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fern tree in which the fowler sits concealed. No snare is used, the fowler having in his hand a rod some five 

 feet in length, or more. This rod is termed a ' hauhau,' and is used to strike the birds with as they descend 

 the pole. Should the Kaka prove wary and not descend to the call of the decoy, the decoy is given a bone to 

 gnaw, which will soon attract the birds, for they think that the decoy has got something good to eat. Then 

 the Kaka will be seen to slowly descend the sloping pole, turning from side to side as he walks down, 

 and uttering a harsh cry. As a bird arrives in front of the concealed fowler, he strikes it down with 

 the 'hauhau.' 



In olden times, when birds were very numerous, many decoy Kaka were kept at each Native village. 

 A shed called a ' whata-kaka ' was built for them. This was a roof built about six feet from the ground, 

 and under which was a long slab, hollowed in the centre and known as a ' waka.' At intervals, holes were 

 made in this ' waka,' in which were inserted the ends of the ' hoka,' or slender rods, to which each Kaka was 

 tied, with a cord long enough to allow the bird to walk from the ' waka ' out along the ' hoka.' The food for 

 the decoys was either placed in the ' waka ' or in a small open-work flax bag, called a ' rohe.' 



There were many signs and omens in regard to hunting and bird-taking in the days of yore. To dream 

 that one sees the spirit of a person is a ' moe-papa,' or unlucky dream, for hunters. To dream that one is 

 embracing a good-looking woman is a ' moe-tamahine ' and a good sign. Should we go birding and I secure 

 only poor birds, while you obtain fat ones, my bad luck is termed a ' tahakura,' which is a form of ' puhore ' 

 (omen of non-success.) 



Nestoe Septenteionalis. — Under this name Dr. Lorenz proposes to distinguish the North 

 Island Kaka from that inhabiting the South Island. He remarks ('Ann. Hofm.,' Wien, xvii., 

 p. 318) that for a long time past the birds of both Islands have been classed together as one 

 species under the name of Nestor meridionalis. He points out that Selby's plate in ' The 

 Naturalist's Library,' vol. xii., plainly represents the North Island bird, whereas the 

 description exactly fits the bird from the South Island; also that Count Salvadori's diagnostic 

 characters for N. meridionalis in the 'Catalogue of Birds' (B. M., xx., p. 7) are more appli- 

 cable to N. septentrionalis. 



This raises the whole question of whether we are really justified in referring all the known 

 varieties of which I have given a very minute description (vol. i., pp. 151-7) to one and the same 

 species. Although at one time I was myself in favour of a division, I have been constrained 

 to lump all these forms together on account of the extreme tendency to variation in this 

 species. The North Island bird is, as a rule, readily distinguishable from the hoary Nestor 

 of the South ; but in the Nelson district, and on the West Coast of the South Island, Kakas 

 are to be obtained hardly distinguishable in size and colour from those of the North Island. 

 It seems to me that if two distinct species are to be recognised, it will not be necessary to invent 

 a new name, but to revive my Nestor occidentals (' Ibis,' 1869), which fits in very well with 

 Dr. Lorenz's diagnosis. But I long ago consented to sink this and to treat it as a mere 

 synonym of the typical Nestor meridionalis. 



After setting out a full description of the so-called new species, Dr. Lorenz appends a 

 detailed description of five specimens in the Reischek collection, at Vienna, showing conspicuous 

 individual differences and tending to establish what we know already of the remarkable 

 variability of this species. 



