HUNTING THE HUIA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1096, 14 September 1912, Page 4

HUNTING THE HUIA.

That rare bird, the huia, which in by-gone years has had the honour of supplying leathers to adorn the heads of many Maori rangitiras, has been the object of a good deal of painstaking, but fruitless search during the last year or two. On the current Estimates there is an item, “Transferring the huia, ,£roo.” This is a case in which the injunction to

“Just catch your hare," has not been complied with. Recent painstaking search in the most likely localities has failed to discover even a single specimen of the huia, and it is difficult to conceive how any “transferring” can be done under the circumstances.

In the course of a brief discussion which took place in the House of Representatives on Friday night, the Hon. D. Buddo advised the Government to be cautious in expending any more money in endeavouring to locate and capture the elusive huia. He added that while he was in office an amount substantially in excess of ;£xoo had been expended in searching for the huia, and the result had been nil. Search parties had traversed the country in the region of Taibape and south towards the Rimutakas, but entirely without success. Some birds had been brought in which were at first supposed to be huias, but later the supposition had proved to be incorrect. The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher said that he could not allow the item to pass without expressing appreciation of the efforts made by Mr Stead, Mr John Stevens and others to locate the huia in order that specimens might be preserved in some of the island bird sanctuaries of the Dominion, The gentlemen named had conducted the search without assistance from the Government.