374. Mr. Scott B. Wilson on Birds of 
the same route to hear that a ‘ 
‘permis spécial” to collect 
had been granted me by the courtesy of the acting Governor, 
M. Henri Cor, my request having been brought before him 
by the kindness of the British Consul, Mr. R. 'T’. Symons, to 
whom I owe my sincerest thanks on this occasion and on 
many others during my residence in Tahiti. My first stay 
of any length was at Papara, and it was there that I first 
obtained specimens of several Tahitian birds, including the 
Oopa (Ptilopus purpuratus). Little objection was made to 
my shooting specimens of this beautiful Dove on account of 
its destructiveness to the flowers of the vanilla (Vanilla 
planifelia), which has been extensively planted in the forests. 
At the mouth of the stream which runs into the sea at Papara, 
Ardea sacra, Butorides stagnatilis, and Totanus incanus were 
fairly common. 
In May I made a short trip to the north of the island, to 
the district of Haapepé, penetrating as far as Point Venus, 
where the monument erected by the Royal Geographical 
Society to Captain Cook is situated. Wild Ducks (Anas 
superciliosa) were fairly abundant there, but very few other 
birds were observed. 
On May 27th I embarked on the Union §S.S8. Co.’s 
steamer ‘Taviuni’ for Rarotonga, Cook Islands, touching at 
two islands of the Leeward group, Huahine and Raiatea, 
and arriving at Avarua, the chief port of Rarotonga, on 
June Ist. There I was soon installed in a room of the 
former palace of Queen Makea, and was introduced the 
following day to the Administrator, Colonel Gudgeon. He 
expressed the opinion that there were very few species of 
birds left on the island; and this opinion was certainly con- 
firmed by my non-success, as during my stay of nearly a 
mouth I observed only three or four different forms. As it 
only requires about four hours to make the complete circuit 
of the island in a carriage, it seems probable that no 
very large number of species ever existed there, and those 
which are left will, in my opinion, be extinct in a few years’ 
time, owing to the increasing plantations of cocoanuts and 
bananas. 
