The Bush Birds' Pool.

Coming to the heart of Wellington City, the place where Willis Street and Manners Street meet was once called Wai-Koko, otherwise “Tui Creek.” A small stream flowed down from the wooded hills along the present line of Boulcott Street, or nearly so, and there was a pool on its course just here, which was a place resorted to by the Maoris for snaring the birds of the bush. It was a shady pool, and here gathered the birds, the tui or koko, the bellbird and the pigeon, drinking and refreshing themselves by splashing and sprinkling the cool water over themselves, as birds do in the heat of summer. In the season, when the birds were in the best condition for food, the Maoris caught them with snares of ti (cabbage-tree leaf) fibre arranged in loops over the pool. The koko was particularly plentiful here, hence the name. There was also a variant of the name used by the Maoris; the water was sometimes called Wai-koukou, which means a bathing pool; it was the bath of the forest birds.