Tahiti rail plantations. Its diet appears to have consisted mainly of insects and occasionally copra (coconut meat). The extinction of the Tahiti rail was probably due to predation by humans and introduced cats and rats. It appears to have become extinct some time after 1844 on Tahiti, and perhaps as late as the 1930s on Mehetia. The Tahiti rail was found on the South Pacific island of Tahiti (part of the Society Islands archipelago) by naturalists who were part of the British explorer James Cook's second voyage around the world (1772–1775). The bird was illustrated by Georg Forster, who accompanied his father,
Hawaii–Tahiti relations Admiral De Tromelin. She was betrothed to Prince Moses Kekūāiwa, but arrived to news of his death. Instead she married John Kapilikea Sumner. Ninito returned to Tahiti with her husband, who served as Hawaiian consul to Tahiti for a number of years. In November 24, 1853, Tahiti and Hawaii signed a postal treaty which set Tahitian postage at 5¢ per ½ oz. and Hawaii postage at 5¢ per ½ oz. This was the only formal diplomatic treaty between the two countries. Hawaii maintained a consul in the Tahitian capital Papeetē, and this representation continued after the French annexation of Tahiti