Part 88

TABLE 34. MEASUREMENTS OF Edolisoma tenuirostre IN MICRONESIA

-------------------+------+----------+---------+-----------+----------- | | | | Exposed | SUBSPECIES | No. | Wing | Tail | culmen | Tarsus -------------------+------+----------+---------+-----------+----------- | | | | | E. t. monachum | 10 | 98 | 80 | 21.0 | 23.0 | | 96-103 | 76-83 | 20.0-22.5 | 22.5-24. | | | | | E. t. insperatum | 35 | 109 | 86 | 23.0 | 24.0 | | 107-112 | 82-91 | 22.0-24.0 | 23.0-25.0 | | | | | -------------------+------+----------+---------+-----------+-----------

Molt.--Molt in this bird appears to take place in the period from August to December. Most of the specimens taken in August, October, November and December were in molt. None was taken in other months.

Food habits.--This bird feeds principally on insects. A female taken on August 29 had in its stomach about one and a half cc. of parts of grasshopper. Marshall (1949:212) records both animal and vegetable matter in the stomach of this bird.

Remarks.--The Cicada Bird at Palau inhabits the jungles, especially the marginal areas between the thick jungle and the more open woodlands. In 1945, the NAMRU2 party observed only two birds, both of which were obtained. These were found at Peleliu in a small area of undisturbed woodland at the edge of a mangrove swamp. Each bird was perched approximately 25 feet above the ground on the outer branches of a densely foliated tree. The bird is thought not to be so rare as our records indicate; probably its secretive habits conceal it from man except as he makes special search for it. Coultas (field notes) describes the bird as one of the true forest. He found it shy and retiring and possessing a very weak voice.

It may be noted that Delacour (1946:2) does not accept the genus Edolisoma but places birds which are currently assigned to it in the genus Coracina.

=Edolisoma tenuirostre nesiotis= (Hartlaub and Finsch)

Cicada Bird

Campephaga nesiotis Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, p. 98. (Type locality, Uap.)

Campehaga nesiotis Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2, 1873, p. 123 (Yap); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 391 (Yap).

Volvocivora nesiotis Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, p. 28 (Yap).

Edoliisoma nesiotis Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 56 (Yap); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 25 (Uap); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 53 (Yap); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Yap); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 299 (Uap); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 274 (Karolinen = Yap); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 68 (Mackenzie, Yap).

Edolisoma nesiotis Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 542 (Mackenzie group); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 174 (Yap); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 194 (Yap).

Edolisoma tenuirostre nesiotis Stresemann, Ornith. Monatsber., 49, 1939, p. 126 (Yap); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 294 (Yap).

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

Characters.--Adult male: Resembles adult male of E. t. monachum. Adult female: Resembles adult female of E. t. monachum, but wings and upper parts less buffy and more rufous; eye-stripe rufous; breast barred on sides only.

Remarks.--No specimen of the Cicada Bird from Yap has been examined by me. For a long time this bird was thought to be a species distinct from any other member of this genus, but Stresemann (1939:126) arranged it as a subspecies of Edolisoma tenuirostre. The type specimen is an immature, and the adult is unknown. The presence of rufous coloring shows a relationship with E. t. insperatum of Ponapé, but Mayr, who has examined the type of E. t. nesiotis in the Hamburg Museum, and has obligingly showed me his notes on the bird, says that it has a greater resemblance to the Cicada Bird at Palau especially because of the amount of barring on the underparts. The true status of this bird, as well as that of other members of the avifauna of Yap, will be incompletely known until such time as good collections are available from this island group.

=Edolisoma tenuirostre insperatum= (Finsch)

Cicada Bird

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

Volvocivora insperata Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 27 (Ponapé); idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779 (Ponapé); idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 110, 112, 115 (Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 281 (Ponapé).

Volvozivora insperata Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 289 (Ponapé).

Lalage insperata Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 108 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 25 (Ponapé); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 53 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Ponapé); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 276 (Karolinen = Ponapé); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 68 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 174 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 194 (Ponapé).

Lisomada insperata Mathews, Novit. Zool., 24, 1928, p. 372 (new generic name); idem, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 545 (Ponapé).

Edolisoma tenuirostre insperata Stresemann, Ornith. Monatsber., 47, 1939, p. 126 (Ponapé); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 294 (Ponapé).

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

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

Characters.--Adult male: Resembles adult male of E. t. monachum, but larger; upper parts more grayish-blue; wings with outer edges bluish-gray and inner webbings grayish-white; central tail feathers with subterminal, roundish, black spots; two outermost tail feathers black tipped with broad, pale bluish-gray coloring; lores more bluish-gray and less black; ear-coverts pale bluish-gray; chin, throat, breast, abdomen, flanks, under wing, and under tail-coverts grayish-blue; bill and feet black; iris dark brown.