140 Bird-Song : and New Zealand Song Birds 
(WJ, p. 199): — Koko (when fat), kukari (young), pikari 
(young), pitui (young), takaha (m.), teoteo (1), tute (m.). 
The tui becomes extremely fat in winter; and when so fat 
as to be uncomfortable, it was said to peck its breast, allowing 
the oil to escape. The feathers became saturated, and were 
then of no use for knotting into the woven flax cloaks. When 
caught in this condition it was often found to be covered with 
the marks of the pecking, acquiring from that fact the name 
koko, or pecking (TI, p. 401). Kukari is a name for young 
birds generally; so too is pi, whence pitui simply means 
“young tui. Teoteo, a name applied to the female, is also 
the name given to a small species of shag. Taylor gives fur¬ 
ther details (TI, p. 402) — “the unfledged bird is called a pi, 
afterwards it is named pikari, and when fledged a purehe. But 
full-grown, it is a tui, and when it becomes very fat, it is a 
koko.” Stowell, on the other hand, says that the name koko 
should be applied only to the speaking tui. 
The tutelary deity of the tui and other black birds was 
Parauri; but when fat its tutelary deity was Urutahi. This 
deity was also said to be the mother of the tui by Tane, at the 
time that god s creative power was finding outlet through 
various powers of nature. In one legend Tane is said to have 
obtained the tui from Rehua, lord of the tenth overworld, 
bringing it to earth and freeing* it in his forests. 
.There has been great confusion in the collecting of the many 
Maoii myths and legends: there existed side by side two ver¬ 
sions, the esoteric, reserved for the highest of the tohunga- 
class, and the fireside version, the one known to the majority of 
members of the tribe. It is this fireside version that has most 
commonly been collected, and it is the fantastic, often grotesque 
nature of these fireside versions that has led to much 
misconception of the Maori, and his mental and spiritual 
characteristics. 
The stitch-bird.— Male, head and neck black, with a tuff M 
white featheis behind each ear. Breast and some of the wing- 
coveits biiglit yellow. A white band on the wings. Abdomen 
