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The islanders developed an elaborate challenge to determine their next king, the Bird Man. It involved swimming out to the Moto Nui, the third island and collecting a sooty tern egg and then returning to shore without breaking the egg. The island is about a mile swim, one way.
The competitors would wait on the island for the terns to return and lay an egg which they could steal.
The winner got to be king for a year and naturally, got the girl.
