ACCOUNTS OF THE KINDS OF BIRDS OF MICRONESIA (continued 7)

Monarcha takatsukasae (Yamashina)

Tinian Monarch

Monarcharses takatsukasae Yamashina, in Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 485. (Type locality, Tinian.)

Monarcha takatsukasae Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 400 (Tinian); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 175 (Tinian); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Tinian); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 296 (Tinian); Downs, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 49, 1946, p. 100 (Tinian).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Tinian.

Characters.—Adult male: Forehead, lores, eyering, auriculars, and underparts rufous, chin paler; under tail-coverts white; crown and nape dark slate-gray; back reddish-brown; rump white; wing and tail dark brown, outer edges of first three primaries white, tail with white tips, more broadly tipped on outer tail feathers; outer edges of scapulars and secondaries buffy but tips more whitish, forming two wing bars; under wing-coverts whitish; bill slate-blue, tip pearl; feet dark slate; iris dark brown.

Adult female: Resembles adult male, but slightly smaller and crown more brownish.

Immature: Resembles adult, but base of bill lighter and underparts paler.

According to the original description by Yamashina, M. takatsukasae resembles closely the immature M. godeffroyi of Yap in coloration; however, the Tinian Monarch has a shorter wing.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 41.

Table 41. Measurements of Monarcha takatsukasae

Number and Sex Wing Tail Full Culmen Tarsus

6 males 70 68 18.0 22.0

(67-72) (65-70) (17.5-19.0) (21.0-23.0)

10 females 67 67 17.2 22.5

(65-68) (64-69) (17.0-19.0) (21.7-23.0)

Specimens examined.—Total number, 20 (10 males, 10 females), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM—Tinian, 10 (Oct.); AMNH—Tinian, 9 (Sept.); KMNH—Tinian, 1 (Sept.).

Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:400, 401) records two nests of the Tinian Monarch. He writes of one nest containing two eggs taken at Churo, Tinian, on January 29, 1932, that was "hung on a fork of an upward pointing branch of a road side tree commonly called 'Oba' 1.5 m. high from the ground in a forest.... The ground color of the egg shells is white. The spots are pale reddish-brown and distributed all round the surface like small dots, being concentrated especially round the larger end." Another nest containing three eggs was found on January 29, 1932. Yamashina writes that the eggs measure 20.5 x 15, 21 x 15, and 18 x 15 mm. In describing these nests Yamashina notes, "The shape of the two nests mentioned above is like a deep cup. The outer layer of them is made chiefly of dead leaves, fibers, cotton, wools and moss, and the inner layer of fine stems and fibers only."

Downs (1946:101) writes that a nest found near Lake Hagoi at Tinian on August 31, 1945, "was about three feet from the ground carefully woven into the framework of a triangular crotch.... It was composed exteriorly of small leaves, scattered white feathers, and heavy grass; interiorly of grasses only." In the nest he found a young bird which "was black-skinned, with ugly white quills and a few short dark feathers on its tail and wings. The back feathers were rusty brown as were the tufted head feathers." Marshall (1949:219) assumes that this bird breeds all year.

Molt.—Birds taken by Coultas in September are in fresh plumage.

Remarks.—The Tinian Monarch is known only from Tinian, where it was described in 1931 by Yamashina. Downs (1946:100-103) presents a detailed account of this bird as he saw it in 1945. He found it living in brushy woodlands where other birds, including Rhipidura rufifrons, were observed. From his description, the actions and food-catching behaviors of this bird must be much like those of Rhipidura. Gleise (1945:220) estimated the population of these birds to be 40 to 50 in 1945.

Myiagra oceanica erythrops Hartlaub and Finsch

Micronesian Broadbill

Myiagra erythrops Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, p. 6. (Type locality, Pelew Islands.)

Myiagra erythrops Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 117, 118 (Pelew Islands); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 97 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 4, 20 (Palau); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 2, 1875, p. 658 (Pelew); Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, pp. 399, 403 (Palau); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 383 (Pelew); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 407 (Palau); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 23 (Pelew); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 195 (Palaos); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 55 (Palau); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Palau); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 283 (Pelew); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 260 (Palau); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54 (Pelew); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 64 (Pelew); Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p. 674 (Palau); Handlist Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Babelthuap, Koror); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 69 (Peleliu, Ngabad, Garakayo).

Submyiagra erythrops Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 504 (Palau); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Palau).

Myiagra oceanica erythrops Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 296 (Palau).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Palau Islands—Babelthuap, Koror, Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad.

Characters.—Adult male: Crown, occiput, nape, and auriculars dark "slate-blue"; forehead, lores and orbital ring dark "cinnamon-rufous"; black and upper wing-coverts olive-brown; rump more like crown; underparts near "cinnamon," paler on middle of abdomen, sides, and under tail-coverts; wings and tail dark brown, edged with white; secondaries edged with brownish; under wing-coverts whitish with dusky bases; bill and feet black.

Adult female: Resembles adult male, but slightly smaller and paler in color.

Immature: Resembles adult, but head and rump browner; forehead, lores, and orbital ring sandy in some individuals, more rufous in others; underparts usually paler than in adult; bill basally lighter.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 42.

Table 42. Measurements of Adult Specimens of Myiagra oceanica

Subspecies Number and sex Wing Tail Exposed culmen Tarsus

M. o. erythrops 14 males 69 53 16.4 19.5

(68-71) (51-56) (16.0-17.3) (18.5-20)

11 females 66 51 16.1 19.5

(64-68) (48-53) (15.5-17.0) (18.5-20)

M. o. freycineti 25 males 70 60 16.3 19.5

(67-73) (57-64) (15.8-17.0) (18.5-20)

16 females 67 57 16.0 19.0

(65-70) (55-62) (15.5-17.0) (18.0-19)

M. o. oceanica 11 males 81 68 20.1 20.0

(78-83) (65-71) (19.5-20.5) (19.5-21)

10 females 79 66 20.0 20.0

(77-81) (65-68) (20.0-20.5) (19-20.5)

M. o. pluto 14 males 82 74 17.5 19.0

(79-83) (71-77) (17.5-18.0) (18.5-20)

14 females 80 73 17.5 19.0

(78-84) (69-77) (17.0-18.0) (18.5-20)

Specimens examined.—Total number, 33 (17 males, 15 females, 1 unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM—Babelthuap, 1 (Nov. 27)—Koror, 4 (Nov. 6, 19, 26)—Garakayo, 1 (Sept. 18)—Peleliu, 2 (Aug. 30)—Ngabad, 2 (Sept. 11); AMNH—exact locality not given, 23 (Oct., Nov., Dec.).

Molt.—Molt apparently takes place in fall and early winter. Of the specimens examined, there is little evidence of molt in those obtained in August and September while there is considerably more evidence of molt in those taken in November and December.

Food habits.—A bird taken by the writer on September 17, 1945, at Garakayo had approximately one-half cc. of insect parts in its stomach.

Remarks.—The Micronesian Broadbill at Palau is a friendly little bird and easily called-up to within a few yards of a person by imitating its note. It was seen by the NAMRU2 party in 1945 as singles and in pairs in the dense underbrush of the undisturbed forested areas. The bird was seen at only one woodland area at Peleliu (Southeastern Peninsula), but it was observed more frequently on the smaller islands of Ngabad and Garakayo. Coultas (field notes) also notes that in 1931 this bird was found more frequently on the smaller islands. Myiagra was found to be much less conspicuous at Palau than Rhipidura lepida. Myiagra appears to be less active, more solitary in its habits, and possibly more restricted in the territory that it covers in feeding than Rhipidura.

Myiagra oceanica freycineti Oustalet

Micronesian Broadbill

Myiagra freycineti Oustalet, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, (7), 5, 1881, p. 73. (Type locality, Mariannes = Guam.)

Myiagra freycineti Reichenow and Schalow, Journ. f. Ornith., 1884, p. 395 (Mariannes = Guam); Oustalet, Le Nat., 1889, p. 260 (Mariannes = Guam); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 24 (Marianne = Guam); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 194 (Guam); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 54 (Guam); Wheeler, Report Island of Guam, 1900, p. 13 (Guam); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Guam); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 50 (Guam); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 69 (Guam); idem, Amer. Anthro., 4, 1902, p. 711 (Guam); idem, The Plant World, 7, 1904, p. 263 (Guam); idem, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p. 79 (Guam); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 260 (Marianen); Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 65 (Guam); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 25 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Guam); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 68 (Guam).

Submyiagra freycineti Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 504 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Guam).

Myiagra oceanica freycineti Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 296 (Guam).

Myiagra oceanica Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 539. (Guam).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Guam.

Characters.—Adult male: A small flycatcher with head and neck near "dark delft blue" with a metallic luster; lores and anterior forehead ashy-gray, more bluish and darker on auriculars and sides of neck than on lores; back and upper wing-coverts near "green-blue slate" but darker and with metallic luster less apparent than on head; rump grayer than back; chin and throat white; breast light "cinnamon," fading to pale buff and white on abdomen, sides, and under tail-coverts; tibia smoky-gray, tips of feathers paler; wings dark brown edged with light bluish-gray; tail bluish-slate, especially middle rectrices, tips of tail feathers edged with white; bill and feet black; iris dark brown.

Adult female: Resembles adult female of M. o. erythrops, but crown and neck near "deep Payne's gray," auriculars grayer than neck; anterior forehead and lores buffy and tinged with cinnamon; back browner than lores with upper wing-coverts and scapulars edged with slightly lighter brown; rump resembles crown but grayer; underparts paler than those of M. o. erythrops, especially chin and throat; tibia more brownish.

Immature male: Resembles adult male, but back more brown and less blue-green, lacking luster; anterior forehead more rufous; scapulars, upper wingcoverts, and wings edged with light brown; underparts variable but generally more buffy than those of adult.

Immature female: Resembles adult female, but more brown and less blue on head and back; underparts more buffy; base of bill paler.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 42.

Weights.—The author (1948:68) records the weights of five adult males as 10.5-12.5 (11.9), and those of two adult females as 11.4 and 12.0 grams.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 64 (33 males, 22 females, 9 unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM—Guam, 26 (Jan. 21, March 16, May 21, 29, 30, June 1, 3, 14, 24, 26, July 10, 12, 13, 20, 23, Aug. 30); AMNH—Guam, 38 (Jan., Feb., March, July, Aug.).

Nesting.—The writer (1948:68) records a nest containing one egg found by Muennink at Guam near Mt. Santa Rosa on May 7, 1945. The nest was in a bamboo stump approximately six feet from the ground. The egg hatched on about May 21. Seale (1901:50) reports on a nest and egg taken in the period from May to July. The NAMRU2 party obtained a female on March 15 with an enlarged gonad. Strophlet (1946:539) observed a pair of broadbills building a nest on September 20, 1945; it was completed on October 4 and was approximately seven feet above the ground. Hartert (1898:33) reports on a nest taken at Guam on February 14, 1895.

