapted themselves to a condition of captivity was very 

 remarkable. Within a few days after their capture they had become perfectly tame, and did not 

 appear to feel in any degree the restraint of confinement ; for, although the window of the apart- 

 ment in which they were kept was thrown open and replaced by thin wire netting, I never saw 

 them make any attempt to regain their liberty. It is well known, however, that birds of different 

 species differ widely in natural disposition and temper. The captive Eagle frets in his sulky pride ; 

 the Bittern refuses food and dies untamable ; the fluttering little Humming-bird beats itself to death 

 against the tiny bars of its prison in its futile efforts to escape ; and many species that appear to 

 submit readily to their changed condition of life, ultimately pine, sicken, and die. There are other 

 species, again, which cheerfully adapt themselves to their new life, although caged at maturity, and 

 seem to thrive fully as well under confinement as in a state of nature. Parrots, for example, are easily 

 tamed ; and I have met with numerous instances of their voluntary return after having regained 

 their liberty. This character of tamability was exemplified to perfection in the Huias. 



They were fully adult birds, and were caught in the following simple manner. Attracting 

 the birds by an imitation of their cry to the place where he lay concealed, the native, with the 

 aid of a long rod, slipped a running knot over the head of the female and secured her. The male, 

 emboldened by the loss of his mate, suffered himself to be easily caught in the same manner. 

 On receiving these birds I set them free in a well-lined and properly ventilated room, measuring 

 about six feet by eight feet. They appeared to be stiff after their severe jolt on horseback, and 

 after feeding freely on the huhu grub, a pot of which the native had brought with them, they 

 retired to one of the perches I had set up for them, and cuddled together for the night. 



In the morning I found them somewhat recruited, feeding with avidity, sipping water from 

 a dish, and flitting about in a very active manner. It was amusing to note their treatment of the 

 huhu. This grub, the larva of a large nocturnal beetle (Frionoj>lus reticularis), which constitutes 

 their principal food, infests all decayed timber, attaining at maturity the size of a man's little 



Like all grubs of its kind, it is furnished with a hard head and horny mandibles. On 

 offering one of these to the Huia, he would seize it in the middle, and, at once transferring it to 

 his perch and placing one foot firmly upon it, he would tear off the hard parts, and then, throwing 

 the grub upwards to secure it lengthwise in his bill, would swallow it whole. For the first few 



finger. 



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