19 
[The range of this species extends as far north as the Lower Waikato, beyond which district it is 
only rarely met with. It is numerous in the wooded ranges between Waikato Heads and Kaglan, and 
is occasionally found in the neighbourhood of the Hunua coal-fields ; but I have never heard of its 
occurrence in the Tauranga district, on the east coast, although I have an excellent ornithological 
correspondent there. In the summer of 1852 I obtained a pair at the Kaipara; hut the bird was 
decidedly a rara avis, few of the natives in that part of the country being familiar with it. Captain 
G. Mail met with it once at Kaitaia, near the North Cape, and he afterwards saw a pair in the 
Maungatapere bush, near Whangarei. These are the only instances I can give of its occurrence 
on the mainland north of Auckland ; but, strange to say, it is very plentiful on the Barrier Islands, 
in the Gulf of Hauraki. Mr. Layard was the first to notice its existence there, having shot a 
specimen on the Little Barrier, which he visited, in company with Sir George Grey, in 1863. He 
speaks of it (Ibis, 1863, p. 244) as “ an apparently very rare bird ; ” but Captain Hutton, who visited 
these islands in December 1867, found it on both the Great and Little Barrier, and “very common” 
on the latter*. It is comparatively abundant in the wooded hills in the vicinity of Wellington and 
m those skirting the Tararua and Euahine ranges ; and it occurs also, and more plentifully, in many 
parts of the South Island.] 
lhis species, formerly comparatively plentiful but now extremely scarce in the North Island, is 
\ery irregular in its distribution. In my first edition I endeavoured as above (within the brackets) to 
describe its range ; but I omitted to mention that in one locality north of Auckland — a small wood 
at Kaitaia called Mauteringi, some three or four miles in extent — this bird was plentiful, although 
raiely ever met with in other parts of that district. Although never seen in the Bay of Plenty 
woods, it was, till within the last few years, numerous enough in the Ngatiporou country, wdiere the 
nativ es weie accustomed to regard it also as a bird of omen. A war-party hearing the cry of the Tieke 
to the light of their path would count it an omen of victory, but to the left a signal of evil. It is also 
the mj thical bird that is supposed to guard the ancient treasures of the Maoris. The relics of the 
M hanauapanui tribe — mere pounamus and other heir-looms of great antiquity and value — are hidden 
away in the hollow of a tree at Cape Bunaway, and it is popularly believed that the Tieke keeps guard 
o\ei these lost treasures. According to Maori tradition, among these hidden things is a stone atua, 
which possessed at one time the power of moving from place to place of its own accord, but has 
since become inactive. 
At the piesent time it is more plentiful on the Hen (a little wooded islet in the Hauraki Gulf) 
than anywhere else, a fact which may be attributable to the absence of wild cats; for on the Barrier 
Islands, wheie the cat has obtained a footing, this bird is nearly exterminated. On the Hen, according 
to Mr. Eeischek, it is actually increasing in numbers. During his earlier visits they were only to be 
met with on the west and north-west sides of the island; on his last visit, after a lapse of only four 
jeais, they weie to be heard and seen everywhere, being indeed the commonest bird on the island. 
They appeared to be of all ages; but neither here nor on the mainland did he ever meet with 
Guadton cinereus, which appears to be strictly confined to the South Island, where both species 
commingle. 
The natives state that this species usually places its nest in the hollow of a tree, and they point 
to holes in well-known trees where the Tieke has reared its young for many years in succession. A 
pail is said to be still breeding in the hollow of the famous tree at Omaruteangi, known all over the 
countiy as lutatieke f. The bird is accordingly regarded with some degree of superstitious 
* Trans. New-Zealand Inst. 1868, yol. i. p. 160. 
i Pitta title . a renowned hinau tree in the Urewera country. It is supposed to possess miraculous attributes. Sterile 
women visit it for the purpose of inducing conception. They clasp the treo with their arms, and repeat certain incantations by 
way of invoking the atua. 
D 2 
