43 
within twenty feet of them, and upon throwing an iron nail in amongst them, instead of being alarmed 
they crowded up to examine it. 
Capt. Mail’ has sometimes observed a party of stragglers in Sulphur Bay, in the Botorua Lake 
(about forty miles from the sea-coast), no doubt brought inland by the easterly gales, which sometimes 
prevail for a considerable time without intermission. On the Tauranga coast he has obtained large 
“ bags ” during the shooting-season ; and on one occasion, at Cemetery Point, killed ninety-seven at a 
single shot with a heavy charge of No. 5 from an ordinary fowling-piece. This will give some idea 
of their numbers, and of the close manner in which they were packed together. Thousands were 
crowding upon each other on an insular sand-bank, and numbers more were hovering overhead in the 
vain attempt to find a footing among their fellows. As he was “ shooting for the pot,” he concealed 
himself with floating kelp, and crawled up under water till the birds were within easy range. 
As may be supposed from the character of the bill, their manner of feeding is peculiar. Some- 
times the birds may be seen thrusting their long pliant bills deep into the mud or sand, working 
them to the very hilt, and sometimes burying the fore part of the head in the soft ooze ; at another 
time they may be seen taking three or four hurried steps forward, and then halting for a moment to 
pick up some small object from the surface ; but generally speaking they walk along with much 
deliberation, picking as they go. It may be inferred from this that their food consists of aquatic 
insects, marine worms, small mollusks, and crustaceans. The objects, however, which they select must 
be very minute, for on opening their stomachs it is usual to find only a mass of comminuted matter 
having the appearance of mud or slime. 
The natives catch large numbers of them by spreading flax snares horizontally on manuka sticks 
twelve or fifteen feet high, and arranged in the following manner : — A number of stakes are driven 
into the ground at equal distances so as to cover the area of the customary resting-place. A perfect 
network of flax loops or running nooses, about twelve or fifteen inches in diameter’, are then spread 
or hung in such a way as to form a canopy or roof supported by the stakes. The birds on assembling 
in the evening fly low and take up their position on the resting-ground to wait for the ebb of the tide. 
At this conjuncture the natives spring out from their concealment with lighted torches. The birds 
at once rise vertically, in confusion and alarm, and large numbers become entangled and caught in 
the running loops, sometimes as many as 200 being captured at one time in snares covering a space of 
twenty by forty yards. These snares are only set on calm and dark nights, for the obvious reasons 
that, if there was any wind, the loops would become disarranged, and that on moonlight nights the 
birds would see the nets and avoid them. Sometimes during wet easterly weather in summer the 
feathers of these birds become so saturated that they are unable to fly. The natives take advantage 
of this and capture large numbers of them by running them down. 
From what has been said, it may be inferred that they are esteemed good eating by both settlers 
and Maoris. The latter always cook the bird unopened, and devour the contents of the stomach with 
a relish. When very fat they are potted in the orthodox fashion and “ calabashed ” for future use. 
In some localities these birds afford tolerably good shooting, although they are not much 
esteemed for eating. When spread over the sands or bare mud-flats in search of food they are some- 
what shy and wary ; but when the tide is high they consort together in large flocks near the water’s 
edge, and may then be approached under cover and killed by scores, a pot shot into their close ranks, 
and another as the flock rises confusedly in the air, generally proving very destructive. “ Curlew- 
shooting ” (as it is termed in the colony) sometimes, however, becomes more legitimate sport, as 
may be gathered from the following passage in a letter to ‘ The Field,’ from a New-Zealand 
correspondent : — “ Curlew-shooting has just begun ; I had a day last week (early in March). The 
best locality for this kind of shooting is the upper part of Auckland harbour, where the river Waite- 
mata and the harbour of the Manukau are within a short distance of one another. The Manukau 
G 2 
