Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/379

 The Bird Cult of Easter Islafut. 345

sides. As bad weather might prevent fresh consignments of food during the weeks of waiting, the men carefully dried on the rocks the skins of the bananas and potatoes which they had brought with them, to be consumed in case of necessity, and it was added with a touch appreciated by those acquainted with the Easter Island, that if the man who thus practised foresight was not careful others who had no food would steal it when he was not looking.

In addition to the "manu-tara," or sacred bird, which is a species of tern, the natives say that seven other kinds of birds, whose names they gave, inhabit Motu Nui ; three of these were said to stop all the year round, two to come for the winter, and three, including the tara, for the summer. No good reason was given for the selection of the tara ; its cry is its most marked peculiarity ; the approach of the flight can be heard for miles and the noise during nesting is said to be deafening ; in a cave on the islet there is an incised drawing of the bird with open beak from which a series of lines spreads out fanwise, obviously representing the volume of sound. Names in imitation of these sounds were given to children, such as " Piriuru," " Wero-wero," " Ka-ara-ara." It is worth noting that the coming of the tara inaugurates the deep-sea fishing season ; till their arrival all fish living in twenty or thirty fathoms were considered poisonous. The birds arrived in September and on first alighting tarried only a short time ; imme- diately on their departure the hopu rushed out to find the egg, or, according to another account, it was the rushing out of the hopu which frightened away the birds. The gods intervened in the hunt, so that the man who was> not destined to win went past the egg even when it lay right in his path. The first finder rushed up to the highest point of the islet calling to his employer by name, " Shave your head, you have got the egg." The cry was taken up by the watchers in the cave on the mainland, and the fortunate victor, beside himself with joy, proceeded to-