MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Daily Times, 20 January 1933, Page 4

MAORI MEMORIES

(By J. H. S. for “The Daily Times’’) THE STORK. The Kotuku, or white heron, recently photographed near the Awapuni racecourse, recalls the fact that this rare bird l has always been regarded by the Maori as a Manu Tapu (sacred bird). Its plume feathers were even more highly prized than those from the tail of the now extinct Iluia. Mount Stewart, being an open spot in the forest., was its favourite haunt, and there, -without injuring the bird, the Maoris secured the curled plume feathers known as “Piki Kotuku,” which name was bestowed upon that well-known spot. According to the Maoris, whose traditions held it in high esteem, the present name of Mount Stewart should never have been permitted to replace it. The full name of the bird, “Kotuku Rerenga Talii” (the stork of a single flight) may well be regarded by romantic ladies as having some reference to the visit of the legendary stork of older civilisations. Despite his dignified, silent attitude while fishing, few birds will dare to molest the white heron, for the lightning thrust from the long, pointed bill is deadly. The plume was once highly valued by Bakeha and Maori. It is known to us as an “Egret.” If a Maori woman ate food in the company of a man who wore the plume, she was said to lose her hair!