Chapter XIII: Part 13

In summary, it may be said that _C. kubaryi_ is an isolated and modified species of crow, which probably has been living at Guam and Rota for a considerable length of time. Whether it once lived on other islands in Micronesia is unknown, but it is entirely possible that the present population may represent a remnant of one which formerly had a more extensive distribution. The characters which show its distinctness from possible ancestral species include its small size, its slender bill, and its dull coloration. It is thought to have been derived from the _C. enca_ group, _C. e. pusillus_ of the Philippines or _C. e. celebensis_ of the Celebean area.

=Luscinia calliope calliope= (Pallas)

Siberian Rubythroat

_Motacilla Calliope_ Pallas, Reise durch versch. Prov. russ.
Reichs, 3, 1776, pp. 261, 325, 697. (Type locality, Yenesei.)

_Luscinia calliope calliope_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932,
p. 178 (Koror); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 197
(Koror); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 302 (Palau).

_Geographic range._--Breeds in northeastern Asia. Winters south to
Malaysia. In Micronesia: Palau Islands--Koror.

_Remarks._--The Siberian Rubythroat is considered to be a casual winter visitor to the Palau Islands.

=Monticola solitaria philippensis= (Müller)

Chinese Blue Rock Thrush

_Turdus philippensis_ Müller, Natursystem Supplements- und
Register-Band, 1776, p. 145. (Type locality, Philippine Islands,
_ex_ Buffon.)

_Monticola philippensis philippensis_ Hand-list Japanese Birds,
rev., 1932, p. 177 (Koror); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945,
p. 302 (Palau).

_Monticola solitarius philippensis_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d
ed., 1942, p. 197 (Koror).

_Geographic range._--Breeds in northeastern Asia and Japan. Winters
south to Malaysia. In Micronesia: Palau Islands--Koror.

_Remarks._--The Chinese Blue Rock Thrush is apparently an infrequent winter visitor to the Palau Islands.

=Turdus obscurus obscurus= Gmelin

Dusky Thrush

_Turdus obscuras_ Gmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, 1789, p. 816. (Type
locality, Lake Baikal.)

_Turdus obscuras_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1872, pp. 89, 96 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875,
pp. 5, 22 (Palau); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p.
66 (Pelew).

_Merula obscura_ Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus.
Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 39 (Pelew).

_Turdus obscuras obscuras_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932,
p. 177 (Koror); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 197
(Koror); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 302 (Palau).

_Geographic range._--Breeds in northeastern Asia. Winters south to
Malaysia. In Micronesia: Palau Islands--Koror.

_Remarks._--The Dusky Thrush is considered to be a casual winter visitor to the Palau Islands. It was first taken there by Captain Heinsohn, according to Hartlaub and Finsch (1872:96).

=Psamathia annae= Hartlaub and Finsch

Palau Bush-warbler

_Psamathia annae_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1868, p. 5, pl. 2. (Type locality, Pelew Islands.)

_Psamathia annae_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1868, pp. 116, 118 (Pelew); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872,
pp. 89, 94 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5,
22 (Palau); Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, pp. 399, 404
(Palau); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881,
p. 407 (Palau); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 7, 1883, p. 101
(Pelew); Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 155 (Pelew); Wiglesworth,
Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p.
40 (Pelew); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 57
(Palau); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Palau);
Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 536 (Palau); Takatsukasa and
Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54 (Pelew); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 67 (Pelew); Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 629 (Pelew); Hand-list Japanese
Birds, rev., 1932, p. 177 (Palau); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d
ed., 1942, p. 196 (Babelthuap, Koror, Peleliu); Delacour, Ibis,
84, 1942, p. 514 (Palau); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p.
294 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948,
p. 197 (Peleliu, Ngabad).

_Calamodyta annae_ Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 208 (Pelew).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Palau Islands--Babelthuap, Koror,
Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad.

_Characters._--Adult: A medium-sized warbler with a rather long
bill and tail; upper parts near "buff olive," slightly lighter on
head; lores olive-gray to olive-green; supraloral stripe and
orbital ring pale yellow-buff; auriculars yellow-brown; underparts
lighter and more olive-yellow than back, especially in midsection;
chin paler; sides, tibia and under tail-coverts darker and more
olivaceus; wings and tail dark brown with outer edges olive; under
wing-coverts light yellow; axillaries more whitish; upper mandible
horn-colored, darker at base; lower mandible yellowish, darker at
base; legs and feet light yellowish-brown; iris grayish-brown.
Adult female resembles adult male but is slightly smaller.
Immature: Resembles adult but forehead and crown slightly lighter
and more yellowish; back and rump more brownish.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 36.

TABLE 36. MEASUREMENTS OF _Psamathia annae_

===============+=====+=========+=========+=============+=============
| | | | Exposed |
SEX | No. | Wing | Tail | culmen | Tarsus
---------------+-----+---------+---------+-------------+-------------
Adult males | 7 | 74 | 64 | 21.0 | 28.5
| | (72-77) | (62-68) | (19.5-22.5) | (27.0-30.0)
| | | | |
Adult females | 11 | 69 | 58 | 21.0 | 26.5
| | (65-74) | (55-61) | (19.5-22.0) | (25.0-29.0)
---------------+-----+---------+---------+-------------+-------------

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 23 (9 males, 14 females), as
follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Koror, 5 (Nov. 7, 9, 11, 18,
19)--Peleliu, 4 (Aug. 29, 30, Sept. 4, Dec. 5)--Ngabad, 1 (Sept.
11); AMNH--exact locality not given, 13 (Nov., Dec.).

_Nesting._--Nehrkorn (1879:399, 404) records the egg of _Psamathia_
from Palau. The NAMRU2 party obtained no evidence of nesting of
this bird in August and September, 1945. In 1931, Coultas secured
birds in November and December, which had enlarged gonads. Marshall
(1949:219) records breeding in November and December.

_Molt._--Most of the skins taken from August to December have worn
or molting feathers. Apparently there is a high point in the
molting process in autumn and early winter.

