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1855, from the Wainiiiomata 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, i"eceived the examples 

 figured by Mr. Grould in his magnificent work on the Birds of Australia. 

 I have since obtained many fine specimens, and in the summer of 1864, I 

 succeeded in getting a pair of live ones. They were caught by a native in the 

 ranges, and brought down to Manawatu, 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. T kept these birds for more than a 

 year, waiting a favourable opportunity of forwarding them to the Zoological 

 Society of London. Through the carelessness, however, of a servant, the male 

 bird was accidentally 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 captvire they 

 had become perfectly tame, and did not appear to feel in any degree the 

 restraint of confinement, for, although the window of the apartment 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, how- 

 ever, 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 them- 

 selves 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 tamability of character 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 hiahu 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 



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