hākuai
1. (noun) a mythical bird, New Zealand snipe, Coenocorypha aucklandica - a small rotund variegated brown wader with a long slightly drooping brown bill and short legs. Found on preator-free islands in the subantarctic.
Ka tukua iho e Tamaiwaho te hākuai hei whakaoho i a Tāwhaki (W 1971:32). / Tamaiwaho sent the hākuai to wake Tāwhaki.