_Food habits._--Stomachs obtained from birds taken by the NAMRU2
party in August and September contained parts of insects and small
seeds. One stomach contained about one-half cc. of parts of
insects. Coultas (field notes) found the bird scratching "on the
ground for seeds as well as working in the low trees and bushes."
Marshall (1949:212) records insects and snails as food items.

_Remarks._--_Psamathia_ has the habit of a typical bushwarbler, occurring in jungle undergrowth and along woodland margins. In 1945, specimens were obtained by the NAMRU2 party in the scrub vegetation which was growing over the devastated battle areas of Peleliu. The bird was not common in this habitat, nor was it very numerous on the smaller offshore islands. Coultas (field notes) found the bird to be rather tame and frequently to live close to human habitation. Its call, as noted by Coultas, is a loud whistle that breaks off into a beautiful song. The bird is quick in its movements; one seen by the writer at Ngabad was constantly moving about in low, second-growth vegetation and was making a low, whistling call. The resemblance of _Psamathia_ to _Rukia palauensis_ is noteworthy. These two unrelated birds live together in jungle areas, although _Psamathia_ is perhaps confined more to the forested undergrowth and is more solitary in its habits. Aside from its longer legs and bill, _Psamathia_ closely resembles _Rukia_ in shape and coloration. They appear to have developed along somewhat similar evolutionary lines with regard to structure, color and ecologic requirements.

The Palau Warbler was first discovered by Captain Tetens and described as belonging to a new genus by Hartlaub and Finsch (1868a:5). In the original description the authors remark that, "The generic position of this new form is in the _Calamoherpe_ group; the feet are the same as in _Calamoherpe_; but the beak is weaker and slenderer, and the wings are very different. _Calamoherpe_ has the first quill quite spurious, the third is the longest, and the second and sixth are subequal. In _Calamoherpe_ there are twelve tail-feathers; in _Psamathia_ I can find only ten. _Tatare_ is a very different form, with a scutellated tarsi, a very different structure of the plumage, a much more elongated beak, and a twelve-feathered tail. _Tatare syrinx_ is a typical Calamoherpe. In the structure of the wing of _Psamathia_, there seems to be a great resemblance to the genus _Arundinax_ of Blyth, a form with which it is not in my power to compare." The genera _Calamoherpe_ and _Tatare_ are now included in _Acrocephalus_; the describers were comparing the Palau Warbler with the reed-warblers of Micronesia and Polynesia.

Sharpe (1883:93) writes that the Palau Bush-warblers are "Aberrant reed warblers, and should, in my opinion, be placed in future classifications of the Cichlomorphae near the genera _Cettia_ and _Acrocephalus_, from which they are separated by their larger first primary only. Through _Megalurus_ and _Sphenoeacus_ they approach the grass-warblers and Cisticolae especially."

Mayr (1941b:203) cites _Psamathia_ as an example of "restricted endemism" and points out that the nearest relative occurs in the Philippines. Delacour (1942:514), in a discussion of the bush-warblers of the genera _Cettia_, _Bradypterus_ and related forms, says, "_Psamathia annae_, from Palau Islands, is related to _Cettia_, differing mainly in its much longer bill and legs."

_Psamathia_ is a specialized bush-warbler and has followed a pattern of evolution which characterizes some of the other island birds in that the bill and legs are long and the wing is rather short and rounded. _Psamathia_ resembles many of the bush-warblers, as well as the reed-warblers {_Acrocephalus_); in general, body coloring being paler below and darker above. It differs from _Acrocephalus_ by having a longer tenth primary, smaller second and third primaries, only ten tail feathers, a more rounded wing, differently shaped nostrils, and by much softer plumage (the latter character is found also in _Collurcincla tenebrosus_ and _Cleptornis marchei_ of Micronesia). Rather than being related to the reed-warblers, as was supposed by Hartlaub and Finsch, _Psamathia_ seems closest to _Cettia_, especially to _Cettia_ (_Horeites_) _diphone seebohmi_ of the Philippine Islands. _Psamathia_ has a longer bill than this bird, but the general appearance and structure of the feet, tail, wing, body and bill are the same.

=Acrocephalus luscinia luscinia= (Quoy and Gaimard)

Nightingale Reed-warbler

_Thryothorus luscinius_ Quoy and Gaimard, Voy. "l'Astrolabe,"
Zool., 1, 1830, p. 202, pl. 5, fig. 2. (Type locality, Marian Is. =
Guam.)

_Sylvia syrinx_ Kittlitz (part), Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le
Seniavine," 3, 1836, p. 306 (Guahan); _idem_ (part), Denkw. Reise
russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 2, 1858, p. 141 (Guaham).

_Tatare luscinia_ Gray, Genera Birds, 3, 1849, App. 8 (Marian Is.
= Guam); Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 167 (Mariannen =
Guam); Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 14
(Ladrone or Marian Is. = Guam); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12,
1876, p. 31 (Guaham); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus.
Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 41 (Guam); Büttikofer, Notes
Leyden Mus., 14, 1892, p. 16 (Guam); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus.
Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 209 (Guam).

_Tatare luscinius_ Bonaparte, Consp. Avium, 1, 1850, p. 224 (Guam);
_idem_, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris, 41, 1855, p. 1111
(Mariannes = Guam); Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 194 (Ladrone
= Guam).

_Hybristes_ [_luscinia_] Reichenbach, Syst. Avium, 1850, pl. 57,
fig. 7 (no locality = Guam).

_Acrocephalus orientalis_ Pelzeln, Reise, "Novara," Vögel, 1865,
p. 64 (Guaham).

_Tatares luscinius_ Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 3, 1877, p. 599
(Marianae).

_Acrocephalus mariannae_ Tristram, Ibis, 1883, p. 45 (Type
locality, Guam).

_Tatare mariannae_ Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 7, 1883, p.
528 (Marianne = Guam); Oustalet, Le Nat., 1889, p. 260 (Mariannes
= Guam).

