"Kowai timber, thoroughly seasoned, used for fencing posts, would stand for twelve or fourteen years; while posts cut out of the same bush and used green would not last half the time."
1882. T. H. Potts, 'Out in the Open,' p. 146:
"The head of the straight-stemmed kowhai is already crowned with racemes of golden blossoms."
1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 131:
"Kowhai—a small or middling-sized tree. . . . Wood red, valuable for fencing, being highly durable . . . used for piles in bridges, wharves, etc."
1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 21:
"The dazzling points of morning's lances
Waked the red kowhai's drops from sleep."
<hw>Kuku</hw>, or <hw>Kukupa</hw>, <i>n</i>. Maori name for the New Zealand <i>Fruit-pigeon</i> (q.v.), <i>Carpophaga novae-zelandiae</i>, Gmel. Called also <i>Kereru</i>. The name is the bird's note.
1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 170:
"Kuku, s. the cry of a pigeon."