104 Bird-Song : and New Zealand Song Birds 
the bird; few persons perhaps can realise the intense pleasure 
and satisfaction which the writer experienced when he caught 
sight of the nest with the parent bird comfortably seated 
therein; for years the search after the nest of the kokako had 
been carried on as opportunity offered; hundreds of miles had 
been traversed in this quest, amongst rough wood-dotted 
gullies and terraces of river-beds on the east and west 
coasts.’ ’ 
Of the six Maori names recorded (WJ, p. 107) the one most 
commonly used is kokako. It was one of the birds seen by 
Kupe, the celebrated Maori voyager, who visited New Zealand 
before the great migration took place, about the year 1350. He 
found only two inhabitants in the country, says the tradition 
(GO, pp. 130-1), a bird which he named the kokako, and 
another bird which he named tiwaiwaka (fantail). When 
directing Turi, who wished to emigrate to New Zealand, 
he said, “When you arrive at the islands, you had better 
go at once and examine the river that I discovered (said 
to be the Patea) ; its mouth opens direct to the west¬ 
ward. You will find but two inhabitants there (meaning 
the kokako and tiwaiwaka) ; one of them carries its tail 
erect and sticking out. Now do not mistake the voice of 
one of them for that of a man, for it calls out just like one; 
and if you stand on one side of the river, and call out to them, 
you will hear their cries answering you from the other.” 
The bird plays a small part in Maori folk-lore: for there 
was a time when Maui wished to compel the sun to travel more 
slowly, so that man might have a longer day in which to 
labour. He induced his brothers to accompany him to the east, 
where they plaited ropes of various kinds;—flat ones of three, 
five and nine strands; round ones of four strands; twisted ones 
of two strands; square ones of ten strands; and many 
others. These were set as a snare over the cave from which 
the sun at morning emerges; and when the great Ra appeared, 
the snare was pulled tight, and the brothers hauled away on 
the ropes. Maui rushed forward from concealment to attack 
the sun,—when snap! he burned through the ropes and soared 