Molt.—As shown by the specimens examined, molt begins in June or July.

Food habits.—The stomach of a bird obtained on January 21, 1945, contained one unidentified bug (Hemiptera) and several parts of other insects.

Remarks.—The Micronesia Broadbill at Guam is not a common bird, and like its relative Rhipidura rufifrons is an inhabitant of forested areas, especially those containing brushy undercover. It is an active bird, although less conspicuous than Rhipidura. The birds were found as singles or in pairs. The pair of birds which had a nest at the west base of Mount Santa Rosa in May, 1945, allowed the observers to approach closely to them. The birds are easily attracted by squeaking sounds. There is considerable variation in the amount of cinnamon coloring on the breasts of adult birds.

The Micronesian Broadbill at Guam was first discovered by Quoy and Gaimard, who called it "Moucherolle à gorge rouge." Kittlitz (1836:304) evidently records two species of flycatchers from Guam, which he calls Muscicapa. I judge these birds to be Myiagra and Rhipidura. It was not until 1881 that Oustalet recognized this bird to be new. The first large series of specimens was obtained by Marche for the Paris Museum and was reported on by Oustalet (1895:194). Marche collected 12 skins in August and September, 1887, and 4 additional skins in February, 1889.

Myiagra oceanica oceanica Pucheran

Micronesian Broadbill

Myiagra oceanica Pucheran, Voy. Pôle Sud, Zool., 3, 1853, p. 77. (Type locality, Hogoleu = Truk.)

Myiagra oceanica Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 168 (Carolinen = Truk); Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 18 (Hogoleu = Truk); Finsch and Hartlaub, Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 94 (Hogoleu = Truk); Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 328 (Caroline Is. = Truk); Pelzeln, Journ. f. Ornith., 1875, p. 51 (Hogoleu = Truk); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 383 (Hogoleu = Truk); Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, p. 403 (Ruk); Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 575 (Ruk); Oustalet, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, (7), 5, 1881, p. 73 (Carolines = Truk); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 353 (Ruk); Reichenow and Schalow, Journ. f. Ornith., 1884, p. 395 (Carolines = Truk); Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 200 (Ruk); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 23 (Ruk); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 196 (Hogoleu = Truk); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers., 1899, p. 30 (Ruk); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 5 (Ruk); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 111, 112, 113 (Ruck); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 283 (Hogoleu = Truk); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 260 (Karolinen = Truk); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54 (Ruk); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 204 (Truk); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 64 (Ruk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Truk); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 68 (Truk).

Myiagra albiventris Finsch and Hartlaub, Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 93 (Hoguleu = Truk); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 2, 1875, p. 658 (Carolinae = Truk).

Submyiagra oceanica Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 505 (Ruk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 175 (Truk).

Myiagra oceanica oceanica Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 296 (Truk).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Truk.

Characters.—Adult male: Resembles M. o. freycineti, but larger with crown and nape less green and with less metallic luster; lores and anterior forehead darker gray; chin, throat, and sides of neck more buffy-cinnamon; back, rump, upper wing-coverts, and scapulars less blue and more ashy gray; tibia, wings, and tail more brownish.

Adult female: Resembles adult male, but smaller with less blue and more gray on crown; lores and anterior forehead lighter.

Immature: Resembles adult, but crown and nape grayish, slate-blue; under-parts paler.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 42.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 23 (12 males, 10 females, 1 unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Truk, 2 (Feb. 16); AMNH—Truk, 21 (Feb., June, Nov., Dec.).

Nesting.—Hartert (1900:5) reports the taking of several nests in the period from March to July by Owston's Japanese collectors. One nest contained two eggs, the other nests contained one.

Remarks.—The broadbill at Truk was first taken by Hombron and Jacquinot, who called it "Platyrhynque océanien." Later, Kubary obtained material which was studied by Finsch (1880e:575). In December, 1945, McElroy of the NAMRU2 party examined two adults with enlarged gonads. Specimens obtained by him at Truk were lost in shipment to the United States. In coloration this subspecies is closest to M. o. freycineti; in size it is closest to M. o. pluto.

Myiagra oceanica pluto Finsch

Micronesian Broadbill

Myiagra pluto Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1875 (1876), p. 644. (Type locality, Ponapé.)

Myiagra pluto Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 19 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779 (Ponapé); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 380 (Ponapé); Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith. 1879, p. 404 (Ponapé); Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 288 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Ponapé); idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 110, 112, 115 (Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 280 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 23 (Ponapé); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 195 (Ponapi); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 55 (Ponapé); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers., 1899, p. 26 (Ponapé); Christian, The Caroline Islands, 1899, p. 358 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 111, 112, 113 (Ponapé); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 283 (Ponapi); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 260 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54 (Ponapé); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 204 (Ponapé); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 64 (Ponapé); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, p. 204 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Ponapé).

Submyiagra pluto Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 505 (Ponapé); Yamashina, Tori, 1, 1932, p. 401 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Ponapé).

Myiagra oceanica pluto Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 296 (Ponapé).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ponapé.

Characters.—Adult male: A dark, bluish-gray broadbill with head, ear-coverts, and nape dark, metallic, steel-blue; back and rump darker and more slate-blue than head; upper tail-coverts blackish; tail black edged with greenish gloss; wings dark brown, scapulars and secondaries with outer edges tinged with metallic bluish-gray; lores black; chin, throat, and upper breast dark with light metallic-blue wash; lower breast and abdomen slate-gray; under wing-coverts brownish-black; bill black; feet bluish-black; iris dark brown. Female resembles male, but slightly smaller and somewhat duller. Immature duller.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 42.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 42 (23 males, 19 females), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ponapé, 3 (Feb. 11); AMNH—Ponapé, 39 (Nov., Dec.).

Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:401) records nests and eggs of the Ponapé broadbill. The nests were at heights of between .9 and 2.2 meters above the ground. Nests, each containing a single egg, were obtained on July 21, 25, and August 6. The eggs measure 19.5 by 16, 20.5 by 15.7, 20.5 by 16, and 20.2 by 16. Coultas (field notes) describes the nest as a cup-shaped structure, made of fine grasses and ferns, and placed in small trees and bushes at low elevations. Of specimens taken by Coultas in November and December, 1931, approximately fifty percent of the males had enlarged gonads. According to his specimen labels, none of the females was in breeding condition.

Molt.—Of the large series of broadbills taken by Coultas, approximately twenty percent of those taken in November were in molt whereas only approximately ten percent of those taken in December were in molt. Specimens taken in February were not in molt. It is evident that molting takes place in the fall, possibly from August to December.

Remarks.—The coloration of the Micronesian Broadbill at Ponapé is in marked contrast to that of other representatives of Myiagra in Micronesia, being dark, bluish-gray in color. Probably the bird has taken on melanistic characters, which is not unusual in birds which have become isolated; examples of this condition may be observed in Rhipidura, Terpsiphone and other genera.

Coultas (field notes) writes that the bird is "Common everywhere on the island except in the grasslands. Two birds are working together usually, darting around in the low trees, among the branches or on the ground. The birds are playful, friendly and inquisitive. I should not call them noisy as one or more will sit for many minutes watching the intruder without making a peep. Their call, "Que Que," is a spasmodic outburst that might be repeated many times or just once. The male, presumably, erects the long crown feathers when calling. Perhaps both male and female do this, I can't say. The bird flutters on the wing and displays the feathers as does Rhipidura. When sitting, the bird often erects the crest and fluffs the tail and feathers."

Evolutionary History of Myiagra oceanica.—According to Mayr (1933d:1) Myiagra "is easily recognizable by its broad bill and the color pattern which is similar in all species." The range of the genus Myiagra extends from Australia and Tasmania westward to Timor, northward to the Moluccas, and Micronesia, and eastward to Polynesia. Myiagra oceanica is restricted to Micronesia and consists of four subspecies, which until recently have been considered as four separate species. Unlike many of the species of this genus, M. oceanica shows comparatively little sexual dimorphism. The male of M. oceanica has metallic coloring on the head and the upper back and often has rich, rufous coloring on the breast. The female is less brilliant in coloring, lacking the sheen. The four subspecies vary from each other in size, color and even, to some extent, in basal breadth of the bill. M. oceanica resembles several broadbills, including M. galeata of the Moluccas, M. rubecula of Australia, M. vanikorensis of Fiji, and M. ruficollis of Australia and the Lesser Sundas; however, in my opinion, it has probably been derived from M. galeata of the Moluccan area or from a closely related species. In Micronesia, M. o. oceanica and M. o. freycineti appear to resemble closely this parent stock, whereas M. o. erythrops and M. o. pluto are more differentiated but are considered to have been derived from this same colonization. M. o. pluto bears some resemblance to M. atra of the Papuan area, particularly in the dark coloring; this is probably only a parallel evolution, since they have little else in common. M. vanikorensis of the Fiji area is close to M. oceanica in color and structure; the two species, I suspect, have been derived from a common source rather than from each other. Study of the evolutionary history of the entire genus is necessary before we can understand fully the derivation of the Micronesian and Polynesian species. It seems safe to say that the center of dispersal has been in the Australian region; the lack of diversity of this genus within the Papuan area is at present unexplained.

Muscicapa narcissina narcissina Temminck

Narcissus Flycatcher

Muscicapa narcissina Temminck, Pl. Col., 3, 1835, pl. 577, fig. 1. (Type locality, Japan.)

Muscicapa narcissina narcissina Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 302 (Palau).

Geographic range.—Breeds in eastern Asia and Japan. Winters south to Malaysia. In Micronesia: Palau Islands—exact locality unknown.

Remarks.—Mayr (1945a:302) records the Narcissus Flycatcher as a migrant visitor to the Palau Islands on the basis of two specimens in the Turloff collection, formerly in the Zoölogical Museum in Hamburg.

Muscicapa griseisticta (Swinhoe)

Chinese Gray-spotted Flycatcher

Hemichelidon griseisticta Swinhoe, Ibis, 1861, p. 330. (Type locality, Amoy.)

Hemichelidon griseisticta Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 175 (Koror); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 194 (Koror).

Muscicapa griseisticta Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 302 (Palau); Marshall, Condor, vol. 51, 1949, p. 221 (Palau).

Geographic range.—Breeds in northwestern Asia and Japan. Winters south to Malaysia. In Micronesia: Palau Islands—Koror.

Remarks.—The Chinese Gray-spotted Flycatcher is a casual winter visitor to the Palaus. Marshall (1949:221) took two specimens at Palau on November, 1945.

Colluricincla tenebrosa (Hartlaub and Finsch)

Palau Morning Bird

Rectes tenebrosus Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, p. 6. (Type locality, Pelew Islands.)

Rectes tenebrosus Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, p. 118 (Pelew Islands); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 99 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 4, 18, pl. 3, fig. 1 (Palau); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 407 (Palau); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 27 (Pelew).