_Acrocephalus luscinia_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 57
(Guam, Saipan); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1,
1901, p. 53 (Guam, Saipan); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp.
112, 113 (Guam, Saipan); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 69 (Guam);
Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 369 (Marianne); Safford, Amer.
Anthro., 4, 1902, p. 711 (Guam); _idem_, The Plant World, 7, 1904,
p. 264 (Guam); _idem_, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, pp. 30,
79 (Guam); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 545 (Marianen); Cox,
Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 67 (Guam, Saipan); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13,
no. 2, 1936, p. 25 (Guam); Thompson, Guam and its people, 1942, p.
23 (Guam); Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 539 (Guam).

_Conopoderas luscinia_ Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2,
1930, p. 594 (Marianas); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p.
177 (Marianas).

_Conopoderas luscinia hivae_ Yamashina, Bull. Biogeogr. Soc.
Japan, 12, 1942, p. 81 (Type locality, Saipan); Hand-list Japanese
Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 196 (Almagan, Saipan).

_Conopoderas luscinia luscinia_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed.,
1942, p. 197 (Guam).

_Acrocephalus luscinia luscinia_ Mayr (part), Birds Southwest
Pacific, 1945, p. 294 (Guam, Saipan, Almagan); Stott, Auk, 1947,
p. 526 (Saipan); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15,
1948, p. 67 (Guam).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Guam, Saipan,
Almagan.

_Character._--Adult: A rather large warbler with long, curved
bill; upper parts near "Saccardo olive"; feathers of head grayer
because of darker shafts; rump paler and browner; lores dark;
supraloral stripe light buffy-yellow; auriculars, cheeks, and
sides of neck slightly darker; chin, throat, breast, and abdomen
pale buffy-yellow; tibia darker and more olivaceous-brown; under
tail-coverts pale yellow-buff; wing and tail feathers brown, edged
with ochraceous; under wing grayish, inner edges lighter;
axillaries pinkish-white; upper mandible dark horn colored; lower
mandible lighter yellow; feet light gray; iris brown. Female
resembles male but is slightly smaller.

TABLE 37. MEASUREMENTS OF _Acrocephalus luscinia_

-----------------+----+--------+-------+-------+-----------+-----------
| | | | |Exposed |
SUBSPECIES | No.| Sex | Wing | Tail |culmen | Tarsus
-----------------+----+--------+-------+-------+-----------+-----------
| | | | | |
_A. l. luscinia_ | 11 | males | 84 | 83 | 36.0 | 30.5
| | |(81-86)|(80-86)|(35.5-39.0)|(30.0-31.0)
| 1 | female | 78 | 73 | 37.0 | 28.5
| | | | | |
_A. l. syrinx_ | 31 | males | 78 | 71 | 26.5 | 26.5
| | |(76-80)|(68-75)|(25.0-27.0)|(25.0-29.0)
| 12 | females| 75 | 68 | 25.5 | 26.0
| | |(74-78)|(65-70)|(24.0-27.0)|(24.0-26.0)
-----------------+----+--------+-------+-------+-----------+-----------

Immature: Resembles adult, but upper parts duller and more brown
and less olive; underparts less yellow; wing and tail feathers
lighter brown.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 37.

_Weights._--The weights of three adult males obtained at Guam by
the NAMRU2 party are 30, 30, and 31 grams. An adult female from
Guam weighed 27 grams.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 12 (11 males, 1 female), as
follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 6 (June 2, 13, July 2,
18)--Saipan, 6 (Sept. 27, 30).

_Nesting._--Oustalet (1895:209) writes that Marche found nests at
Guam in June, 1887. The NAMRU2 party obtained two males with
enlarged gonads in June, 1945.

_Molt._--Specimens taken in June, July, and September are either
in worn plumage or in molt. Birds in worn plumage become a faded
straw-brown above. Oustalet apparently interpreted this coloring
of the worn plumage as a seasonal coloration.

_Food habits._--Seale (1901:53) reports that four stomachs which
he examined contained insects and larvae. Marshall (1949:21) lists
as food items: lizards, snails, spiders, and insects.

_Remarks._--The Nightingale Reed-warbler at Guam is restricted to cane thickets and adjacent areas in and near fresh and brackish water marshes. In 1945, the NAMRU2 party found the bird fairly numerous in some of these habitats. Seale (1901:53) writes, "This bird is now quite scarce on the island of Guam. It lives exclusively among the reedy swamps, and those swamps are now being drained to make room for the Chinaman's rice paddies." Mayr (1945a:295) also notes the rarity of the species. As a result of the late war, the cultivation of rice was reduced and the reed-warbler probably has been able to increase in some of the now fallow areas. The most extensive range of this bird at Guam is found in the Agaña Swamp, where there is a large area consisting of thick cane. Here, and in the other large cane patches, the chief hazard to the bird population appears to be fire. In dry periods, the entire habitat might be easily destroyed by fire. The birds are extremely shy; their melodious songs may be heard in the reeds, but their active movements in the thick cane are difficult to observe. While hunting for these birds along the edges of Agaña Swamp on June 2, the writer observed, or located the calls of, at least six or seven individuals but could only get within shooting range of three birds. Within the cane thickets, these birds feed and move about near the ground or the surface of the water. Rarely do they perch in a conspicuous manner in the upper parts of the cover. Their color patterns blend perfectly with the coloration of the dry cane stalks. Perhaps failure to find many of the birds because of their secretive habits has caused many observers to assume that the bird is near extinction. Nevertheless, it is my contention that the bird, being restricted to these limited areas, has never been very abundant at Guam. The absence of natural enemies, especially snakes, may be one of the principal reasons why they have been able to survive.

Reed-warblers were not found by the NAMRU2 party at Rota in 1945, nor have they been reported from Tinian. Yamashina in 1942 described the populations at Saipan and Almagan as distinct. I have not seen this description, but on the basis of examinations of specimens from Saipan, I can see no recognizable differences between these and birds from Guam.

=Acrocophalus luscinia syrinx= (Kittlitz)

Nightingale Reed-warbler

_Sylvia syrinx_ Kittlitz, Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg, 2,
1835, p. 6, pl. 8. (Type locality, Lugunor and Ulcei = Woleai.)

_Sylvia syrinx_ Kittlitz (part), Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 297 (Lougounor); _idem_, Denkw. Reise
russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 2, 1858, p. 92 (Ualan, Lugunor,
Ulea).

