Part 119

Specimens examined.--Total number, 30 (15 males, 14 females, 1 unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Babelthuap, 2 (Nov. 27)--Koror, 4 (Nov. 14, 19)--Garakayo, 4 (Sept. 18, 19); AMNH--exact locality not given, 20 (Oct., Nov., Dec.).

Molt.--All birds examined (taken in September, October, and November) are in molting plumage.

Food habits.--At Garakayo, birds were observed in small flocks feeding in low trees. Two stomachs examined, which were from individuals of these flocks, contained very small seeds.

Remarks.--Oustalet (1895:207) first pointed out the relationship between the Bridled White-eye at Palau and the one at Rota. Hartert (1898:57) thought that the occurrence of the same kind of bird at Palau and at Rota was "very peculiar." It was not until 1931 that Takatsukasa and Yamashina separated the two populations by name.

Coultas (field notes) found the Bridled White-eye to be uncommon in the Palaus in 1931. He observed them in the tops of trees, noting that they were wary and easily frightened away by the shooting of a gun. Coultas writes that he found the birds to be numerous at Peleliu; in 1945, the NAMRU2 party did not find the birds at that island. The only locality where they were found to occur was on the small island of Garakayo where the writer shot four Bridled White-eyes on September 18 and 19. He found two or three small flocks in low trees near the summit of a hill on the island. Approximately 25 birds were in this area.

=Zosterops conspicillata owstoni= Hartert

Bridled White-eye

Zosterops semperi owstoni Hartert, Novit., Zool., 7, 1900, p. 2. (Type locality, Ruk.)

Zosterops semperi semperi Finsch (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 287 (Ruck); idem (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 575 (Ruk); idem (part), Ibis, 1881, p. 110 (Ruk); Schmeltz and Krause (part), Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 353 (Ruk); Gadow (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 9, 1884, p. 183 (Central Carolines=Truk); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 37 (Ruk); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 208 (Ruk); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 57 (Ruk); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers, 1899, p. 80 (Ruk).

Zosterops semperi owstoni Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 710 (Ruk); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 223 (Truk); Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 24 (Ruk); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 75 (Ruk); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 705 (Ruk); Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 496 (Ruk); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 400 (Truk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 174 (Truk).

Zosterops owstoni Finsch, Das Tierreich, no. 15, 1901, p. 31 (Ruk); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Ruck); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 470 (Karolinen = Truk); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, pp. 55, 64 (Ruk).

Zosterops conspicillata owstoni Stresemann, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17, 1931, p. 277 (Truk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 193 (Truk); Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269, 1944, p. 7 (Truk); idem, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 299 (Truk); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, pp. 73, 74 (Truk).

Geographic range.--Micronesia: Caroline Islands--Truk.

Characters.--Adult: Resembles adult of Z. c. semperi, but upper parts darker olive and less yellowish-green; fronto-loral band deeper yellow; auriculars slightly darker; black line on lores and under eye more distinct; underparts deeper yellow; abdomen with greenish tinges. Resembles adult of Z. c. rotensis, but upper parts duller, more green and less yellow; fronto-loral band lighter and less distinct, coloring near that of Z. c. semperi; auriculars darker green; underparts slightly darker, more olive-green and less yellow.

Measurements.--Measurements are listed in table 50.

Specimens examined.--Total number, 23 (12 males, 10 females, 1 unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM--Truk, 3 (Feb. 16); AMNH--Truk, 20 (Feb., March, May, Nov.).

Nesting.--Yamashina (1932a:400) records the taking of a nest with one egg at Truk in May. Hartert (1900:2) records nests containing single eggs taken at Truk from May to July. Nests were found in bushes and trees four to eight feet above the ground. The eggs are pale blue. He gives measurements of seven eggs.

Remarks.--Kubary obtained the first specimens of the Bridled White-eye at Truk. Hartert described the population as a new subspecies using material taken by Owston's collectors. The bird was named in honor of Alan Owston. McElroy of the NAMRU2 party visited Truk in December, 1945. He found this white-eye in the mountainous areas at Moen and Udot islands.

=Zosterops conspicillata takatsukasai= Momiyama

Bridled White-eye

Zosterops semperi takatsukasai Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 22. (Type locality, Ponapé.)

Zosterops semperi (part), Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 286 (Ponapé); idem (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 575 (Ponapé); idem (part), Ibis, 1881, p. 115 (Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause (part), Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 281 (Ponapé); Finsch (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 48 (Ponapé); Gadow (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 9, 1884, p. 183 (Central Carolines, Ponapé); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 37 (Ponapé); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 208 (Ponapé); Finsch, Das Tierreich, no. 15, 1901, p. 30 (Ponapé); Dubois (part), Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 710 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, pp. 55, 64 (Ponapé).

Zosterops owstoni Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Ponapé).

Zosterops semperi takatsukasai Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 76 (Ponapé); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 705 (Ponapé); Snouchaert, Alauda, (2), 3, 1931, p. 22 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 400 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 174 (Ponapé).

Zosterops conspicillata takatsukasai Stresemann, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17, 1931, p. 227 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 193 (Ponapé); Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269, 1944, p. 7 (Ponapé); idem, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 299 (Ponapé); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 73 (Ponapé).

Zosterops conspicillata Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, p. 204 (Ponapé).

Geographic range.--Micronesia: Caroline Islands--Ponapé.

Characters.--Adult: Resembles adult of Z. c. semperi, but slightly smaller with fronto-loral area more sulfur-yellow; underparts brighter, especially the coloring of the abdomen and under tail-coverts; iris light chestnut.