Colluricincla tenebrosa Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 386 (Pelew); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 496 (Pelew); Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269, 1944, p. 5 (Palau); idem, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 69 (Peleliu, Ngabad, Garakayo).

Pinarolestes tenebrosus Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 3, 1877, p. 298 (Pelew); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Palau); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 296 (Palau); Takasukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54 (Pelew); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 69 (Pelew); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 174 (Palau).

Myiolestes tenebrosus Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1899, p. 188 (Pelew).

Caleya tenebrosus Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 649 (Pelew).

Malacolestes tenebrosus Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 590, 1933, p. 5 (Palau); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 193 (Babelthuap, Koror, Peliliu).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Palau Islands—Babelthuap, Koror, Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad.

Characters.—Adult: Upper parts between "snuff brown" and "bister," head blacker; chin, throat, and upper breast like upper parts but darker; lower breast and abdomen lighter and more buffy, sides darker; feathers of underparts with darker shafts producing a streaked appearance; underside of wing and under tail-coverts light-colored; bill dark brown; feet lighter brown; iris yellowish. Female smaller.

Immature: Resembles adult, but head and neck lighter; ear-coverts, sides of neck, throat, upper breast darker; lower breast and abdomen paler.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 43.

Table 43. Measurements of Colluricincla tenebrosus

Number and Sex Wing Tail Full Culmen Tarsus

20 males 104 76 23.5 31

(100-107) (73-79) (22.5-24.5) (29-31)

9 females 97 73 23.0 30

(94-101) (71-76) (22.0-24.0) (30-31)

Specimens examined.—Total number, 32 (21 males, 11 females), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM—Koror, 6 (Nov. 5, 18)—Garakayo, 3 (Sept. 18)—Peleliu, 5 (Aug. 29, 30, Sept. 1, 6)—Ngabad, 2 (Sept. 11); AMNH—exact locality not given, 16 (Oct. 8, 13, 26, Nov. 11, 13, 17, 19, 21, 23, Dec. 9).

Molt.—The molting process in this species seemingly takes place from August until December. Most of the birds taken by the NAMRU2 party in August and September were in molt. Molting specimens were obtained by Coultas in October, November and December.

Food habits.—The Palau Morning Bird feeds on plant and animal materials. Stomachs obtained by the NAMRU2 party contained green plant material, seeds, insect parts, and grit. The bird feeds principally on the ground or in low bushes.

Remarks.—The Palau Morning Bird is a thrushlike bird which spends its time on or near the ground in areas where ground cover is thick. In 1945, the NAMRU2 party found the bird in the thick matting of vines which had covered over the battle-cleared areas. I did not find the bird at elevations of more than three to four feet above the ground. When flushed, it would flutter a short distance and disappear into the brush. It has a sweet song and may be considered as one of the finest singers in Micronesia. It heralds the break of day with its melodious carol, and its name is derived from its calling early in the morning. I heard the bird only infrequently in the hot part of the day, although it would sing when the skies were overcast. Its song could be heard also as evening approached. The bird is moderately common, and evidently is more abundant on the smaller islands than on Peleliu. Its occurrence on the smaller islands was noted also by Coultas.

The taxonomic status of the Palau Morning Bird has been one of uncertainty as shown by the fact that the bird has been treated under six generic names since its discovery by Captain Tetens. Mayr (1933a:5) erected a new genus, Malacolestes, for the morning bird pointing to its differences from "Rhectes (= Pitohui) and Pinarolestes (= Myiolestes)." Later, he (1944b:5) disregards this name and places the bird in the genus Colluricincla stating that its special characters "are due to isolation." This treatment is followed here. The Palau Morning Bird is the most northern representative of a group of birds which have their center of dispersal in the New Guinea and Australian area. As Mayr has pointed out, C. tenebrosus appears closest to the C. megarhynchus group of New Guinea. These species have bills of similar shape, coloration which is darker above and lighter below, soft feathers on underparts, and streaked appearance of throat and breast. The resemblances between C. tenebrosus and C. megarhynchus might be such as to indicate that these are merely subspecifically distinct from each other.

Artamus leucorhynchus pelewensis Finsch

White-breasted Wood-swallow

Artamus pelewensis Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, p. 41. (Type locality, Palau.)

Artamus leucorhynchus Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 116, 118 (Pelew); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 99 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 4, 18 (Palau); Walden, Ibis, 1876, p. 188 (Pelew).

Artamus pelewensis Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 739 (Pelew); Tweeddale, Ibis, 1878, p. 385 (Pelew); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 13, 1890, p. 9 (Pelew); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 26 (Pelew); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 62 (Palau); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Palau); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 533 (Pelew); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 346 (Pelew).

Artamus leucorhynchus pelewensis Stresemann, Novit. Zool., 20, 1913, p. 293 (Palau); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 193 (Babelthuap, Koror); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Palau).

Artamus melanoleucus pelewensis Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 69 (Pelew); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 635 (Pelew); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 174 (Palau).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Palau Islands—Babelthuap, Angaur.

Characters.—Adult: Upper surface black, except for back which is slightly brownish and for rump which is white; underparts white, except for chin, throat and upper breast which are black; wings with grayish tips; bend of wing black; bill milky blue, nostril and tip black; feet black; iris dark brown.

Immature: Resembles adult, but black feathers with brownish tinges; primaries tipped with white.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 44.

Table 44. Measurements of Artamus leucorhynchus pelewensis Finsch

Number and Sex Wing Tail Culmen Tarsus

5 males 134 68 25 16.5

(132-136)) (66-69) (24-26)

4 females 134 68 24 16.5

(132-136) (67-69) (16.5-17.0)

Specimens examined.—Total number, 12 (7 males, 5 females), from Palau Islands, AMNH—exact locality not given (March, Nov., Dec.).

Remarks.—Little is known concerning the habits and distribution of the white-breasted Wood-Swallow at Palau. Coultas obtained a series of eight birds in 1931; he writes (field notes) that his native hunter took every bird that he saw. The natives told him that they did not know the nest of the bird. Coultas concluded that the bird was not common. He commented that it may be found perched in the top of a tree on a dead branch or "even displaying in the air." The NAMRU2 party found no evidence of this bird in the southern Palaus in 1945. The specimens obtained by Coultas in November and December, 1931, were in molt and had small gonads.

This wood-swallow is the only Micronesian representative of Artamus leucorhynchus. Like several other species of birds it has become established only at the Palau Islands, and has either been unsuccessful in colonizing other parts of Micronesia or has not had the opportunity to do so. This bird had been compared with specimens representing ten subspecies of A. leucorhynchus in Melanesia and Malaysia. A. l. pelewensis differs from these subspecies examined by its blacker appearance, with only a faint brownish wash on the back, and by its shorter, first primary. The curvature of the upper mandible of the bird in the Palaus is similar to that of P. l. leucorhynchus of the Philippines; the mandible is less curved than that of P. l. celebensis of Celebes; the mandible is slightly thicker than that of P. l. leucopygialis of the New Guinea and Australian region. In length of wing P. l. pelewensis resembles closely P. l. leucorhynchus; P. l. celebensis has a longer wing and P. l. leucopygialis has a shorter one. Stresemann (1913:293) points to a close relationship between P. l. pelewensis and P. l. musschenbreeki of Tenimber and Babber islands and P. l. melaleucus of New Caledonia; Mayr (1945a:284) says the bird in the Palaus came from the Papuan area. Probably P. l. pelewensis has reached the Palau Islands from the New Guinea area by way of the Philippines.

Aplonis opacus opacus (Kittlitz)

Micronesian Starling

Lamproth[ornis] opaca Kittlitz, Kupfertaf. Naturgesch. Vögel, 2, 1833, p. 11, pl. 15, fig. 2. (Type locality, Ualan = Kusaie.)

Turdus colombinus Lesson (part), Traité d'Ornith., 1832, p. 406 (Carolines = Kusaie?).

Lamproth[ornis] opaca Kittlitz, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg, 2, 1935, p. 7 (Ualan); idem (part), Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, pp. 285, 297 (Ualan); Pelzeln, Reise "Novara," Vögel, 1865, p. 68 (Ualan).

Lamprotornis columbinus Bonaparte (part), Consp. Avium, 1, 1850, p. 417 (Carolinen = Kusaie?).

Lamprotornis columbina Hartlaub, Archiv f. Naturgesch., 18, 1852, p. 133 (Ualan); idem (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 168 (Carolinen = Kusaie?); Kittlitz, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 1, 1858, p. 376 (Ualan).

Calornis opaca Gray (part), Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 26 (Oualau = Kusaie); Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 255 (Kusaie); Hartert, Kat. Vogelsamml. Senckenb., 1891, p. 75 (Ualan).

Calornis kittlitzi Finsch and Hartlaub (part), Fauna Central polynesiens, 1867, p. 109 (Ualan, Puynipet, Marianen; type locality, by subsequent restriction, Ualan = Kusaie); Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, p. 23 (Ualan).

Calornis kittlitzii Hartlaub, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867 (1868), p. 830 (Ualan).

Amadina Kittlitzi Gray, Hand-list Birds, 2, 1870, p. 58 (Ualan).

Calornis pacifica Sharpe, Ibis, 1876, p. 47 (Caroline Is. = Kusaie?); Finsch (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 49 (Kuschai).

Calornis pacificus Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, p. 32 (Ualan); idem (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 289, 301 (Kuschai); idem, (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Kuschai); idem, (part), Ibis, 1881, pp. 103, 104, 108, 111 (Kuschai).

Aplonis kittlitzi Sharpe (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 13, 1890, p. 136 (Kuschai); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 44 (Ualan); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 216 (Oualan); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 59 (Ualan); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Ualan); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Kusaie).

Lamprocorax kittlitzi Dubois (part), Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 542 (Kuschai).

Aplonis opaca Oberholser, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 98, 1917, p. 59 (Ualan); Wetmore (part), in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 219 (Kusaie).

Aplonis kittlitzi kittlitzi Momiyama (part), Tori, 2, 1920, p. 1 (Kusaie).

Aplonis opaca opaca Momiyama (part), Birds Micronesia, 1922, pp. 6, 12 (Kusaie); Kuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 70 (Kusaie); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 847 (Kusaie); Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1931, p. 109 (Kusaie); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 170 (Kusaie).

Aplornis opaca opaca, Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 188 (Kusaie).

Aplonis opacus opacus Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 298 (Kusaie).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Kusaie.

Characters.—Adult: Feathers black with dusky appearance caused by lighter bases; edges of feathers with slight amount of steel-green gloss; underparts slightly duller than upper parts; bill black, with maxilla rather strongly curved; feet black, iris yellow. Females slightly smaller.

Immature: Resembles adult, but upper parts more brown and less black; underparts dusky with edges of feathers tinged with smoky yellow producing a streaked appearance; base of bill horn-colored.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 45.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 30 (18 males, 12 females), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Kusaie, 5 (Feb. 8); AMNH—Kusaie, 25 (Jan., Feb., March).

