THE HULA. BIRD.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")
SIE,—Naturalists in many parts of the world are interested in efforts made by Mr. A. Hamilton, Director of the Dominion Museum, in Wellington, New Zealand, to obtain several pairs of live huia birds. He is acting under instructions from the New Zealand Government, which has decided to have specimens of these birds placed on the Bird Sanctuary on the Little Barrier Island, near Auckland City, so that they may be preserved from extinction, which, it is feared, awaits them.
The hula is a handsome greenish-black bird, about the same size as an English crow. It has an ivory bill and a white- tipped tail, and these two characteristics form a striking contrast to its sombre plumage. It lives exclusively in a small, mountainous, and largely forest-clad district in the North Island of New Zealand. It was plentiful enough when Europeans first settled in the country, over half-a. century ago, but its numbers have been reduced so rapidly that there are fears that it may before very long become absolutely extinct unless some steps are taken to enable it to combat the forces that have come against it with the advent of civilisation.
Its decrease is largely accounted for by the vanity of human nature. Its beautiful tail-feathers were worn in the hair by Maori ran gatiras, or nobles, and were regarded as insignia of rank. The idea caught the fancy of Europeans, especially tourists, who liked to go from New Zealand to other countries and, display the feathers of a beautiful bird, which might have been worn by noble but barbarous chiefs in a savage land. A traffic in the feathers soon sprang up, and as high prices were paid, Maoris were encouraged to carry on a heavy slaughter. A correspondent told me recently that on the east coast of the Wellington Province, where huias were once plentiful, 21 each was paid for the feathers. As a result, the bird has been completely exterminated in that district.
Although the ancient Maoris killed large numbers of huias for the sake of the feathers, these depredations did not check the birds' increase. There lived at Castlepoint, in Wellington Province, some thirty or forty years ago, an eccentric old chief and tohunga, or priest, named Pipimoho. He was believed to be the only person in that part of the province who knew where many hulas could be found and how they ought to be caught. For many years buia-hunting was his only occupation. Regularly once a year he went from the coast to the inland forests to obtain tail-feathers for the principal chiefs of Hawke's Bay, who were his superiors in rank. In the old days in New Zealand it was not uncommon for Maoris to keep hulas in captivity. When the birds reached maturity, the precious feathers were plucked. Although they are naturally very wild and shy, they thrive well in captivity. They become tame, amiable, and affectionate. The late Sir Walter Buller, the author of "A History of the Birds of New Zealand," kept a female huia, which knew him well and welcomed his approach by making a melodious chirping note Many years ago a live specimen was sent to the Zoological Gardens in London. It was the centre of much attraction for some time, but its life could not be preserved.
It is sixteen or seventeen years since bird-lovers in New Zealand first realised that a great danger beset the huia bird, and that it might be lost to the Dominion. Lord Onslow, when Governor of New Zealand, was the first person to take a practical step to secure legal protection for the bird. In 1892 he wrote a long and eloquent memorandum to Mr. John Ballance, who was then Premier, asking that the huia should be protected, and that live specimens, together with New Zealand's crows and thrushes, should be placed in sanctuary. Lord Onslow had a personal interest in the bird. In ancient days an incident connected with the wearing of the tail- feathers led a great tribe of Maoris to adopt the huia's name as a tribal designation. When Lord Onslow's son was born in New Zealand, he was named after the Ngati-huia tribe,— that is, the "children of the huia." At a great gathering of the tribe, when the Hon. Hula Onslow, in his infancy, was presented to the tribesmen, one of the leading men, in the picturesque language of the Maori race, demanded that the bird from which the tribe had taken its name should be pro- tected. "There yonder," he said, pointing to the dark mountains in the distance, "is the snow-clad Ruahine Range, the home of our favourite bird. We ask you, 0 Governor, to restrain the white people from shooting it, so that when your son grows up he may see the beautiful bird that bears his name." The Premier fell in with the suggestion, and the huia, which is the first bird protected in New Zealand for its own sake, was gazetted under the Wild Birds' Protection Act. No attempt was made to place it in sanctuary, however, and the slaughter, although checked, has been continued until quite recently.
With ornithologists the huia is famous on account of the difference in shape between the bills of the male and the female. The male's bill is straight, strong, and short; the female's is long, slender, and curved. For many years ornithologists found some difficulty in believing that the birds were not members of different species, and Mr. Gould, the author of "The Birds of Australia," gave them different specific names. Even now the problem of the divergence, which is un- paralleled in the whole bird class, is the subject of much discussion.
The theory that has gained most acceptance was put forward by Sir Walter Buller. He caught a pair of huias and kept them in his house in Wellington, where he was able to observe their habits closely. He placed in the room with them a decayed log of wood containing some huhu grubs, which are about the size of a man's finger, and which the hulas highly relish. As soon as the log was placed on the floor the birds attacked it with their bills, scooped away the wood until the pupa of the insect was visible, and then drew out the morsel and consumed it. Sir Walter noticed that the male, with his strong straight bill, attacked the decayed parts of the log, chiselling the wood after the manner of a wood- pecker, while the female, with her long, slender, and pliant bill, probed into places where the male's bill could not go. Sometimes the male removed the decayed wood without being able to reach the grub. The female then went to his assist- ance, and reached the grub, but selfishly appropriated the luxury to herself. From these observations Sir Walter Bailer built up the theory that the difference in the shape of the bills has been brought about to enable the sexes to undertake different offices when they are seeking for food. In other words, he asked the scientific world to find in Darwin's theory of natural selection an explanation of the remarkable development.
In these days scientists find some difficulty in accepting this theory. Natural selection as Darwin set it forth entails the development of some useful characteristics. If the development is not useful, of course it cannot help in the struggle for existence, and it does t come within the scope of Darwin's theory. There is no evidence to show that the male huia obtains any advantage from the fact that the female has a bill that is better adapted for reaching huhu grubs. He seems, indeed, to be under a disadvantage, as
when the two sexes work together the grub apparently always goes to the female. It is reasonable to expect that if natural selection gave the female a bill specially adapted to eating huhu grubs, it would do the same for the male, which likes the grub as much as the female does. Huias do not live exclu, sively, or even mainly, on huhus. They eat many other kinds of insects, and also fruit, berries, meat, and vegetables, and it is not likely that such a remarkable development would take place for such a trivial advantage as facility on the part of the female to catch huhus. If natural selection had operated so strongly on huias because they relish an occa- sional huhu, it would have operated on the whole animal kingdom to a much greater extent than there is evidence to show it has done.
Sir Walter Buller, like other scienLists who followed Darwin, tried to apply utilitarian reasoning to every abnormal develop- ment. Following the fashion of the times in which he wrote, he found in natural selection and sexual selection an explana- tion of everything. It is freely admitted now that there are many things which these principles fail to account for, and the difference in the hulas' bills is one of them.
Mr. Hamilton has gone up into the mountains several times with Maori huia-hunters, but his mission has not been suc- cessful. The bird has become so rare that he has not been able even to see it. Another attempt will be made soon, and scientists in New Zealand hope that it will result in several pairs of these interesting birds being placed on island sanctuaries.—I am, Sir, &c.,
JAMES DRUMMOND, F.L.S., F.Z.S.
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