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Forest Lore of the Maori

The Whekau or Laughing-owl:

The Whekau or Laughing-owl:

The whekau or hakoke (Sceloglaux albifacies) seems to be known as kakaha in the South Island; it is the laughing-owl or rock-owl of popular nomenclature. The Tuhoe folk informed me that it was formerly known in their district, but that it disappeared after the Coming of Europeans to this land; one old man told me that he remembered seeing some of these birds about the year 1855. They are said to have lived in holes in cliffs of the higher ranges, and some of the older members of the tribe could, in the latter 'nineties of last Century, point out certain pari hakoke {hakoke cliffs) formerly frequented by these rock-owls. I have heard precipitous places described as being Me te pari hakoke-like a hakoke cliff, but this owl has followed the kakapo into the unknown so far as the Tuhoe district is concerned.