de 5 fest hae abl og te 
NINTH SERIES. 
iNo-Iie. “JULY 1907. 
XVIII.-—Notes on Birds of Tahiti and the Society Group. 
By Scorr B. Witson. 
(Plate VIII.) 
I tert San Francisco on March 18th, 1904, by the 
S.S. ‘Mariposa,’ and arrived at Papeete on March 30th. 
Papeete is the capital of the island of Tahiti, and had, at 
the time of my visit, a population of about five thousand 
people. Most of the houses are built of wood, and the 
picturesque aspect of the town has not yet been spoilt either 
by the erection of immense stores or electric tramways, as 
in the case of Honolulu. 
On April 9th I started on a driving-tour, my first stopping- 
place being the hospitable abode of Mr. Tati Salman at 
Papara, a delightful spot about thirty miles to the south of 
Papeete, and possessing a great advantage over it in its much 
cooler climate, which is as near perfection as can be found 
in any part of the world. After a few days’ stay there we con- 
tinued our tour as far as Tautira, a beautiful district which 
has preserved its native appearance owing to the considerable 
number of grass-houses still existing, which in most districts 
have been replaced by frame-houses. Here Robert Louis 
Stevenson made a stay of three months whilst exploring the 
Pacific in the ‘Casco’ in 1890. I returned to Papeete by 
SER IX.—VOL I. 2C 