_Eparnetes_ Reichenbach, Syst. Avium, 1850, pl. 57 (no locality =
Carolines); Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris, 41, 1855,
p. 1111 (Carolines).

_Tatare syrinx_ Hartlaub, Archiv f. Naturgesch., 18, 1852, p. 131
(Ualan, Lugunor); Pucheran, Voy. Pôle Sud, 3, 1853, p. 92 (Hogoleu
= Truk); Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, pp. 164, 168
(Hogoleu); Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 14
(Ualan); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 7, 1883, p. 527
(Carolines); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden,
no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 41 (Ruk, Ualan, Luganor, Uleei,
Nukuor, Ponapé); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat.
Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 210 (Ruk, Ponapi, Mortlock, Kusaie, Uleei,
Nukuor).

_Acrocephalus orientalis_ Pelzeln, Reise "Novara," Vögel, 1865,
pp. 63, 162 (Puynipet, Lugunor, Ulcei).

_Calamodyta syrinx_ Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 208
(Ualan); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 1, 1872, p. 529 (Carolin.).

_Calamoherpe syrinx_ Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, p.
17 (Ponapé, Lugunor, Ruck, Ualan, Uleei); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1877 (1878), p. 778 (Ponapé); _idem_, Journ. f. Ornith,
1880, pp. 287, 297 (Ponapé, Ruck, Mortlocks, Kuschai); _idem_,
Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 575 (Ruk, Ponapé); _idem_, Ibis,
1881, pp. 108, 112, 115, 247 (Kuschai, Ruck, Ponapé, Mortlocks);
Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 298,
330, 353 (Ponapé, Mortlocks, Nukor, Ruk); Finsch, Ibis, 1883, p.
143 (Ruck); _idem_, Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 49
(Ponapé); _idem_, Sammlung wissensch. Vorträge, 14 ser., 1900, p.
659 (Carolinen).

_Acrocephalus syrinx_ Seebohm, Cat. Birds British Mus., 5, 1881,
p. 100 (Ponapé); Tristram, Ibis, 1883, p. 44 (Ponapé, Ruk,
Mortlock, Lugunor, Uleei); _idem_, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 152
(Ponape, Ruk); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers., 1899, p. 33 (Ponapé, Ruk);
Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 58 (Carolines); _idem_,
Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 3 (Ruk); Seale (part), Occ. Papers
Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 53 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ.
f. Ornith., 1900, pp. 112, 113 (Ruk, Ponapé, Ualan); Dubois, Syn.
Avium, 1, 1902, p. 369 (Ponapé); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p.
545 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54
(Ponapé, Ruk); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1941, p.
204 (Ponapé).

_Conopoderas syrinx_ Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus.
Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 214 (Ponapé, Truk); Takatsukasa and
Yamashina, Dobotsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 485 (Caroline Is.);
Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 405 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese
Birds, rev., 1932, p. 177 (Carolines).

_Acrocephalus stentoreus syrinx_ Kuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 67 (Ruk, Ualan, Lugunor, Wolea, Nukuoro,
Ponapé).

_Conopoderas luscinia syrinx_, Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed.,
1942, p. 197 (Wolea, Lamotrek, Truk, Lukunor, Nukuoro, Ponapé,
Kusaie).

_Acrocephalus luscinia syrinx_ Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 294 (Carolines); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107,
no. 15, 1948, p. 67 (Truk).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Caroline Islands--Woleai,
Lamotrek, Truk, Lukunor, Nukuoro, Ponapé, Kusaie.

_Characters._--Adult: Resembles _A. l. luscinia_, but smaller;
with shorter, straighter bill; head and neck more reddish-brown;
back, rump, wing, and tail edged with cinnamon; flight feathers
faintly tipped with white.

Immature: Resembles adult, but lighter and more rufous in color;
wings and rump paler, wings edged with rufous buff.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 37.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 62 (35 males, 20 females, 7
unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM--Ponapé, 1 (Feb.
12)--Truk, 4 (Feb. 16, Mar. 15); AMNH--Ponapé, 35 (Nov.,
Dec.)--Truk, 22 (Feb., March, May, June, Nov.).

_Nesting._--Birds nest in reedy swamps and scrub vegetation in the
Caroline Islands, although Finsch (1881b:115), recording a field
note by Kubary, states that nests were found in trees at Mortlock
Atoll (= Lukunor). Yamashina (1932a:405) reports the collecting of
seven sets of eggs at Ponapé in July and August, 1931. The sets
consisted of one or two eggs each. McElroy of the NAMRU2 party
obtained specimens with enlarged gonads at Truk in December and
noted that birds were carrying nest materials to cane swamps. Of
the birds secured by Coultas in November and December at Ponapé,
only a small number had enlarged gonads. He also found nests
containing no eggs in low bushes at Ponapé. Hartert (1900:3)
reports that at Truk Owston's Japanese collectors obtained "many
nests" from the end of May to the beginning of July. These nests
contained one or two eggs and were found 7 to 20 feet above the
ground in breadfruit, coconut and ivory-nut palm trees. Hartert
writes, "The eggs are white, covered with darker and lighter brown
patches, and underlying ashy grey or lavender-grey spots. These
spots are generally thicker near the broad end, sometimes forming a
loose ring, and they are sometimes equally spread over the whole
surface." He lists measurements of 48 eggs.

_Molt._--Of the specimens examined by me, those taken in the
spring and summer are in fresh or worn plumage; those taken in
fall and winter are in molt, with a few skins exhibiting worn or
fresh plumage in the latter period. Apparently the peak in the
molting process occurs from September to December.

_Food habits._--The reed-warbler is an insect feeder. Coultas, in
his observations of the bird at Ponapé, relates that he was able
to locate the warbler by listening for the "snapping of the
mandibles as the bird is catching food."

