476 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
become extremely rare, fate fights against it; it is hunted for its 
plumage by Maories, whilst the rapid settlement of the country is 
quickly destroying many of the wooded haunts in which it is found. 
From the estimation in which the feathers are held by Maories for 
personal decoration, numbers of the birds are kWled by hunting 
parties which are arranged specially for securing these greatly-prized 
ornaments. To show how much they are valued by Maories, in a 
native village near here, there are four well-worn, not to say rather 
scrubby-looking feathers, that are kept in a particular place of safety, 
whence they are brought out to grace a proud wearer on solemn 
occasions. Hunting-parties or camps are formed in the month of 
July ; a peculiar call is made use of by the natives to attract the 
birds. It breeds during the months of October and November, 
placing its large nest in a hollow tree. Not far from the Manawatu 
river a nest was found in a large hollow tree, about 18 feet from the 
ground. It contained a solitary young bird which was taken with 
the nest, and successfully raised by being fed on the larvee of a large 
beetle, Prion reticularis. The nest taken on the 18th of November 
is a large structure, made of dead sticks and sprays; the interior, of 
a cup-like shape, is lined with coarse grasses; it measures across the 
top about 13 inches; cavity, 6 inches; with a depth of 3 inches; it 
has been photographed for reference. A very careful search was 
made about the nest but no fragment of shell could be discovered, 
probably the parent birds carry away to a distance any morsel of 
shell. as in case of several other species, such as Halcyon, Prosthe- 
madera, &c. J have a note of another nest with three young birds; it 
was also found about two miles back from the Manawatu river, in the 
month of November. The young accompany and feed with the old 
birds for a considerable time, as little flocks of four or five birds are 
sometimes met with actively engaged in stripping mosses and 
parasitic ferns from boughs and branches in their insect search. 
A correspondent living in, and working at clearing dense forest 
in the neighbourhood of Woodville, gave a very interesting account of 
a family of four young ones, these were so nearly of the adult size as 
scarcely to be distinguished from the parent birds, which were busily 
occupied in feeding them. ‘Their activity was remarkable, especially 
the speed with which they traversed the wood, hopping or rather 
bounding with a slight opening motion of the wing, flying but very 
short distances. Owing to the moist character of the locality, the 
huge trees were clothed in mosses and parasitic ferns; the huias were 
constantly ripping up into strips these mosses and small climbing 
ferns, fragments were to be seen continually dropping down from the 
branches where these beautiful birds were so zealously working for 
their young. This was in the month of February of last year, as the 
birds thus seen whilst being fed were probably about three months — 
old, it is likely that the huia breeds but once in the season. The egg 
is generaliy  elieved to be amongst the desiderata of collectors, no 
description of it is given in the Manual of the Birds of New Zealand. 
Family Cuculide—Cuckoos. 
Genus— Eudynamis. 
44. Hudynamis Taitensis, Sparm. 
Long-tailed Cuckoo, Koe Koea.—There yet remains a mystery to 
be solved in the breeding habits of this visitor which should stimulate 