Table 45. Measurements of Adult Specimens of Aplonis opacus

Subspecies Number and sex Wing Tail Full Culmen Depth of culmen at nostril

A. o. opacus 15 males 124 80 24 9.5

121-125 76-85 24-26 9.0-10.0

12 females 119 77 24 9.0

115-125 72-82 23-26 8.5-9.0

A. o. ponapensis 17 males 133 87 27 9.5

130-138 85-91 26-29 9.0-10.0

11 females 126 83 27 9.0

122-127 81-85 26-28 8.5-9.0

A. o. angus 16 males 129 88 28 9.5

125-131 84-92 27-29 8.0-9.0

7 females 124 85 27 8.5

121-129 83-88 25-28 8.0-9.0

A. o. orii 11 males 128 86 27 7.5

124-131 83-90 25-28 7.5-8.5

7 females 124 79 26 7.5

121-126 77-82 25-27 7.5-8.0

A. o. guami 41 males 128 86 27 9.5

120-136 81-92 24-29 8.5-10.5

32 females 121 84 26 9.5

117-126 78-89 24-30 8.5-10.5

Remarks.—The Micronesian Starling at Kusaie was first taken by Kittlitz (1833:11), who named it in the following manner: "Turdus columbinus Gm. L. oder Lamproth. opaca Lichtenstein." The bird was later given the name of Calornis kittlitzi by Finsch and Hartlaub (1867:109). Oberholser (1917:59) has shown that the specific name opaca is applicable, since the manuscript name Lamprothornis opaca of Lichtenstein is made available by Kittlitz's published description and figure, and since it is the earliest name used. Mathews (1938:342) reports that the name Aplornis appeared a few days before the name Aplonis. I have been unable to check his source of information.

The Micronesia Starling is one of the most abundant birds at Kusaie. Coultas (field notes) observed the bird in all parts of the island, when he visited there in 1931. He found the bird in flocks of two to six or more and noted that birds in immature plumage seemed to outnumber the birds in adult plumage approximately five to one. This subspecies is characterized by the presence of only a slight amount of gloss on the black feathers of the adult.

Aplonis opacus ponapensis Takatsukasa and Yamashina

Micronesian Starling

Aplonis opaca ponapensis Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1931, p. 109. (Type locality, Ponapé.)

Calornis columbina Pelzeln, Reise "Novara," Vögel, 1865, pp. 88, 162 (Puynipet).

Calornis kittlitzi Finsch and Hartlaub (part), Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 109 (Puynipet); Schmeltz and Krause (part), Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 298 (Ponapé).

Calornis opaca Gray (part), Hand-list Birds, 2, 1870, p. 27 (Seniavin = Ponapé).

Calornis pacificus Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 32 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779 (Ponapé); idem (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 289 (Ponapé); idem, (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Ponapé).

Calornis pacifica Finsch, Ibis, 1881, p. 115 (Ponapé); idem, (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien. 1884, p. 49 (Ponapé).

Aplonis kittlitzi Sharpe (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 13, 1890, p. 136 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 44 (Ponapé); Bolau (part), Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 62 (Ponapé); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers., 1899, p. 122 (Ponapé); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 55 (Ponapé).

Lamprocorax kittlitzi Dubois (part), Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 542 (Ponapé).

Aplonis opaca Wetmore (part), in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 219 (Ponapé); Mayr. Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, p. 204 (Ponapé).

Aplonis kittlitzi kittlitzi Momiyama (part), Tori, 2, 1920, p. 1 (Ponapé).

Aplonis opaca opaca Momiyama (part), Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 12 (Ponapé); Kuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 70 (Ponapé).

Aplonis opaca ponapensis Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 394 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 170 (Ponapé).

Aplonis opaca ponapensis Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 188 (Ponapé).

Aplonis opacus ponapensis Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Ponapé).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ponapé.

Characters.—Adult: Resembles A. o. opacus, but larger with a longer bill and richer green luster on the back and breast.

Immature: Resembles immature of A. o. opacus, but underparts more brightly streaked but still dingy in appearance.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 45.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 47 (31 males, 16 females), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ponapé, 1 (Feb. 11); AMNH—Ponapé, 46 (Nov., Dec.).

Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:394) reports the taking of an egg on August 2, 1931, and two eggs on August 30, 1931, at Ponapé. Coultas (field notes) writes that the nests of these birds are hidden in the tops of the tree-ferns and in holes in the trees. The natives told him that the starling lays two eggs.

Molt.—Most of the adult specimens taken by Coultas in November and December, 1931, are in molting plumage.

Remarks.—Coultas (field notes) writes that the starling is a common bird at Ponapé. He found it in flocks of from two to 12 or more birds. As at Kusaie he noted more birds in the immature plumage than in the adult plumage at Ponapé. The starling occurs in large numbers even though the people of the island hunt this bird persistently for part of their food supply.

The Micronesian Starling at Palau has the longest wing of any of the subspecies of Aplonis opacus. It most closely resembles A. o. opacus; both of these subspecies have only a faint amount of bronzy-green luster of the feathers, and the immatures have dingy yellow streaks on the abdomen.

Aplonis opacus angus Momiyama

Micronesian Starling

Aplonis opaca anga Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 6. (Type locality, Toroas, Ruk Island.)

Lamproth[ornis] opaca Kittlitz (part), Observ. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 297 (Lougounor = Lukunor).

Lamprotornis columbinus Bonaparte (part), Consp. Avium, 1, 1850, p. 417 (Carolinen = Lukunor?).

Lamprotornis columbina Hartlaub (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 168 (Carolinen = Lukunor?).

Calornis kittlitzi Hartlaub and Finsch (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 100 (Mackenzie = Ulithi?); Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, p. 23 (Mackenzie = Ulithi?); Schmeltz and Krause (part), Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 298, 330, 353 (Mortlock, Nukuor, Ruk).

Calornis pacificus Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, p. 23 (Mackenzie = Ulithi?); idem (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 290 (Ruck, Mortlocks); idem (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Ruk); idem (part), Ibis, 1881, p. 111 (Ruk).

Calornis pacifica Finsch (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 49 (Rukgruppe).

Aplonis kittlitzi Sharpe (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 13, 1890, p. 136 (Ruk, Lugunor); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 44 (Ruk or Luganor, Nukuor); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 216 (Ruk, Nukuor, Luganor); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 59 (Ruk, Luganor); idem, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 6 (Ruk); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Ruck); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 55 (Ruk).

Lamprocorax kittlitzi Dubois (part), Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 542 (Ruk, Luganor).

Aplonis opaca Wetmore (part), in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 219 (Truk).

Aplonis kittlitzi kittlitzi Momiyama (part), Tori, 2, 1920, p. 1 (Truk, Wolea).

Aplonis opaca anga Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 71 (?Luganor or Ruk, ?Nukuor, Wolea or Oleai); Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Tori, 32, 1930, p. 109 (Ruk); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 847 (Ruk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 170 (Uluthi, Feys, Wolea, Ifalik, Faraulep, Lamotrek, Truk, Nukuoro).

Aplornis apaca anga Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 458 (Truk?); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 188 (Uluthi, Feys, Wolea, Ifalik, Faraulep, Lamotrek, Truk, Nukuoro).

Aplonis opacus angus Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Truk and western Carolines); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, pp. 70, 71 (Ulithi Truk).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ulithi, Fais, Wolea, Ifalik, Faraulep, Lamotrek, Truk, Nukuoro, Lukunor.

Characters.—Adult: Resembles A. o. opacus, but larger and with bill less deep and feathers with distinct greenish luster both on the upper parts and the lower parts. Female smaller.

Immature: Resembles immature of A. o. opacus, but underparts streaked with brighter, buffy-yellow coloring.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 45.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 38 (24 males, 14 females), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ulithi, 27 (Aug. 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22)—Truk, 2 (Feb. 16, Dec. 13); AMNH—Truk, 9 (Jan. 29, Feb. 1, 28, June 14, Oct. 9, 14).

Nesting.—Hartert (1900:6) reports that at Truk nests of the starling were obtained by Owston's Japanese collectors from May to July and one in March. Nests contained from one to three eggs each.

Molt.—Adult birds taken by the NAMRU2 party at Ulithi in August are in molting plumage.

Food habits.—The stomachs of starlings obtained in August at Ulithi contained pieces of fruit and seeds. Twelve stomachs contained between one and three cc. of these foods. Papaya and small berries were the foods most frequently observed in the stomachs.

Remarks.—The Micronesian Starling of the central and western Carolines is one of the few land birds which lives on both the "high" islands and the "low" coral islands in Micronesia. It is found on several of the coral atolls in the Carolines. In the Hand-list of Japanese Birds (Hachisuka et al., 1932:170), the birds at Ulithi and Fais are placed in the subspecies A. o. angus, although these islands are only a short distance from Yap, at which place another subspecies, A. o. kurodai, occurs. Specimens from Yap are not available for comparison. Specimens from Ulithi and from Truk closely resemble one another.

The NAMRU2 party found the starling to be numerous at Truk and at Ulithi in 1945. At both places the natives make use of the birds as food. At Truk, McElroy found a larger number of birds in immature plumage than that of birds in adult plumage. Similar observations have been made at several other islands in Micronesia.

At Ulithi, the NAMRU2 party found the starling at all islands in the atoll visited in 1945. The bird was more numerous at the islands of Potangeras and Mangejang, and less numerous at the island of Losiep; the former two islands were occupied—at the time of the visit in 1945—by service personnel and the vegetation was disturbed, whereas Losiep was uninhabited and rarely visited by people. I attribute the smaller population of starlings at Losiep to the fact that on this island the large monitor lizard, Varanus indicus, was numerous while at Potangeras and Mangejang it was apparently entirely absent. These large lizards depend principally on the birds, rodents, and insects for their food supply. At Potangeras the rat Rattus exulans was exceedingly numerous, while at Losiep no sign of rodents was found nor were any taken in traps set during the daytime.

Aplonis opacus kurodai Momiyama

Micronesian Starling

Aplonis kittlitzi kurodai Momiyama, Tori, 2, 1920, p. 1. (Type locality, Yap.)

Calornis kittlitzi Hartlaub and Finsch (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, p. 100 (Uap); Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2, 1873, p. 123 (Yap); Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5, 24 (Yap); Schmeltz and Krause (part), Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 298 (Yap).

Calornis pacificus Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, p. 32 (Yap).

Aplonis kittlitzi Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 44 (Yap); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 216 (Yap); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 58 (Yap); Bolau (part), Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 62 (Yap); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 49, 1901, p. 112 (Yap); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Yap).

Aplonis opaca kurodai Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 11 (Yap); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 71 (Yap); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 848 (Yap); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 170 (Yap).

Aplonis opaca kurodai Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu, Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 458 (Yap?); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 188 (Yap).

Aplonis opacus kurodai Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Yap); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 71 (Yap).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Yap.

