Huia-bird

Huia-bird (Heteralochea acutirostris), a remarkable New Zealand starling, now restricted to a few wooded and mountainous regions. The plumage is black, except on the white tips of the tail feathers; there is a wattle at the corner of the mouth; the bill of the female is strikingly different from that of her mate, being long, much curved, and pliant, instead of straight and strong as in the male. The difference is so marked that the two sexes were formerly referred to distinct species. In digging grubs out of wood the two kinds of bills supplement one another. The birds, which are becoming rare, submit readily to captivity.