HOW THE SILVER-EYE CAME TO NEW ZEALAND

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1953, Page 54

HOW THE SILVER-EYE CAME TO NEW ZEALAND One day a friendly little fantail was hunting for insects in a puriri tree. Suddenly the sun went under a cloud. The fantail ceased searching for insects, hunched his feathers and looked sad. ‘Why do you look so sad’, said the wind to the fantail, ‘when my friend the sun goes under a cloud for a few minutes?’ ‘Because I like the warm sun to shine,’ answered the fantail. ‘I can catch more insects then.’ ‘You are a very hard-working little bird,’ said the wind. ‘Why don't you take things easy?’ ‘Oh, dear me! I could not do that,’ replied the fantail, ‘the forest is full of harmful insects and they must be caught.’ ‘I go everywhere and see everything that goes on in the land,’ said the wind, ‘and while there are such good insect-hunters as the grey warbler, rifleman, tom-tit, yellowhead and others, there is no need at all for you to work so hard.’ ‘That may be so,’ chirped the friendly fantail, ‘but I would very much like more help.’ The wind shook the puriri tree and said, ‘I am strong and shall bring you a bird from a far country. I shall carry it with me across the sea, and you will know it when you see it, for it has white around the eyes. It is a great insect-hunter, and will be a great help to you.’ Strange to relate, a great wind got up in the year 1856 and brought the silver-eye (or, as some call it, wax-eye or white-eye) to New Zealand from Australia. When the Maori people saw the silver-eye they called it Tauhou, which means ‘stranger’. The fantail is not disappointed with the bird that the wind promised it would bring over, for the silver-eye is very industrious and seeks insects all day like the fantail himself.