_Remarks._--From the observations of Kittlitz, Kubary, Coultas, McElroy, and others, it is apparent that the Nightingale Reed-warbler in the Caroline Islands is restricted to the lower elevations of the islands. Whereas the reed-warbler at Guam seems closely associated with cane swamps and adjacent vegetation, the bird in the Carolines may range more extensively into brush lands, forest margins and grass lands. Coultas (field notes) notes that the reed-warbler at Ponapé is a "common bird of the small bush and grasslands. One is attracted by its warbler-like song. The bird spends hours perched on a stem of a bush caroling the time of day. When feeding, one finds it on the ground or working away quietly among the bushes. _Acrocephalus_ is a friendly bird who does not become frightened easily. He responds to man-made calls."

The Nightingale Reed-warbler is found on many of the islands in the Caroline Chain, including both the "high" volcanic islands (Ponapé and Truk) and the "low" coral islands (Lukunor and Nukunor). Although the bird has been recorded at Kusaie by Kittlitz and Finsch, it was not taken there by Coultas in 1931. Reed-warblers are unknown at Yap, Ulithi, Fais or at other islands of the extreme western Carolines, or in the Palau Archipelago.

They are unrecorded also in the Marshall Islands, but at Nauru in the Gilbert Islands, to the southeast, an isolated population of this bird occurs and has been named _A. l. rehsei_ (Finsch).

=Acrocephalus luscinia yamashinae= (Takatsukasa)

Nightingale Reed-warbler

_Conopoderas yamashinae_ Takatsukasa, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p.
485. (Type locality, Pagan.)

_Tatare syrinx_ Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat.
Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 210 (Pagan).

_Acrocephalus syrinx_ Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 58
(Pagan); Seale (part), Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1,
1901, p. 53 (Pagan).

_Acrocephalus stentoreus syrinx_ Kuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 67 (Pagan).

_Conopoderas yamashinae_, Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p.
177 (Pagan).

_Conopoderas luscinia yamashinae_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d
ed., 1942, p. 196 (Pagan).

_Acrocephalus luscinia yamashinae_ Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 294 (Pagan).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Pagan.

_Characters._--Resembles _A. l. syrinx_, but duller and more
brownish and less olive-rufous on back, rump and tail; bill
shorter and more curved.

Takatsukasa (1931:485) gives the following description:
"Upperparts dark olive brown, paler on the lower rump; remiges and
rectrices dark olive-brown, margined with brown. Superciliary
stripe distinct and buff; chin, throat, breast and abdomen pale
brown; ear-coverts, sides of neck, sides of breast and flanks
dusty greyish brown, belly and under tail-coverts pale buff. Bill
clove brown, legs grey, and iris Van Dyke brown." He continues,
"It differs from _Conopoderas syrinx_ of Caroline Islands by its
colouration and the shape of the bill, namely in the new form the
culmen is more curved and more stout, and the tail is less
roundish and nearly square."

_Measurements._--Takatsukasa and Yamashina (1931b:485) lists the
following measurements: 13 adult males--wing, 75-80; tail, 65-70;
culmen, 20-22; 6 adult females--wing, 73-77; tail, 60-65; culmen,
20-22.

Mayr examined seven specimens from Pagan in the Paris Museum. His
measurements are: five males--wing, 76-79; tail, 66-69; bill from
nostril, 14-14.5; two females--wing, 75, 77; tail, 66, 67; bill
from nostril, 14.5, 15.

_Remarks._--No specimens have been examined by me. Oustalet (1895:210) was the first to note the difference between the reed-warblers from Pagan and those from Guam and Saipan (_A. l. luscinia_). He regarded those from Pagan as similar to the population in the Carolines, calling them _Tatare syrinx_. Hartert, Seale, and Momiyama followed Oustalet in this regard, and it was not until 1931 that the population at Pagan was recognized as distinct, when further collections were made by the Japanese.

=Acrocephalus luscinia nijoi= (Yamashina)

Nightingale Reed-warbler

_Conopoderas luscinia nijoi_ Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p. 674.
(Type locality, Agiguan.)

_Conopoderas luscinia nijoi_ Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed.,
1942, p. 196 (Agiguan).

_Acrocephalus luscinia luscinia_ Mayr (part), Birds Southwest
Pacific, 1945, p. 294 (Agiguan).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Agiguan.

_Characters._--Adult: Resembles _A. l. luscinia_, but with shorter
bill. Yamashina (1940:674) describes the birds as, "upper parts
much less rusty in colour and the flanks and bellies are darker
and more brownish than those of the specimens from Almagan and
Saipan."

_Measurements._--Yamashina (1940:674) gives the measurements of
five adult birds from Agiguan as: exposed culmen 27-29, bill from
nostril 17.0-20.0; as compared with 27 adult birds from Almagan
and Saipan as: exposed culmen 30-34, bill from nostril 21.2-24.5.

_Remarks._--No specimens have been examined by me. The island of Agiguan is a very small one lying offshore from Tinian and not far from Saipan, where _A. l. luscinia_ occurs. _A. l. nijoi_ is given tentative recognition, on the basis of the measurements of the five adult specimens given by Yamashina. These indicate that the population has a distinctly shorter bill.

