The Cuckoos : The Long-tailed Cuckoo 183 
The gathering of the long-tailed cuckoo as if for migration has 
perhaps been seen. I have been told by an old bush-loving sur¬ 
veyor that on one occasion, when camped on a sharp ridge 
between Coromandel and Thames, he heard a great twittering; 
and, attracted by the sound, he investigated its cause. He found 
large numbers of the cuckoo gathered together; and suspecting, 
from the time of the year, that the gathering might be for migra¬ 
tion, he watched during the night; but they remained that night, 
and next day, when still more arrived. He said they were in 
hundreds. He Avatched next night, too, but must have dozed off, 
for in the morning ail were gone; they must have left between 
two in the morning and daybreak. Others have seen them in 
smaller flocks at the supposed time of migration (Tr., Yol. 36, 
1904, p. 142). 
Of the eight Maori names recorded (WJ, p. 200) the ones more 
commonly used are koekoea and kohoperoa. 
