1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 167:
"Another famous bird of chase with the natives is the weka (<i>Ocydromus Australis</i>), or the wood-hen, belonging to the class of rails, which have already become quite scarce upon North Island. In the grassy plains and forests of the Southern Alps, however, they are still found in considerable numbers. It is a thievish bird, greedy after everything that glistens; it frequently carries off spoons, forks, and the like, but it also breaks into hen-coops, and picks and sucks the eggs."
1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 286:
"Fortunately, the weka bears so obnoxious a character as an evil-doer that any qualm of conscience on the score of cruelty is at once stilled when one of these feathered professors of <i>diablerie</i> is laid to rest."
1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 105:
[A full description.]
1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby,' p. 82:
"We-ki! we-ki! we-ka! Three times the plaintive cry of the `wood-hen' was heard. It was a preconcerted signal."
<hw>Weka, Rail</hw>, <i>n</i>. See <i>Weka</i>.
<hw>Well-in</hw>, <i>adj</i>. answering to `well off,' `well to do,' `wealthy'; and ordinarily used, in Australia, instead of these expressions.