_Evolutionary history of Acrocephalus luscinia._--The species of _Acrocephalus_ in Micronesia and Polynesia have received several taxonomic treatments. In regard to the Micronesian forms, Quoy and Gaimard called the population at Guam _Thryothorus_ while Kittlitz called the population in the Carolines, _Sylvia_. Evidently to emphasize the distinctness of these two birds, Reichenbach in 1850 renamed the bird in the Marianas as _Hybristes_ and the bird in the Carolines as _Eparnetes_. The birds were later placed in the genus, _Tatare_, by Hartlaub, Gray, Sharpe and other workers. Gray also used the name, _Calamodyta_, for the bird in the Carolines. The generic term, _Calamoherpe_, was employed also by a number of workers for the Caroline population. Sharpe (1883:525) placed the reed-warblers in the family Timelidae and retained the name, _Tatare_, for the Micronesian and Polynesian forms. In distinguishing _Acrocephalus_ from _Tatare_ he has the following to say of _Acrocephalus_: "besides having a much shorter bill, possesses a very much more pointed wing, the distance between the primaries and the secondaries being much more than the length of the hind toe and claw; whereas in _Tatare_ the wing is much more obtuse, and the distance between the primaries and the secondaries is less than the length of the hind toe and claw." More recent authors have followed Sharpe using the generic name, _Conopoderas_ (= _Tatare_, old name preoccupied). However, Tristram (1883:38-46) regarded the separation of these oceanic forms from _Acrocephalus_ as a taxonomic error. He said that this is "one of the very few links (the others being the solitary _Hirundo tahitica_ and the Merulae) between the avifauna of Oceania and our own; and it has a much wider range east and west than either of the other links, extending from the Carolines in the east to the Marquesas in the west." Mayr has pointed out (orally to the writer) that the separation of the Oceanic reed-warblers from _Acrocephalus_ is an unnatural one, although it is perfectly true that the extreme members (_A. caffra_ and _A. l. luscinia_) have a very long bill, but forms with shorter bills like _A. l. syrinx_ point to the close affinity between the continental species and these insular birds. This has also been noted by Hartert (1898:58). Mayr (_in litt._) comments that "There is no difference between _Acrocephalus_ and _Conopoderas_ in regard to the wing formula, provided that we compare the Polynesian species with the tropical forms of _Acrocephalus_ (such as _toxopei_ and _cervinus_). The character mentioned by Sharpe is very artificial and merely indicates the difference in the wing between a migrant of the temperate zone and a resident of the tropics. There is no denying that some of the warblers of eastern Polynesia are no longer reed-warblers but have become dwellers of trees and bushes. However, this same tendency prevails among some of the unquestionable species of _Acrocephalus_ (_scirpaceus_ and _palustris_) and at any rate a slight change in habits is not sufficient for generic separation." Earlier, Mayr (1942b:169) used _Conopoderas_ as one of the several genera that is based on "morphologically distinct geographic forms." The degree of modification that has occurred in these oceanic reed-warblers, would, if the birds were in a continental area, undoubtedly be considered worthy of specific or even generic rank by some authors; however, as Mayr (1942b:162) points out, "the majority of well-isolated subspecies have all the characters of good species and are indeed considered to be such by the more conservative systematists." Owing to their differentiation, the Micronesian and Polynesian reed-warblers might not be considered by some ornithologists as belonging to a single superspecies; however, all evidence seems to point to the origin of this group by a single invasion from Asia."

Tristram (1883:41) was the first worker to recognize the relationship of the Micronesian and Polynesian reed-warblers to the continental forms, when he placed them within the genus _Acrocephalus_. Rothschild (1893:2) further stated, "_Tatare_ cannot be separated generically from _Acrocephalus_." In discussing the status of the Hawaiian species, _A. familiaris_, Hartert (1898:58) also follows this treatment. Bryan (1941:187) also comments on the relationship of the "miller" birds of Laysan and Nihoa to species at Guam, Christmas and other islands of the Pacific.

The reed-warblers of Polynesia and Micronesia represent an ancient invasion from Asia. The continental form, _Acrocephalus arundinaceous_, is apparently closest to the ancestral stock of these oceanic birds. This species resembles the oceanic populations in size, general coloring, shape of bill, and wing and tail structure. Some of the continental races of this species have a shorter first primary which is similar to that in the oceanic forms. How rapid the spread was of the reed warbler through the large insular area that it now occupies is unknown. _A. syrinx_ of Micronesia has a shortened wing and some populations have a long bill. Species in Polynesia have stronger wings than the one in Micronesia, but have become differentiated in other ways, as, for example, by the long bill of _A. caffra_ and the small size of _A. aequinoctialis_. In addition, call notes have become varied, as noted by Chapin (in Mayr, 1942b:54). Also certain of the reed-warblers have become bush and tree-living birds. The Hawaiian birds are reduced in size and have become tree-living in a manner similar to that of other Polynesian species. These modifications of the reed-warblers of the Oceanic area appear, according to Murphy and Mathews (1929), to indicate their long-time residence in the islands, as compared with subspecies of _A. arundinaceous_ that are found in Melanesia. The latter birds, which are not ancestral to the Polynesian birds, resemble closely their Asiatic ancestors and have also retained their swamp-living habits. This would seem to indicate that the birds in Melanesia may be of more recent occurrence. Stresemann (1939b:324) presents a map of the distribution of _A. arundinaceous_ in southeastern Asia and adjacent islands. The original stock came from a point in China, north of Indochina, spreading to the Philippines and to Celebes, from where it reached the Solomons and New Guinea via the Lesser Sundas and Australia.

The path of invasion of Oceania by the reed-warbler is pictured in figure 15. Probably the birds became established in Micronesia by an invasion from the Bonins, where _A. arundinaceus orientalis_ is known to occur today. From the Marianas and Carolines, the birds spread to Polynesia; _A. l. rehsei_ of the Gilbert Islands (Nauru) might well be a connecting link. Possibly, the Hawaiian birds came as a separate invasion _via_ the Volcano and Bonin islands or through the Micronesia Chain, or through the Line and Christmas islands from the south. It seems evident, however, that owing to their geographic proximity and comparative structural similarity, the species in Hawaii is closest to _A. luscinia_ of Micronesia. The absence of reed-warblers from the western Carolines and Palaus seems to reduce the possibility of an invasion from the Philippine region. However, reed-warblers are absent from the Marshall and the northern Gilbert islands, where there is undoubtedly suitable habitat for their occurrence. Possibly these islands were once occupied by the birds but they were eliminated by natural causes or by man and his land uses.

=Rhipidura rufifrons uraniae= Oustalet

Rufous-fronted Fantail

_Rhipidura Uraniae_ Oustalet, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, (7), 5,
1881, p. 76. (Type locality, Mariannes = Guam.)

_Rhipidura pectoralis_ Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean,
1859, p. 17 (Ladrone or Marian Is. = Guam).

_Rhipidura uraniae_ Reichenow and Schlow, Journ. f. Ornith., 1884,
p. 398 (Mariannes = Guam); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 53
(Guam); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6,
1890-1891 (1891), p. 20 (Marianne = Guam); Büttikofer, Notes
Leyden Mus., 15, 1893, p. 76 (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. 48 (Guam); Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 69 (Guam); Dubois,
Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 277 (Guam); Safford, The Plant World, 7,
1904, p. 263 (Guam); _idem_, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb., 9, 1905, p.
79 (Guam); Mearns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 36, 1909, p. 477 (Guam);
Schnee, Zeitschr. f. Naturwisch., 82, 1910, p. 464 (Marianen =
Guam); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 267 (Marianen = Guam);
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).

