ruru N.Z.
(ˈruːruː)
[Maori.]
The morepork, Ninox novæseelandiæ; = mopoke, morepork 1.
| 1859 A. S. Thomson Story of N.Z. I. i. i. 25 The natives call the owl Kou-Kou or Ru-ru. 1862 A. S. Atkinson Jrnl. 22 Aug. in Richmond-Atkinson Papers (1960) I. xiii. 782 Old Potatau had likened himself to a ruru mobbed by a flock of popokateas. 1905 W. Baucke Where White Man Treads 48, I..heard snatches of an ancient witch karakia being muttered round the corner, wherein a ruru..is the medium of destruction. |