39 



one time threatened it. The fact of a species being very plentiful is no guarantee against its 

 speedy extinction when once the tide of destruction has set in. Of this it would be easy to 

 adduce numberless proofs from all parts of the world. But protection at the right moment may 

 achieve a good deal in the way of arresting the evil. An intelligent old man of the Ngati- 

 wehiwehi Tribe said to me one day in February: " The Pigeons are coming back to us. Soon they 

 will be as plentiful as ever. [As we spoke five of them passed in sight, each winging its solitary 

 flight.] Now they are good eating. In January they have the early miro. This lasts through 

 February. Then they get very fat and sweet. In March the food is scarce. In April the second 

 crop comes on, and then the birds get fat again." Tamihana Whareakaka, who was present, 

 chimed in: " Oh, yes ; how fat the Pigeons were in the old days, when we used to go out and trap 

 hundreds of them ! Kakas, too, were plentiful. These are disappearing, because the introduced 

 bees have taken possession of the hollow trees. That can't be helped," added he; " but what is 

 the use of the Government protecting the other birds, and imposing fines and punishments, if they 

 allow all the woods to be destroyed ; for how is the Pigeon to find subsistence when the berries are 

 gone ? " There is some philosophy in Tamihana's words, but I fear it is a poor argument against 

 the requirements of advancing settlement. The only thing to be done is to insist on ample bush 

 reserves being set apart. 



Mr. Elsdon Best, in his interesting notes on " Forest Lore," published in the Lyttelton 

 Times, gives the following account of the Maori method of snaring and killing the Pigeon : — 



The Kereru, or Pigeon, was taken by the spear, noose snares (mahanga or tahei) and tutu. The long bird- 

 spear (tao-kaihua) was used to spear them during the period of the Earangi-tahi (January), when the birds were 

 very fat. Daring the Earangi-tahi the birds are assembled on the hill-growing rata, and are busy extracting 

 the honey (wai-kaihua) from the rata blossom (kahika). Snares for this bird were either placed on the trees or 

 set around a waka or waituhi. The waka-kereru is a wooden trough about four feet long. It is either fixed 

 up on posts set up at the feeding grounds or secured to the branches of a tree, and sometimes, in the case of a 

 leaning tree, such as the rata, it is secured to the sloping trunk of such tree. It is then rilled with water. 

 The birds become thirsty when feeding, especially when on the toromiro, and soon discover the supply of 

 water placed so conveniently for them. When the Pigeons have become accustomed to drinking from this 

 trough, the same is set with snares. The takeke, or cord to which the noose snares are attached, is stretched 

 along both sides of the trough and about eight inches above it, being secured and kept in position by the teka- 

 teka and arorangi. To the takeke are attached the snares, right along both sides of the trough. When a 

 Pigeon alights upon the edge of the trough it thrusts its head through one of the snares (which are set 

 closely) in order to reach the water, and is thus caught. Should there be a spring of water near the feeding 

 grounds, it is set round with snares in the same manner. In the case of a small stream, the water is covered 

 over with branches or fronds of the various ferns, leaving a few open spaces of water, which are set with snares. 

 ' Waituhi ' is a term applied to pools of water which collect in natural hollows of trees and rocks. When 

 frequented by Pigeons they also are surrounded by snares. The term ' ngongo ' is sometimes applied to such 

 a pool, but neither terms are used to denote the w T aka or trough. 



In the old pre-pakeha days the long bird-spears were highly prized, as their manufacture involved an 

 immense amount of labour, having to be hewn out of a solid tree-trunk by means of stone implements. 

 A spear of 30 or 35 feet in length and 1 inch in thickness was made in one piece. They were carefully 

 preserved and handed down for generations. Also they were usually named by the owners; thus two 

 famous tao belonging to the Ngati-kuri are called ' Owha ' and 'Koamai-tupeka.' They are now suspended 

 from a famous tutu-tree at Eahiti-roa, on the trail to Maungapohatu. 



The snares for Pigeons and Koko were also set on tree tops, that is, on the ends of the branches, and where 

 birds would collect while feeding. Great numbers of snares would be arranged on a tree much frequented by 

 birds, such as ' Heipipi,' a famous white pine near Te Wera-iti, and 'Eanina,' a matai at Mangakakao, (the 

 rakau tahei koko). To arrange these sets of snares the term ' tahei ' is used, the same being both verb and 

 substantive. To form the loops is ' whapiko mahanga' or 'kopiko mahanga.' Thus 'mahanga' means a 

 single snare, but ' tahei ' the grouping of those snares in numbers. The ' tarahanga ' is also a form of snare 

 used for taking Pigeons. 



