kotuku N.Z.
(ˈkɔːtʊkʊ)
Also † koatuku.
[Maori.]
The white heron, Egretta alba.
| 1846 C. Heaphy Jrnl. 23 Apr. in N. M. Taylor Early Travellers N.Z. (1959) 218 Shot a very fine koatuku, or white heron. 1882 W. L. Buller Man. Birds N.Z. 52 The White Heron occurs so sparingly in most parts of New Zealand that ‘rare as the Kotuku’ has passed into a proverb among the Maoris. 1949 P. H. Buck Coming of Maori (1950) ii. xii. 284 Feathers of the..heron (kotuku) were also valued. 1963 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 26 Oct., In the..action shots..are the..kaka and spectacular kotuku or white heron. |