Characters.—Adult: According to Momiyama (1922:11), "Similar to A. o. anga from Ruk group, but the bill thicker (9-10.5 mm.; that of the latter 8.5-9.5 mm.) and much longer (24-27.5 mm.; that of the latter 21.5-25 mm.) and the wing also longer in average (119.5-130 mm. instead of 116.5-129.5 mm.). It differs from typical opaca by the edge of feathers of both body sides very distinctly tinged with a bronzy-green lustre, by the bill being longer and thicker (in typical opaca exposed culmen 21.5-24.5 mm., depth of bill 9-9.5 mm.)."

of body somewhat deeper in colour and the edge of feathers distinctly tinged with lustrous bronzy-green. It differs from the same stage of A. o. anga by the under-parts being without pale-yellowish area." Momiyama (1922:11).

Young: "Similar to the young of typical bird, but differs from it by the mantle being very faintly tinged with bronzy-green and by the under-parts being somewhat tinged with brown. In the same stage of the typical form, the under-parts are much more greyish-ashy in colour." Momiyama (1922:11).

Remarks.—No specimens have been examined. Momiyama (1920:1) regarded the birds at Yap and at Saipan as A. o. kurodai. Later (1922:10) he separated the birds at Saipan as A. o. harterti, remarking that the birds from Saipan differ "from A. o. kurodai Momiyama from Yap islands, by the green lustre on both sides of body being less distinct and showing tendency to a purplish lustre, by the bill being decidedly shorter, and by the same thickness."

Price (1936a:19) describes a method by which starlings and other birds are captured by the natives of Yap. The natives make slashes in the trunk of a breadfruit tree and allow the exuding juice to harden. This material is then chewed until soft and adhesive. It is then placed on a stick which has been secured directly under a papaya fruit. When the birds alight on this perch, they become stuck and are captured.

Aplonis opacus orii (Takatsukasa and Yamashina)

Micronesian Starling

Aplornis opaca orii Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 458. (Type locality, Coror, Pelew Islands.)

Calornis kittlitzii Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 7, 117, 118 (Pelew).

Calornis opaca Gray (part), Hand-list Birds, 2, 1870, p. 27 (Pelew).

Calornis kittlitzi Hartlaub and Finsch (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, p. 89 (Pelew); Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5, 23 (Palau); Schmeltz and Krause (part), Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 298 (Palau).

Calornis kittlitzi Kubary, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 4, 1873, p. 225 (Palau-Inseln).

Calornis pacificus Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 32 (Palau); idem (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 289 (Palau); idem (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Palau); idem (part). Ibis, 1881, p. 111 (Pelew).

Aplonis kittlitzi Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 44 (Pelew); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 212 (Palaos); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 58 (Pelew); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Palau); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 55 (Pelew).

Aplonis opaca subsp nov.? Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 13 (Pelew); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 72 (Pelew).

Aplornis opaca orii Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 188 (Babelthuap, Koror, Peliliu, Anguar).

Aplonis opaca orii Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 169 (Palau); Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p. 673 (Palau).

Aplonis opacus orii Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 71 (Peleliu, Ngesebus, Garakayo).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Palau Islands—Kayangel, Babelthuap, Koror, Garakayo, Ngesebus, Peleliu, Ngabad, Angaur.

Characters.—Adult: Resembles adult of A. o. opacus, but slightly larger with bill longer and shallower, and feathers with distinct greenish gloss both on the upper parts and the lower parts. Resembles A. o. angus in the amount of greenish gloss on feathers, but bill shallower. Depth of bill of A. o. opacus measures, on the average, 9.5 for males and 9.0 for females; of A. o. angus 8.5 for both males and females; of A. o. orii 7.5 for both males and females.

Immature: Resembles immature of A. o. angus, but streaking on underparts duller.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 45.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 40 (21 males, 19 females), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM—Koror, 3 (Nov. 6)—Garakayo, 2 (Sept. 19)—Ngesebus, 1 (Sept. 20)—Peleliu, 7 (Aug. 28, 29, 30, 31, Sept. 5); AMNH—exact locality not given, 27 (Oct., Nov., Dec.).

Molt.—Many of the specimens taken in August and September show evidence of molt; most of the specimens taken in October, November and December are not in molt.

Remarks.—The amount of greenish gloss on the feathers of A. o. orii and A. o. angus appears to be the same, but the streaked underparts of the immature of A. o. orii are duller than those of the immature of A. o. angus. The shallower bill in the Palau starling is caused by the lower edge of the mandible being generally straighter than that in A. o. angus and A. o. opacus. In comparing A. o. orii with A. o. kurodai, Takatsukasa and Yamashina (1931a:458) state that "the greenish gloss is less pronounced and of a duller shade than that of A. o. kurodai Momiyama."

The starling is probably the most abundant land bird in the Palaus. It was found as singles or in small flocks at all islands visited by the NAMRU2 party in 1945. As at the other islands of Micronesia, the starling at Palau is noisy and conspicuous. It is a most inquisitive bird, often following the collector through the woodlands. Apparently the starling prefers the open woodlands and marginal areas to the thicker jungles; as a result of clearing operations during the war, the bird probably has increased. The starling is primarily a vegetarian; I found no animal matter in stomachs examined at Palau or at Ulithi or Guam. At Palau, as at other islands, more of the starlings seen were in immature plumage than in adult plumage. Coultas (field notes) found the birds to be abundant at Koror and highly prized as food by the natives and Japanese. He writes, "It is surprising what a fine wholesome meal certain people can get out of handful of rice and a starling's breast."

Aplonis opacus guami Momiyama

Micronesia Starling

Aplonis opaca guami Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 9. (Type locality, Guam).

Turdus columbinus Lesson (part), Traité d'Ornith., 1831, p. 406 (Mariannes = Guam).

Lamproth[ornis] opaca Kittlitz (part), Kupfertaf. Naturgesch. Vögel, 2, 1833, p. 11, pl. 15, fig. 2 (Marianen = Guam); idem (part), Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, pp. 298, 304 (Guahan).

Lamprotornis columbinus Bonaparte (part), Consp. Avium, 1, 1850, p. 417 (Mariann. =Guam).

Lamprotornis columbina Hartlaub (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 167 (Mariannen =Guam); Kittlitz, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron, und Kamchat., 1, 1858, pp. 367, 376 (Guaham).

Calornis opaca Gray (part), Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 26 (Ladrone or Marian Is.); idem, (part), Hand-list Birds, 2, 1870, p. 27 (Ladrone = Guam?).

Calornis kittlitzi Finsch and Hartlaub (part), Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 109 (Marianen = Guam?); Oustalet, Le. Nat., 1889, p. 261 (Mariannes).

Calornis columbina Giebel (part), Thes. Ornith., 2, 1875, p. 427 (Marianae = Guam?).

Calornis pacificus Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 32 Marianne).

Aplonis kittlitzi Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 44 (Marianne; Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 212 (Guam, Saypan); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 58 (Guam, Saipan); Wheeler, Report Island of Guam, 1900, p. 13 (Guam); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 54 (Marianas); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Guam); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 69 (Guam); idem, The Plant World, 7, 1904, p. 264 (Guam); idem, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p. 79 (Guam); Mearns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 36, 1909, p. 477 (Guam); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Marianas); Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam); Bryan, Guam Rec, vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 25 (Guam).

Aplonis opaca Wetmore (part), in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 219 (Guam).

Aplonis kittlitzi kurodai Momiyama, Tori, 2, 1920, p. (Saipan).

Aplonis opaca guami Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 71 (Guam); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 847 (Guam); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 394 (Saipan, Rota); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 169 (Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan).

Aplonis opaca harterti Momiyama (part), Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 10 (Type locality, Saipan); Kuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 71 (Saipan); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 847 (Saipan).

Aplornis opaca harterti Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 487 (Saipan).

Aplornis opaca guami Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 44, 1932, p. 221 (Tinian, Rota); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 188 (Saipan, Tinian, Rota, Guam).

Aplonis opacus guami Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan); Watson, The Raven, 17, 1946, p. 41 (Guam); Downs, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 49, 1946, p. 103 (Tinian); Stott, Auk, 1947, p. 527 (Saipan, Guam); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 69 (Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan).

Aplonis opacus Wharton, Ecol. Monogr., 16, 1946, p. 174 (Guam); Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 540 (Guam); Baker, Condor, 49, 1947, p. 125 (Guam).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan.

Characters.—Adult: Resembles closely A. o. angus in the amount of greenish gloss present on the body feathers, but with slightly shorter and deeper bill.

Immature: Resembles the immature of A. o. angus but streaks on underparts brighter and less-dingy yellow.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 45. The writer (1948:69) has given average measurements for the length of wing of adult males from Guam as 127, from Rota as 122, from Tinian as 131, and from Saipan as 131; for depth of bill of adult males from Guam as 9.0, from Rota as 9.0, from Tinian as 9.5, and from Saipan as 10.0.

Weights.—The NAMRU2 party obtained weights of six adult males from Guam as 84-96 (87); of eight adult females from Guam as 78-108 (86); of two juvenal males from Guam as 88 and 90; of five juvenal females from Guam as 77-87 (80); of two adult males from Rota as 70 and 83; and of five juvenal males from Rota as 64-80 (76).

Specimens examined.—Total number, 95 (55 males, 37 females, 3 unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM—Guam, 44 (Jan. 21, 22, Feb. 5, March 8, 13, April 12, May 18, 22, 24, 27, 29, 30, June 3, 4, 6, 14, 16, 18, July 6, 7, 14, 20, Aug. 24, Oct. 8, Nov. 19, 23)—Rota, 12 (Oct. 18, 19, 26, 27, Nov. 2)—Tinian, 4 (Oct. 12, 18); AMNH—Guam, 16 (Jan. 23, 24, 29, March 3, 12, 13, 24, May, Aug. 12, Nov. 23, 28, Dec. 26)—Tinian, 15 (Sept. 7, 8, 10, 11, 12)—Saipan, 4 (July 9, 17, Aug. 26, Sept. 2).

Nesting.—The NAMRU2 party found evidence of nesting by starlings at Guam as early as January 28, in 1945. On this date a bird was seen to carry food into a hollow tree at Oca Point. Signs of nesting activities were observed in the months that followed, the last record being obtained on June 11. Starlings nest in cavities in trees, in holes in rocky cliffs, and probably in the tops of coconut palms. On June 2 a nest was found by Muennink in a cavity of a banyan tree at Oca Point, Guam. The nest was approximately 12 feet from the ground and consisted of a flattened mass of green foliage at the bottom of the cavity. Two eggs found in the nest have been described by the author (1948:69) as "Niagara green" with scattered, irregular spots of color, near "russet," "Mars brown" and "pallid purple-drab," most abundant near the large ends. Measurements are 32.1 by 22.1 and 32.0 by 22.4.

