The Starlings : The Huia 
95 
Habits .—Their range was very restricted, no birds having 
been obtained away from the Ruahine, Tararna, and Rimntaka 
mountains, in the Wellington district. They have been re¬ 
ported from other places, but no definite information has been 
obtained. They are believed to have become extinct within 
the last 15 or 20 years. There are several birds that were com¬ 
paratively rare on the first European occupation of the islands, 
and their decline in numbers, and the extinction of one or 
two, are not altogether due to the new occupation of the 
country and the marked change in conditions thus brought 
about; they were already declining for some unexplained 
natural reason. Moreover, the other Maori birds that seemed 
doomed to extinction on the destruction of so great part of 
their haunts, are now in many cases increasing in numbers, as 
if they have become acclimatized to the new conditions, and 
will in future be able to hold their own. 
The huia was, when within hearing, easily attracted by a call, 
described by Dieffenbach, when writing to Gould in 1836, as a 
14 shrill and long continued whistle resembling the sound of 
the native name. 7 7 In later years the decoy call used by 
the Maori was made up of the notes uttered by the bird whilst 
feeding, or when searching for food; a quick very softly 
uttered call consisting of triplets and slurs (1). The cry of 
distress was given me by Mr. F. Wilson, who had spent many 
years in the bush, as (2). 
The cry, legato, and not slurred, was repeated many times, 
the vocalization sounding like the words Who-are-you-u, the 
cry from which the bird evidently received its name huia. 
Buller describes his expeditions in search of specimens of this 
