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written. The Huia is more tameable than perhaps any other New Zealand bird, and will 

 accept suitable food almost immediately after being caught ; so there would be no practical 

 difficulty in effecting its transportation to any part of the colony. It should be remembered, 

 also, that this was part of the original scheme proposed by Lord Onslow, whose celebrated 

 memorandum to his Ministers gave the first impulse to this insular-conservation which has 

 so taken hold of the popular fancy. 



To show how much scarcer this bird is than it was formerly, I may mention that in 

 1892, accompanied by Mr. Morgan Carkeek, I made an expedition into the wooded ranges 

 at the back of Waikanae. We crossed the Akatarewa saddle, at an elevation of 1,200 feet 

 into the valley of the Hutt, and made a ten-mile circuit over the wooded ranges, cutting 

 our path with bill-hooks through the virgin forest, rendered almost impervious by a tangle 

 of kiekie and supplejack, and camped several nights in the woods. During the whole ex- 

 pedition we only saw a single Huia — which I shot — a male bird, which visited our camp 

 in the early morning. Mr. Carkeek assures me that when exploring and surveying in these 

 ranges only five or six years before the Huia was comparatively plentiful. 



On a more recent occasion, accompanied by a Maori, I visited the portion of the Forty- 

 mile Bush, where, as related in my account of the species (vol. i., 2nd ed., pp. 8-17), I obtained 

 so many specimens in 1883, but the bush has completely disappeared before the advancing 

 wave of European settlement. From Pahiatua we rode for twenty miles through clearings 

 exhibiting nothing but charred stumps, the whole of this country having been at the 

 time of my former visit covered with beautiful forest. From the practical standpoint of 

 material advancement, there is nothing regrettable in this ; but the fact remains that the home 

 of the Huia is being swept away, and, although these birds, in greatly diminished numbers, 

 .have taken refuge in the wooded mountain ranges, the date of their extinction cannot be 

 very far distant. 



In conversation with intelligent men in the survey parties, I obtained some interesting- 

 particulars relating to the Huia in its native haunts. 



As illustrating its extreme docility, even in a wild state, Petersen, a very observant man 

 in the survey party, who was specially recommended to me by Mr. Climie, the head surveyor, 

 because of his knowledge of the Huia and his habits, related the following incidents: On one 

 occasion, almost immediately after pitching a temporary camp in the ranges, Petersen found 

 that a pair of Huias had a nest in the vicinity — in fact, not more than ten yards from the 

 camp. On an old gnarled rata a branch overhung another part of the tree in such a way as 

 to present a broad covered ledge, and this was the spot the birds had selected for their nest. 

 There were three young ones ; this being the only instance, Petersen says, of his finding so 

 many, the usual number being two. The Huias were very tame and fearless, the female bird 

 allowing herself to be handled on the nest. In the evening Petersen took her off, and, 

 placing her on the ground near the camp fire, gave her some food, which was very readily 

 taken. The bird was then replaced on the nest, and manifested no concern at this familiarity. 

 In a few days' time the survey party had to shift camp, and, to their credit, the Huia, with 

 her callow young remained unmolested. On another occasion he found a Huia's nest con- 

 taining a single nestling; this was low down in a wooded valley near a stream of water, 

 whereas all others seen by him were near the summit of the range. The nest was not in a 

 hollow tree, but in the depression formed at the top of a truncated one, with a mass of 

 overhanging vines and epiphytic growth, affording it complete shelter. He took the nestling 

 and placed it in a cage made of kareao-vine, which was then suspended from the ridge-pole 

 inside the men's tent. The old birds followed him to the camp, and continued to feed their 

 young one, coming into the tent for that purpose, quite regardless of the men's presence. The 