Yamashina (1932a:394) records two eggs taken at Saipan on April 14, 1931; two eggs taken at Rota on March 10, 1931; and one egg taken at Rota on March 11, 1931. Seale (1901:54) writes that the starling nests in a hole in the dead trunk of the coconut palm and may lay three or four eggs. Hartert (1898:59) reports that two eggs were taken at Guam on March 11.

Food habits.—Probably the chief food of the starling at Guam is the fruit and seeds of the papaya. This plant grows in most parts of the island, especially in the lowlands where land uses have disturbed the climax vegetation. Many of the garden plots lay fallow during the war and were allowed to grow up in thick stands of papaya. As a fruit began to ripen, the starlings would peck out one side of a ripe fruit, feeding on the tissues and the seeds. It was seldom that a fully ripe papaya fruit was found that had not been at least partly eaten by the starlings. Apparently the birds do not feed on the fruit before it is fully ripened. Seeds of other types of vegetation were also eaten by the birds.

Parasites.—Wharton (1946:174) records the chigger (Acarina), Trombicula sp., from the starling at Guam.

Remarks.—According to Oustalet (1895:212), the starling was taken in the Marianas by the expedition in the "Uranie" in 1820 and by the expedition in the "Astrolabe" in 1829. Kittlitz, who visited Guam from March 1-20, 1828, also recorded the starling. It was not until 1922, however, that the starling in the Marianas was recognized as subspecifically distinct from the birds in the Carolines and Palaus. The Japanese ornithologists named the bird at Guam as A. o. guami and the bird at Saipan as A. o. harterti, but later regarded these as a single subspecies A. o. guami. Momiyama (1920:2) had, previously to the naming of the new forms in the Marianas, considered the bird at Saipan as belonging to the same subspecies as that found at Yap. Among named kinds, A. o. guami found at Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan appears to be most closely related to A. o. angus. These two subspecies differ in that the streaking of the underparts in the immatures is brighter in A. o. guami and duller in A. o. angus. The bird at Saipan has a longer wing and a deeper bill than the bird at Guam; however, birds at Tinian show intermediate measurements.

At Guam, the starling is the most numerous land bird. The writer (1947b:124), in counting birds along the roadways of Guam, recorded the starling on all of the 125 counts and found the birds to include more than one-half (57.3 percent) of all the birds seen. Starlings may have increased during the years of the war, with the disruption of normal agricultural activities allowing the growth of papaya and other food plants in fallow areas; however, the use of the birds as food by the islanders probably increased during the war.

As at other islands in Micronesia, the numbers of birds in immature plumage at Guam seemingly exceeds the number of birds in adult plumage. Animals which may prey on the starling at Guam include the feral house cat, Rattus mindanensis, Corvus kubaryi, and the large lizard Varanus indicus. The starling spends little time on the ground; it feeds principally in the trees, which might limit the amount of damage done to it by the feral house cats which are numerous on the island. The rat, R. mindanensis, is a semi-arboreal animal and may feed on eggs and young birds in nest cavities of trees or on cliffs. The crow, C. kubaryi, has a reputation for stealing chicken eggs from poultry yards and may prey on the eggs and young of the starling. The monitor lizard, V. indicus, is known to prey on the starling, as well as on the domestic chickens at farm houses. On January 31, 1945, one of these large lizards was seen descending a tree after robbing a nest of a starling; one of the starling's eggs was seen in the mouth of the lizard. The noise and commotion set up by the parent birds and by other starlings, which had been attracted to the area, did not appear to perturb the uninvited guest.

Downs (1946:103) writes that the starling at Tinian is less common than the white-eye, Zosterops conspicillata saypani. Gleize (1945:220) estimated the population of starlings on Tinian at 200. Coultas (field notes) found the starling abundant at Tinian in 1931, but he did not find the bird at Saipan. According to Stott (1947:527), the starling was abundant at Guam but "appeared to be common only locally on Saipan." He saw large flocks at the Marpi Point and Kingman Point areas on Saipan but found the bird less numerous elsewhere on the island. At Rota, the NAMRU2 party found the birds to be numerous and widely distributed over the island in 1945.

At Guam, the present writer observed behavior of the starling on January 31, 1945, which may have been a courtship ceremony. Two adults were perched on a palm frond approximately 20 feet above the ground. The bird which was perched more distally on the frond opened its tail fan-fashion, spread its wings and at irregular intervals picked up in its beak a part of the frond and then released it. As this behavior was taking place, the birds would call in a sweet ascending song, which reminded me very much of the song of the redwing blackbird of North America. This was indeed a contrast to the usual squawking notes of this subspecies.

Aplonis opacus aeneus (Takatsukasa and Yamashina)

Micronesian Starling

Aplornis opaca aenea Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 487. (Type locality, Pagan.)

Aplonis kittlitzi Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 212 (Pagan, Agrigan).

Aplonis opaca harterti Momiyama (part), Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 11 (Pagan, Agrigan); Kuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 71 (Pagan, Agrigan).

Aplornis opaca aenea Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 187 (Asongsong = Asuncion, Agrigan, Pagan, Almagan).

Aplornis opaca aenea Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 44, 1932, p. 221 (Pagan, Almagan).

Aplonis opaca aenea Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 169 (Agrigan, Pagan, Almagan); Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p. 673 (Asongsong).

Aplonis opacus aeneus Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 297 (Agrigan, Pagan, Almagan); Borror, Auk, 64, 1947, p. 417 (Agrihan).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Alamagan, Pagan, Agrihan, Asuncion.

Characters.—Adult: According to Takatsukasa and Yamashina (1931:487), A. o. aeneus resembles A. o. orii of Palau, but has a bronze rather than green luster. A. o. aeneus resembles A. o. opacus, but has a smaller bill.

Remarks.—No specimens of this subspecies have been examined by me. Little information is available regarding the occurrence of this subspecies in the northern Marianas. Oustalet (1895:212) writes that Marche collected four specimens at Pagan and three at Agrihan. Borror (1947:417) writes that in 1945, it was a "common and abundant species" at Agrihan. He obtained one specimen between July 27 and August 14 and comments that it had a grasshopper in its stomach.

Evolutionary history of Aplonis opacus.—Aplonis opacus is known from the Mariana, Palau, and Caroline islands in Micronesia. It consists of several subspecies, which have relatively few distinguishing characteristics. No starlings are known in the Marshall and Gilbert islands, although atolls occur in these island-chains that offer a habitat approximately the same as those in the western Carolines now occupied by A. o. angus.

In regard to parental stock, Sharpe (1876:47) considered A. opacus as "nothing but a slightly more metallic race of C. mysolensis, with a still stouter bill." The species with which Sharpe compared A. opacus is known from Mysol, Buru, and Ceram. Oustalet (1896:70) thought that the Aplonis in Micronesia belonged to a group of starlings whose members are scattered through the Pacific islands including Cook, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, New Britain, New Guinea, Banta, Mysol, Salwatti, and Timor. Mayr (1941b:204) is of the opinion that Aplonis in Micronesia was derived from central Polynesia. Amadon (1943:8), in his study of the genera of starlings, places A. opacus within a superspecies containing A. cinerascens, A. tabuensis, A. fuscus, and possibly A. feadensis and A. cantoroides. All of these are blackish birds with greenish gloss with immatures having the underparts streaked. In comparing A. opacus with these mentioned species and with other species of Aplonis, I find that A. opacus more closely resembles A. feadensis and A. cantoroides than any others. Although there are differences in size of the bill, wing, and tail, these structures are proportionally the same. The streaked underparts of the immatures of A. cantoroides are much like that of the immatures of A. opacus, whereas the immatures of A. feadensis are only faintly streaked with whitish below. The eye of A. cantoroides is red, and that of A. opacus is more nearly yellow. The ancestral stock from which A. opacus developed in Micronesia seemingly reached the area from Melanesia. In Micronesia the birds dispersed to various groups of islands from some point in the Caroline Islands. The birds are absent from the Marshall Islands. Perhaps the birds never reached the Marshall Islands or they may have been present in former times and disappeared since then.

Aplonis pelzelni Finsch

Ponapé Mountain Starling

Aplonis pelzelni Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1875 (1876), p. 644. (Type locality, Ponapé.)

Aplonis pelzelni Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 32, pl. 2, fig. 3 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779 (Ponapé); idem, Journ, f. Ornith., 1880, p. 290 (Ponapé); idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 110, 112, 115 (Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 281 (Ponapé); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 13, 1890, p. 136 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 43 (Ponapé); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 215 (Ponapé); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 62 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 111, 112 (Ponapé); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 542 (Ponapé); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 355 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Ponapé); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 70 (Ponapé); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 849 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 170 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Mushi, 12, 1939, p. 82 (Ponapé); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, pp. 204, 213 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 16, 1941, p. 290 (Ponapé); Mayr. Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 298 (Ponapé).

Aplornis pelzelni Hand-List Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 189 (Ponapé).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ponapé.

Characters.—Adult: A small, dark starling with upper parts sooty-brown, darker on head with forehead and lores blackish; wings, rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail lighter and more brownish than head; underparts paler and washed with olive-brown; bill and feet black; iris brown.

Immature: Resembles adult, but lighter brown, especially the underparts.

A. pelzelni differs from A. opacus by having no gloss on the feathers, smaller size, more slender bill, and a brown iris.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 46.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 59 (32 males, 24 females, 3 unsexed), from Caroline Islands, AMNH—Ponapé (Dec).

Nesting.—Coultas (field notes) obtained reports that the Ponapé Mountain Starling nests in cavities in trees and lays two eggs.

Table 46. Measurements of Aplonis pelzelni

Number and Sex Wing Tail Exposed Culmen Depth of bill at nostril Tarsus

10 adult males 103 65 20.0 6.5 27

101-105 63-67 19.0-21.0 6.0-7.0 26-28

10 adult females 99 61 19.5 6.0 27

97-102 57-64 19.5-20.5 6.0-6.5 26-27

Parasites.—Bequaert (1939:82 and 1941:290) records the fly (Hippoboscidae), Ornithoica pusilla, from A. pelzelni.

Remarks.—Coultas (field notes) writes that "the Mountain Starling is a bird of the true mountain forest.... I did not record it below 1,400 feet. Natives tell me that the Mountain Starling formerly covered the whole of the island and that now some individuals can be found on the low atoll of Ant, to the westward of Ponapé. Unfortunately, I was not permitted to visit either Ant or Pakin." Coultas notes also that the birds are quiet and usually travel in pairs. They are easily attracted by squeaking the lips against the hand or by the cries of a wounded bird. Many of these starlings were taken in fruit trees. Coultas describes the call of A. pelzelni as "weaker and finer" than that of A. opacus. These two species may be found together, according to Coultas, but A. opacus is apparently the more aggressive and often drives A. pelzelni away. Richards (in litt.) found this bird to be "very rare" while on his visit to Ponapé in 1947-1948. He observed two individuals on January 15, 1948, at an elevation of approximately 600 or 700 feet. A male was taken.

