UNIQUE BIRD TRAP
TAWH rr L UNEABTHEI) O POL TAM A .DISCOVER Y Work being carried out in a swamp on the property of Mr. W. Horace' Wilson at Opoutama has resulted in an interesting Maori relic being unearthed and passing into the hands ol a Gisborne collector, states the Gisborne Herald. This, curio is a tawhiti, an early Maori trap used for snaring pigeons, and is believed to he 200 years old. It was identified as a pigeon snare by an elderly Maori woman to- whom it. was shown and is in a very good state of preservation. The tawhiti is a howl-shaped trap and the method of operation was to iill the howl with water and place it in the houghs of a tree. Hand nooses were attached to tliei howl, and for the pigeon to drink Irom the howl it was necessary i'er the bird to place its head through one of these nooses to reach the water. 'The action of the bird in throwing its head back after drinking would tighten the noose and effectively snare the bird.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OPNEWS19390818.2.9
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Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 222, 18 August 1939, Page 2
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182UNIQUE BIRD TRAP Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 222, 18 August 1939, Page 2
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