_Rhipidura atrigularis_ Reichenow, Journ. f. Ornith., 1885, p. 110
(Type locality, Palau, error = Guam); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und
Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 21 (Pelew,
error = Guam); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 63
(Marianne = Guam).

_Rhipidura versicolor_ Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist.
Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 190 (Guam).

_Rhipidura rufifrons uraniae_ Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 490 (Marianne = Guam); Hand-list
Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Guam); Hand-list Japanese
Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Guam); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 295 (Guam); Watson, The Raven, 17, 1946, p. 42 (Guam);
Mayr and Moynihan, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321, 1946, pp. 3, 9
(Guam); Baker, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 59, 1946, p. 77
(Guam); _idem_, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p.
67 (Guam).

_Rhipidura rufifrons_ Wharton, Ecol. Monogr., 16, 1948, p. 174
(Guam); Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 339 (Guam).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Guam.

_Characters._--Adult: Forehead and anterior crown near
"cinnamon-buff"; lores and orbital ring black, auriculars more
brownish than lores; malar stripe white; a few feathers in
posterior malar region tipped with "citrine drab"; anterior part
of chin white; posterior part of chin, throat, and upper breast
black; feathers on breast edged with white; lower breast, abdomen,
sides, flanks, tibia, vent, and under tail-coverts near "royal
brown," becoming lighter on breast and more rufous on under
tail-coverts; sides of neck and back near "Dresden brown,"
becoming grayer on neck and crown where feathers have darker
shafts; rump and upper tail-coverts near "orange rufous"; basal
half of tail slightly lighter than rump; terminal part of tail
black, tipped with white; wings dark edged with coloring like
back; under wing grayish with axillaries tipped with buffy-white;
bill black with base of upper mandible lighter; feet dark brown;
iris dark brown.

Immature: Resembles adult, but head, neck, scapulars, and
secondaries edged with rufous; feathers of chin and throat edged
with whitish. Younger birds may have less rufous on head but
feathers of body more rufous with creamy edges.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 38.

TABLE 38. MEASUREMENTS OF _Rhipidura rufifrons_ IN MICRONESIA

===================+============+=======+=======+===========+===========
| Number | | | Exposed |
SUBSPECIES | and sex | Wing | Tail | culmen | Tarsus
-------------------+------------+-------+-------+-----------+-----------
_R. r. uraniae_ | 11 males | 66 | 78 | 13.6 | 16.6
| |(64-69)|(75-82)|(13.1-14.5)|(15.6-17.2)
| | | | |
| 6 females | 65 | 76 | 12.3 | 16.8
| |(61-68)|(73-81)|(11.6-12.5)|(16.1-17.6)
| | | | |
_R. r. saipanensis_| 7 males | 68 | 81 | 13.3 | 17.3
| |(68-69)|(80-83)|(13.0-13.5)|(16.2-18.4)
| | | | |
| 6 females | 64 | 76 | 12.7 | 17.9
| |(62-66)|(72-81)|(12.4-13.4)|(17.2-18.1)
| | | | |
_R. r. mariae_ | 2 males | 65, 67| 82, 82| 12.1, 12.4|17.1, 17.2
| | | | |
_R. r. kubaryi_ | 14 males | 77 | 88 | 14.4 | 20.0
| |(75-79)|(82-95)|(13.6-15.0)|(19.0-21.0)
| | | | |
| 10 females | 72 | 87 | 14.5 | 20.0
| |(69-75)|(83-90)|(14.0-15.0)|(20.0-20.5)
-------------------+------------+-------+-------+-----------+-----------

_Weights._--The NAMRU2 party recorded the weights of nine males as
9.0-10.0 (9.0); of three females as 7.2-9.6 (8.8) grams.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 41 (19 males, 14 females, 8
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 17 (May 29, 30,
June 6, 14, 18, July 12, 20); AMNH--Guam, 24 (Jan., Feb., March,
Aug., Sept., Dec.).

_Nesting._--Hartert (1898:54) recorded nests taken at Guam in
February and March.

_Molt._--On the basis of specimens examined, it is apparent that
molt begins in August or September and continues through the
months of the fall.

_Parasites._--Wharton (1946:174) obtained the chigger (Acarina),
_Trombicula_ sp., from this bird at Guam.

_Remarks._--The Rufous-fronted Fantail at Guam is a bird of the forest and forest scrub. It prefers the areas where leafy undergrowth is present. It moves rapidly about continually fluttering its wings and spreading its long fanlike tail. The birds are usually observed in pairs. On January 21, 1945, E. W. Coleman of the NAMRU2 party killed a fantail but before he could retrieve it, a large toad (_Bufo marinus_) seized the fallen bird and carried it into a hole in the ground.

=Rhipidura rufifrons saipanensis= Hartert

Rufous-fronted Fantail

_Rhipidura saipanensis_ Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 54.
(Type locality, Saipan).

_Rhipidura versicolor_ Oustalet, Le Nat., 1889, p. 260 (Mariannes
= Saipan); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus.
Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 21 (Marianne = Saipan);
Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895,
p. 190 (Saipan).

_Rhipidura saipanensis_ Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp.
112, 113 (Saipan); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1,
1901, p. 48 (Saipan); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 277
(Saipan); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 63 (Marianne =
Saipan).

_Rhipidura rufifrons saipanensis_ Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 65 (Saipan); Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 490 (Saipan); Hand-list Japanese
Birds (part), rev., 1932, p. 176 (Saipan, Tinian); Hand-list
Japanese Birds (part), 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Saipan, Tinian); Mayr
(part), Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 295 (Saipan, Tinian);
Mayr and Moynihan (part), Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321, 1946, p. 3
(Saipan, Tinian); Baker, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 59, 1946, p.
77 (Saipan, Tinian); Downs, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 49, 1946, p.
98 (Tinian).

_Rhipidura lepida saipanensis_ Stott, Auk, 64, 1946, p. 527
(Saipan).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Saipan, Tinian.

