MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 November 1938, Page 10

MAORI MEMORIES

KAWAU AND TOROA. (Recorded by J.H.S. for “Times-Age.”) Kawau known abroad as Cormorants, but here we quaintly call them “shags.” In New Zealand there are no less than fifteen varieties, more than any other country in the world. On the sheltered East Coast of the Far North, shaggeries are crowded among the Pohutukawa trees along the rocky sea shore. Often before the baby birds have learned to fly or dive, they are thrown out to die, while the old birds fight for the nests. When this quarrel is on, the poor nestlings are ejected by the score and are fought for by the harrier hawks and the Maoris who preserve them in their oil and sea salt for winter. The shags use seaweed for building nests and dive to great depths for it.

- The penguin is another awkward looking bird, known to Maori as Tawaki. There are several species peculiar to this country, notably the crested, the big crested, the royal, and the yellow-eyed.

Of the graceful albatross, there are also four species. The wandering albatsoss is known to the Maori as Toroa (distant flight). The various species live entirely apart. A strange feature of these birds is that they are helpless nestlings for a year, being fed daily at dawn. When turned out, they remain with the parents for another six months. Only one egg is laid.