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| Distinguished by bill shape and size - the female is on the right |
ALL eyes will be on Lot 382 - a cased pair of New Zealand huias - when it goes under the hammer at auction in Yorkshire next month.
This is because the species is now extinct - partly because of the activities of trappers who caught birds like these to be displayed in glass cases.
Although not as conspicuous in this picture, there are also three hummingbirds within the display.
According to auction house Tennants of Leyburn, the piece dates back to the late 19th Century and is the work of plumber-turned taxidermist James E. Whiting (1848-1930), originally from Steeple Claydon in Buckinghamshire and Welbeck in Nottinghamshire before moving to Hampstead in North London.
A note in the sale catalogue states: "The huia's extinction had two primary causes.
"The first was rampant overhunting to procure huia skins for mounted specimens and their tail feathers for hat decorations.
"The second major cause was the widespread deforestation of the lowlands of the North Island by European settlers to create pasture for agriculture.
"Most of these forests were ancient, ecologically complex primary forests, and huia were unable to survive in secondary-regenerated forests."
The note continues: "The huia was already a rare bird before the arrival of Europeans.
"It was confined to the Ruahine, Tararua, Rimutaka and Kaimanawa mountain ranges in the south-east of the North Island.
"It was remarkable for having the most pronounced sexual dimorphism in bill shape of any bird species in the world, the female's being long, thin and arched downward while the male's was short and stout like that of a crow."
The last confirmed sighting of a huia is believed to have been in 1907 although there was a credible sighting in 1924.
The lot will go under the hammer at Tennants' September 8 sale with an estimate that it will fetch between £15,000 and £25,000.
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