456 
Which Sir George renders as follows :— | 
“+T have heard, indeed, that from Hikuao was the Korohiko, the tree or shrub with 
which the Moa was cooked.’ Probably the meaning is, that the boughs, leaves, and 
flowers of that tree were used to cover up the flesh of the Moa in the oven where it 
was cooked. Inthe same poem the Weka is immediately afterwards alluded to” 1. 
The small flightless Rail (Ocydromus) is still designated by the Maoris by the name 
above recorded. 
Confirmation of the traditional allusions to the food of the Moas is supplied by 
observations on the excrement found, together with bones, nests, and feathers of a 
Dinornis in a cavern explored by Taylor White, Esq. ‘This cave is situated on a hill 
on the south side of Lake Wakatipu, Otago, South Island. 
‘* Floor of fine powdered rock or sand, 9 inches deep, encrusted with crystals of 
sulphate of soda to 2 inches deep. ‘Thirty feet from the entrance in the crust were 
scattered several double-shafted feathers, of a greyish-brown colour, 3 inches long. 
Height of cave here 3 feet 6 inches, width 6 feet ?. 
“ Further in was a small collection of short sticks, fern broom, which might be the 
remains of a nest. Here the feathers were scarcer, and a metatarsus was found in 
good preservation, which measured 8 inches in length, 67 inches in girth at the proximal 
end, 33 inches at thinnest part, and 8? inches in girth at distal end*. Also portions of 
ege-shell, of a green colour, which appeared to be parts of a large egg. 
‘In both these places feathers of different birds were found, the ereater number 
belonging to the Paroquet (Platycercus). These appeared to be generally nearer to the 
surface than those first mentioned. 
* Close to the end of the cave were found a fibula, measuring 114 inches in length, 
and 42 girth at the proximal end, several vertebr, and an upper mandible. All these 
belonged to the same bird. 
«There were also bones of other kinds of birds, some of which were very delicate, 
together with a considerable number of pieces of egg-shell; these were white. Excre- 
ment of a large bird was also found, which extended to a greater depth than the 
feathers. Some of this consisted of undigested fragments of what looked like the stalk 
of the fern.” 
Additional evidences were obtained from another cave, in a range of hills south of 
the Gorge road, about a mile from Queenstown, Otago, difficult of access, the hill 
being almost perpendicular below the entry of the caye. This entry is 14 feet high 
by 5 feet wide. 
‘* Floor of drift mica-sand, 2 feet deep, below which are blocks of schist ; then comes 
a steep descent for about 60 feet, of the average height of 6 feet to 8 feet, and an 
average width of 6 feet. A thin white incrustation appeared here and there on the 
’ Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1870, p. 117. 
* “ Notes on Moa-Caves,” Trans. of the New Zealand-Institute, vol. viii. p- 97, 
* 'These dimensions indicate the Dinornis casuarinus. 