Evolutionary history of Aplonis pelzelni.—The Ponapé Mountain Starling is a distinctive bird which evidently represents an ancient and single colonization of Micronesia. It lacks the green gloss which is found on many of the other starlings of the Pacific region. It has a brown iris, and the immatures lack the streaked underparts which are characteristic of A. opacus and other species. The structure of its wing resembles that of A. opacus, but the primaries are more rounded. It is apparently better adapted to forested uplands, whereas A. opacus and its relatives, A. cantoroides and A. feadensis, appear to prefer lowland forests and coconut plantations. In habits and habitat preference, A. pelzelni seems to resemble A. santovestris, which is restricted to mountain environment on Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides. The describers of this starling, Harrisson and Marshall (1937:149), write that "Aplonis santovestris apparently most closely resembles A. pelzelni from Ponapé, especially in bill and tarsus." According to the description, A. santovestris is approximately the size of A. pelzelni with brownish coloring, crown dark brown, lower back and rump dark rufous, wing and tail blackish-brown, underparts rufous-brown, and iris grayish-green. These two birds are separated geographically and apparently exhibit evidences of parallel development. Possibly they came from a common ancestral stock. Mayr (1941b:204) writes that A. pelzelni belongs with the starlings of the Polynesian area. I have compared A. pelzelni with other starlings of the Southwest Pacific, including A. feadensis, A. cantoroides, and A. zealandicus, but see no close resemblances.

Aplonis corvinus (Kittlitz)

Kusaie Mountain Starling

Lamprothornis corvina Kittlitz, Kupfertaf. Naturgesch. Vögel, 2, 1833, p. 12, pl. 15, fig. 3. (Type locality, Ualan = Kusaie.)

Lamprothornis corvina, Kittlitz, Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Peterbourg, 2, 1835, p. 7, pl. 9 (Ualan); idem, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 285 (Ualan).

Lamprotornis corvina Bonaparte, Consp. Avium, 1, 1850, p. 417 (Ualan); Hartlaub, Archiv. f. Naturgesch., 18, 1852, p. 133 (Ualan); Kittlitz, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 2, 1858, pp. 25, 43, 59, 103 (Ualan); Finsch, Ibis, 1881, p. 104 (Kuschai).

Lamprocorax corvinus Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 168 (Carolinen = Kusaie); Sclater, Ibis, 1859, p. 327 (Caroline = Kusaie); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 543 (Kuschai).

Calornis (Lamprocorax?) corvina Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 25 (Oualan).

Sturnoides corvina Finsch and Hartlaub, Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 108 (Ualan); Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 297, 302 (Kuschai).

Calornis corvina Gray, Hand-list Birds, 2, 1870, p. 27 (Caroline = Kusaie); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, p. 100 (Ualan); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 2, 1875, p. 427 (Caroline = Kusaie); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 13, 1890, p. 137 (Kuschai); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 46 (Ualan or Kushai); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Ualan); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Kusaie).

Sturnoides corvinus Finsch, Ibis, 1881, pp. 107, 108 (Kushai).

Kittlitzia corvina Hartert, Kat. Vogelsamml. Senckenb., 1891, p. 75 (Ualan); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 72 (Kusaie); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 853 (Kusaie); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 169 (Kusaie); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 187 (Kusaie).

Aplonis corvina Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 356 (Ualan); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, p. 213 (Kusaie).

Aplonis corvinus Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 298 (Kusaie).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Kusaie, probably extinct for many years.

Characters.—According to Sharpe (1890:137), "Shining black; each feather with a glossy margin, varying from steel-green to purplish red; bill and feet black (Kittlitz)."

Remarks.—Kittlitz obtained two specimens of a unique starling at Kusaie when he visited the island in December and January, 1827-'28. He named the birds as new and deposited the specimens in the museum in St. Petersburg. The bird has not been found at Kusaie since that time. Sharpe (1890:137-138, footnote) writes "This species I have never seen, and Dr. Finsch did not meet with it during his visit to Kuschai. He writes to me:—'It no doubt exists on Kuschai, just as it did when Kittlitz visited the island. Nobody has reached the mountains in the interior since Kittlitz's time; and it is strictly a mountain bird.'" Coultas spent considerable time searching the higher areas of Kusaie for the bird in 1931.

The Kusaie Mountain Starling apparently represents an early invasion of Micronesia, independent of that of any other starling in the area and perhaps the earliest of the three colonizations by starlings in Micronesia. The drawing of the bird as pictured by Kittlitz (1833:pl. 14, fig. 3) shows the long bill to be one of its distinctive characters. This suggests relationship to A. atrifuscus of Samoa, as noted by Mayr (1942a:6). A. atrifuscus is larger than A. opacus with a longer bill and gloss on some of the feathering of the body; it looks a good deal like the drawing of A. corvinus by Kittlitz. A. corvinus may also have some relation to A. magnus of Biak, although this species has a longer tail and a shorter bill. A. corvinus probably has undergone an evolutionary development which parallels that of A. atrifuscus and possibly other species in the Polynesian and Melanesian areas. The ancestral stock from which A. corvinus was derived may have been close to A. grandis, which is found in the Solomon area. A. grandis is a forest bird, somewhat solitary in habits.

Sturnus philippensis (Forster)

Violet-backed Starling

[Motacilla] philippensis Forster, Ind. Zool., 1781, p. 41. (Type locality, Philippines.)

Sturnus philippensis Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 302 (Palau).

Geographic range.—Breeds in Japan. Winters to the Philippine Islands. In Micronesia: Palau Islands—exact locality unknown.

Remarks.—Mayr (1945a:302) records this starling as a migrant visitor to the Palau Islands. Coultas obtained an immature female of this species at Palau on October 13, 1931.

Sturnus cineraceus Temminck

Ashy Starling

Sturnus cineraceus Temminck, Pl. Col. 2, 1832, pl. 556. (Type locality, Japan.)

Spodiopsar cineracea Kishida, Lansania, 1, 1929, p. 17 (Saipan); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 187 (Saipan).

Geographic range.—Breeds in eastern Asia and Japan. Winters in southern China and Philippines. In Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Saipan.

Remarks.—The Ashy Starling has been reported from Saipan by Kishida. It probably is a casual winter migrant.

Cleptornis marchei (Oustalet)

Golden Honey-eater

Ptilotis Marchei Oustalet, Le Nat., 1889, p. 260. (Type locality, Saypan.)

Cleptornis marchei Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 35 (Saypan); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 56 (Saipan); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Saipan); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 60 (Saipan); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 722 (Marianne = Saipan); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Marianne = Saipan); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 75 (Saipan); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 788 (Saipan); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 171 (Saipan); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 190 (Saipan); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 298 (Saipan); Stott, Auk, 64, 1947, p. 527 (Saipan).

Ptilotis (Cleptornis) marchei Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 202 (Saypan).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Saipan.

Characters.—Adult: A small honey-eater with head, rump, and underparts near "light cadmium" becoming lighter on the chin and darker on the nape; back near "orange-citrine"; wings and tail feathers brown with outer edges colored like back and inner edges whitish; orbital ring pale yellow; breast, belly, sides, and under tail- and upper tail-coverts near "raw sienna"; under wing-coverts pale yellow; axillaries yellow; bill and feet light yellow-brown, maxilla darker; iris chestnut-brown. Immature has lighter bill.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 47.

Table 47. Measurements of Cleptornis marchei

Number and Sex Wing Tail Full Culmen Tarsus

7 adult males 79 64 19.5 26

(77-80) (61-66) (19.0-20.0) (25-27)

5 adult females 73 58 18.0 24

(72-75) (56-59) (17.5-18.5) (23-25)

Specimens examined.—Total number, 17 (9 males, 8 females), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM—Saipan, 4 (July 11, Dec. 15); AMNH—Saipan, 13 (July 8, Aug. 1, 10, 13, 14, 21, 30, Sept. 3, 7, 9, 15).

Nesting.—Hartert (1898:56) reports that one nest of the Golden Honey-eater was found on July 7. It was hung from a fork of a branch, "like the nest of a golden Oriole." He writes that four other nests were obtained in late August. Hartert describes the egg as "pale blue without gloss, spotted over and over with rufous, more so on the thicker end, and measures about 20:15 mm."

Molt.—Specimens taken in July, August, and September are molting.

Remarks.—Oustalet (1895:202) writes that Marche obtained 25 specimens of the Golden Honey-eater at Saipan in May, June, and July, 1887. Little is known regarding its habits; Moran (1946:262) writes that the bird "reminds one of the prothonotary warbler, with a long, curved, black bill." Stott (1947:527) writes that "it appears to be restricted to a single habitat, that of dense forest." He found the bird in forest on the north shore of Magicienne Bay. Coultas obtained only one specimen on his visit to Saipan in 1931. Marshall (1949:216) records some interesting observations of this bird made in 1945. He notes (op. cit. p. 219) that the bird breeds in January, February and April.

Not only is it remarkable that the Golden Honey-eater has become established on a single island in a rather closely associated chain of islands, but it is also difficult to determine from where the bird came. It seemingly has no close relatives in the Micronesian area. Oustalet (1895:202) points out that one has to go to New Guinea, Moluccas, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga in order to find related forms. In looking through the large collections of Meliphagidae in the American Museum of Natural History, I found only a few genera to which the Saipan Golden Honey-eater seems to be closely related. Timeliopsis of New Guinea has some resemblances to Cleptornis, although the coloration is different. Timeliopsis has a similar bill, but has a longer tail and longer wing; the shortness of the wing in Cleptornis is not unusual since other insular forms also exhibit this characteristic.

Perhaps Cleptornis is closer to the genus Meliphaga of New Guinea and Australia, which has become differentiated into a number of diverse species and subspecies. Cleptornis compares rather favorably with M. pencillata carteri of Australia, but differs by the softness of its feathers and the shorter wing and shorter tail. It shows also some affinities with M. flava of Australia, particularly in shape of bill; the coloration of the feathers is light olive-green in M. flava. The bird at Saipan seemingly has no relationships with the Hawaiian honey-eaters.

Myzomela cardinalis rubratra (Lesson)

Cardinal Honey-eater

Cinnyris rubrater Lesson, Dict. Sci. Nat., éd. Levrault, 50, 1827, p. 30. (Type locality, Oualan = Kusaie.)

Cinnyris rubrater Lesson (part), Voy. "La Coquille," Zool., 2, 1828, pp. 433, 678 (Oualan); idem (part), Man. d'Ornith., 2, 1828, p. 55 (Oualan); idem (part), Traité d'Ornith., 1831, p. 299 (Oualan); Kittlitz (part), Kupfertaf. Naturgesch. Vögel, 1832, p. 6, pl. 8, fig. 1 (Ualan); idem (part), Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 1, 1858, pp. 364, 381; 2, 1858, pp. 39, 49 (Ualan).

Certhia Cardinalis Kittlitz, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Pétersbourg, 2, 1835, p. 4 (Ualan).

