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Te Ao Hou, March 1968, Page 43

amongst the trees heralded the arrival of the birds, a female and male huia, which finally settled on a nearby miro tree. I gazed with wonder and admiration, for the first time in my life, at the most beautiful forest bird of the feathered kingdom. A feeling of pity and regret passed through me, that such lovely and handsome birds as the huias were to be slaughtered just for the sake of their tail feathers. By the end of the week the two elders had bagged six huias and decided to call the hunt off. We had our belongings—which included some wild pork to augment our meat larder at home—packed out to the Wai-o-rongo-mai station by the shepherd, the elders thanked Mr Matthews for his hospitality, and we made the long trek home to Pirinoa. Needless to say, the elders were well pleased with the result of the huia hunt.