Cinnyris cardinalis Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 285 (Ualan).

Myzomela sanguinolenta Bonaparte, Consp. Avium, 1, 1850, p. 394 (no loc. = Kusaie?).

Myzomela rubrater Hartlaub (part), Archiv. f. Naturgesch., 18, 1852, pp. 109, 131 (Ualan); Finsch and Hartlaub, Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 57 (Ualan).

Myzomela rubratra Hartlaub (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 168 (Carolinen = Kusaie); idem (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867 (1868), p. 829 (Carolines = Kusaie); Hartlaub and Finsch (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, p. 95 (Ualan); Giebel (part), Thes. Ornith., 2, 1875, p. 681 (Carolinae = Kusaie); Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, p. 26 (Ualan); Forbes (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1879, p. 271 (Ualan); Finsch (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 285, 298 (Kuschai); idem (part), Ibis, 1881, pp. 103, 108, 111 (Kuschai); idem (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 48 (Ualan); Hartert, Kat. Vogelsamml. Senckenb., 1891, p. 31 (Ualan); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 31 (Ualan); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, pp. 201, 202 (Kushai); Hartert (part), Novit, Zool., 5, 1898, p. 56 (Ualan); Dubois (part), Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 716 (Carolines = Kusaie).

Certhia sanguinolenta Kittlitz, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron, und Kamchat., 1, 1858, p. 364 (Ualan).

Myzomela major Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 11 (Oualan?).

Myzomela rubrata Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Ualan).

Myzomela rubratra rubratra Wetmore, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 30, 1917, p. 117 (Kusaie); Wetmore (part), in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 219 (Kusaie); Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, pp. 15, 20, 21, 22, (Kusaie); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 72 (Kusaie); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 743 (Oualan); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), rev., 1932, p. 172 (Kusaie); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), 3d ed., 1942, p. 191 (Kusaie).

Myzomela cardinalis rubratra Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 299 (Kusaie).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Kusaie.

Characters.—Adult male: Head (except lores), neck back, rump, upper tail-coverts, chin, throat, breast, and upper abdomen black with feathers tipped with coloring between "scarlet" and "scarlet-red"; rest of feathering black; bill long and curved and black; feet black; iris dark brown.

Table 48. Measurements of Myzomela cardinalis of Micronesia

Subspecies Number and sex Wing Tail Full Culmen Tarsus

M. c. rubratra 21 adult males 79 55 19.5 22

(76-81) (53-56) (18.5-20.5) (21-22)

20 adult females 71 49 18.5 20

(69-74) (45-51) (17.5-19.5) (19-21)

M. c. dichromata 24 adult males 78 53 21.5 22

(76-80) (51-56) (20.0-23.0) (21-23)

22 adult females 69 47 19.0 20

(66-72) (45-49) (17.5-20.5) (19-21)

M. c. major 9 adult males 77 55 20.0 22

(75-78) (54-59) (19.5-20.5) (21-22)

2 adult females 70 50 19.0, 20.5 21.5

M. c. saffordi 47 adult males 73 55 20.0 22

(69-77) (51-56) (19.0-20.5) (21-24)

14 adult females 65 49 18.5 21

(63-71) (46-51) (17.5-19.5) (19-21)

M. c. kurodai 2 adult males 74, 75 52 20.0, 20.5 20, 21

M. c. kobayashii 17 adult males 74 54 20.5 21

(71-76) (51-57) (19.0-22.0) (20-22)

8 adult females 67 48 18.0 20

(65-68) (45-50) (17.5-19.0) (19-21)

Adult female: Resembles adult male, but smaller; red coloring duller; wings and tail more brownish and less blackish; abdomen and under tailcoverts dark gray.

Immature: Resembles adult, but duller and less blackish and more grayish with less red coloring on feathers and an olivaceous-brown tinge to plumage.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 48.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 62 (35 males, 27 females), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Kusaie, 3 (Feb. 9); AMNH—Kusaie, 59 (Jan., Feb., March).

Nesting.—Finsch records the taking of eggs of the honey-eater at Kusaie on February 26 and March 10, 1880.

Molt.—Evidence of molt was observed in a few specimens taken in January and in larger number of birds taken in March. In addition, some skins obtained in March showed fresh plumage. Although there is little evidence available, I suppose that nesting activities of M. r. rubratra at Kusaie occur in the winter months of December, January, February, and March, and that molt begins in January, especially in the males, and possibly reaches a peak in March.

Remarks.—M. r. rubratra was first described by Lesson, who referred to it under the name Cinnyris rubrater. The bird was found by Lesson at Kusaie, when he visited the island in June, 1924, as a member of the expedition from the ship "La Coquille." In his description he also stated that the bird was found in the Philippines by Dussumier. The report of the bird's occurrence in the Philippines proved to be erroneous, as was pointed out by Wetmore (in Townsend and Wetmore, 1919:220). Oustalet (1895:200) contended that Lesson's description was based on the specimens taken by Quoy and Gaimard in the Marianas; he stated that none of the birds which Lesson mentions from Kusaie was preserved. Bonaparte also considered Cinnyris rubrater to be from the Marianas, and he gave the name Myzomela major to the honey-eater of the Caroline Islands (apparently including Kusaie) on the basis of specimens taken by Hombron and Jacquinot at Truk. Wetmore (in Townsend and Wetmore, 1919:220) settles the argument and assigns Lesson's name rubratra to the honey-eater at Kusaie; apparently this treatment is the correct one inasmuch as Lesson used his own field notes and records of the occurrence of this honey-eater at Kusaie in preparing his description, even if the actual specimens were not preserved. This arrangement makes Bonaparte's name major available for the population at Truk and makes Wetmore's name saffordi available for the population in the Marianas. The placing of the honey-eaters of Micronesia within the species Myzomela cardinalis by Mayr (1932:19) is, I think, justified.

Little information is available concerning the habits of the honeyeater at Kusaie. In 1931, Coultas (field notes) regarded the bird as common in the lowlands, especially in the coconut groves. He did not find the bird at high elevations on the island.

Myzomela cardinalis dichromata Wetmore

Cardinal Honey-eater

Myzomela rubratra dichromata Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 220. (Type locality, Ponapé.)

Myzomela rubratra Pelzeln, Reise "Novara," Vögel, 1865, pp. 55, 162 (Puynipet = Ponapé); Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 26 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 778 (Ponapé); Forbes (part), Proc. Zool., Soc. London, 1879, p. 271 (Ponapé); Finsch (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 285 (Ponapé); idem (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 575 (Ponapé); idem (part), Ibis, 1881, pp. 111, 115 (Ponapé); idem (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 48 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 31 (Ponapé); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 202 (Ponapi).

Myzomela rubrata Nehrkorn (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, p. 397 (Ponapé); Christian, The Caroline Islands, 1899, p. 358 (Ponapé); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 55 Ponapé); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, p. 204 (Ponapé).

Myzomela chermesina Gadow, Cat. Birds British Mus., 9, 1884, p. 137 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Ponapé).

Myzomela rubratra dichromata Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, pp. 15, 20, 21, 22 (Ponapé); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 73 (Ponapé); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 743 (Ponapé).

Myzomela rubratra rubratra Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 395 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), rev., 1932, p. 172 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), 3d ed., 1942, p. 191 (Ponapé).

Myzomela cardinalis dichromata Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 299 Ponapé).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ponapé.

Characters.—Adult male: Resembles adult males of M. c. rubratra, but with more extensive black markings on lores and below eye; tips of feathers lighter "scarlet."

Adult female: Resembles adult female of M. c. rubratra, but duller and with red coloring much reduced; head, neck, shoulder, ear-coverts, and sides of neck sooty brownish-gray; rest of upper parts dark brownish-gray with plumage of middle of back, rump, and upper tail-coverts tipped with scarlet; wings and tail dark brown with outer edges olivaceous-gray; chin and throat reddish; breast light brownish-gray, may be washed with reddish; axillaries, abdomen, and under tail-coverts grayish.

Immature male: Resembles adult male, but scarlet coloring less brilliant and thinner on forehead, middle of back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and underparts and absent, or nearly absent, on crown and neck.

Immature female: Resembles adult female, but scarlet coloring thinner and present only on underparts, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts; abdomen and under tail-coverts washed with buff.

Measurements.—Measurements are listed in table 48.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 52 (26 males, 24 females, 2 unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ponapé, 3 (Feb. 11, 12); AMNH—Ponapé, 49 (Nov., Dec.).

Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:395) records a large collection of eggs of the honey-eater, taken at Ponapé in 1931. Of 13 sets of eggs listed, 10 include two eggs per set and 3 include one egg per set. These were obtained from July 20 to September 2. Coultas (field notes) found one nest with young in a tree-fern in the period of November and December, 1930. The nest was cup-shaped and made of fern and fine grasses and lined with lichens. Coultas writes that only the female feeds the young. He suspects that the honey-eater nests at all times of the year.

Molt.—Most of the birds taken by Coultas in November and December are in molting plumage.

Remarks.—The Cardinal Honey-eater at Ponapé is, according to Coultas, found in most habitats of the island. He found it to be an aggressive bird, often chasing the white-eye Zosterops cinerea. The committee (Hachisuka et al.) which prepared the Hand-list of Japanese Birds in both the revised edition (1932) and the third edition (1942) does not recognize the Ponapé honey-eater as separable from the bird at Kusaie. I see no reason for this action and find the bird at Ponapé to be a well-marked subspecies.

Myzomela cardinalis major Bonaparte

Cardinal Honey-eater

Myzomela major Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris, 38, 1854, p. 264. (Type locality, "ex Ins. Carolinis ab Homb. et Jacq." = Truk.)

Myzomela major Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 153 (Caroline = Truk); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 1875, p. 681 (Carolinae = Truk?); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Ruk); Kuroda, Dobutsu, Zasshi, 27, 1915, p. 28 (Ruk); idem, Dobutsu Zasshi, 28, 1916, p. 71 (Ruk).

Myzomela rubratra Finsch (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 575 (Ruk); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 253 (Ruk); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 31 (Ruk); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 202 (Ruk); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 56 (Ruk); idem (part), Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 2 (Ruk); Dubois (part), Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 714 (Carolines = Truk?).

Myzomela rubrata Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Ruck); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 55 (Ruk).

Myzomela rubratra rubrata Wetmore (part), in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 221 (Uala).

Myzomela rubrata wetmorei Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 15 (Type locality, Ruk); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 73 (Ruk); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 743 (Ruk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 172 (Truk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 190 (Truk).

Myzomela cardinalis major Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 299 (Truk); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 72 (Truk).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Truk.

Characters.—Adult male: Resembles adult male of M. c. rubrata, but tips of plumage lighter "scarlet."

Adult female: Resembles adult female of M. c. rubrata, but underparts more heavily tipped with scarlet; abdomen and under tail-coverts black; tail slightly darker. Differs from M. c. dichromata by presence of scarlet tips on feathers of head.