_Characters._--Adult: Resembles adult of _R. r. uraniae_, but
forehead and anterior crown more rufous; posterior crown and nape
lighter; rump and upper tail-coverts lighter and richer in color;
white malar stripe broader; chin with white feathering more
extensive, covering edge of upper throat.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 38.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 16 (9 males, 6 females, 1
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Saipan, 1 (Dec.
15)--Tinian, 3 (Oct. 16, 23); AMNH--Saipan, 6 (July, Aug.)--Tinian,
6 (Sept.).

_Molt._--Molt begins in July and extends through the autumn. Most
of the specimens examined, that were taken in this period, are in
molt.

_Food habits._--Stott (1947:527) writes that the fantail forages
for insects in the undergrowth and also while on the wing captures
flying insects. Downs (1946:99) made similar observations
concerning this bird at Tinian.

_Remarks._--In studying the collection of fantails obtained by Marche at Guam and Saipan, Oustalet (1895:191) reached the conclusion that the birds from these two islands were the same as the bird from Yap, which he called _R. versicolor_. He thought that the white-throated birds were in breeding plumage, and that the black-throated birds (from Guam) were in autumn and winter dress. This error was corrected by Hartert (1898:53).

Downs (1946:98-100) has published some interesting observations concerning the fantail at Tinian. He describes feeding behavior and the song which he says is "a beautiful rolling whistle, starting rather shrilly, then rolling on. Something like a meadow-lark and song sparrow combined." Gleise (1945:220) estimated the population of fantails at Tinian to be "40-50" in 1945. In 1931, Coultas found the bird at Tinian but not at Saipan. Stott (1947:527) observed the bird at Saipan "in forested areas and vine-draped crevices in the lava above Magicienne Bay."

=Rhipidura rufifrons mariae= R. H. Baker

Rufous-fronted Fantail

_Rhipidura rufifrons mariae_ R. H. Baker, Proc. Biol. Soc.
Washington, 59, 1946, p. 7. (Type locality, Rota.)

_Rhipidura rufifrons saipanensis_ Takatsukasa and Yamashina,
Dobutsu. Zasshi, 44, 1932, p. 222 (Rota); Hand-list Japanese Birds
(part), rev., 1932, p. 176 (Rota); Hand-list Japanese Birds
(part), 3d ed., 1942, p. 195 (Rota); Mayr (part), Birds
Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 295 (Rota); Mayr and Moynihan (part),
Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321, 1946, p. 3 (Rota).

_Rhipidura rufifrons mariae_ Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107,
no. 15, 1948, p. 68 (Rota).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Rota.

_Characters._--Adult: Resembles adult of _R. r. saipanensis_, but
with richer brown coloring on the breast and abdomen; darker
above, especially the forehead, rump, and basal part of tail; chin
with small mount of white; malar line of white thinner.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 38.

_Weights._--Baker (1946:78) records the weights of two adult males
from Rota as 8.3 and 9.0 grams.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 2 males, from Mariana Islands,
USNM--Rota (Oct. 22).

_Remarks._--Takatsukasa and Yamashina (1932:222) published the first account of the fantail from Rota although Coultas (field notes) obtained a report of its presence at Rota in 1931. The NAMRU2 party obtained the two specimens studied, and reported that the birds were numerous in the forested areas of Rota in 1945.

=Rhipidura rufifrons versicolor= Hartlaub and Finsch

Rufous-fronted Fantail

_Rhipidura versicolor_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1872, p. 96. (Type locality, Uap.)

_Rhipidura versicolor_ Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2, 1873, p.
123 (Yap); Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 320 (Yap);
Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, p. 402 (Yap); Oustalet, Bull.
Soc. Philom. Paris, (7), 5, 1881, p. 76 (Uap); Schmeltz and
Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 391 (Yap);
Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6,
1890-1891 (1891), p. 21 (Uap); Büttikofer, Notes Leyden Mus., 15,
1893, p. 78 (Uap); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat.
Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 191 (Yap); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898,
p. 54 (Yap); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 54
(Yap); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Yap);
Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 277 (Yap); Reichenow, Die Vögel,
2, 1914, p. 267 (Yap); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p.
64 (Mackenzie = Yap); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922,
p. 66 (Yap); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Yap).

_Rhipidura rufifrons versicolor_ Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 489 (Uap); Hand-list Japanese Birds,
3d ed., 1942, p. 196 (Yap); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945,
p. 295 (Yap); Mayr and Moynihan, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321,
1946, p. 3 (Yap).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Caroline Islands--Yap.

_Characters._--Adult: Resembles _R. r. uraniae_, but chin and
upper throat white; upper parts darker; abdomen whitish.

The description of the adult given by Hartlaub and Finsch
(1872:96) is "Upper parts a rich brown with a slight reddish
tinge; forehead bright rufous; upper and under tail-coverts
rufous; throat white, margined underneath by an irregular jugular
band of pure black; pectoral plumes black, broadly margined with
yellowish white; middle of abdomen whitish, sides of a paler
olive-brown under wing-coverts whitish; wing-feathers blackish
brown; tail feathers brownish black, all largely tipped with
white, the four middle ones rufous at the base, the white terminal
spots becoming smaller towards the middle; beak fuscous, the under
mandible paler except at tip; feet fuscous."

Hartert (1898:54) writes that _R. r. saipanensis_ differs from the
bird at Yap "in having the bases of all rectrices rufous, the rump
and upper tail-coverts rufous. The sides of the abdomen are not
olive-brown, but rufous."

_Remarks._--No specimens of the Rufous-fronted Fantail of Yap have been seen by me. On the basis of published descriptions and comments, it appears that the bird is subspecifically distinct from the forms in the Marianas but shows close relationships to them. _R. r. versicolor_ has the chin and throat white; _R. r. saipanensis_ has the chin and part of the throat white and a heavy, white line in the malar region; _R. r. mariae_ has the chin and only a small amount of the throat white and a thinner, white malar stripe; _R. r. uraniae_ has only a small amount of white present on the chin and a very thin, white line in the malar region.

=Rhipidura rufifrons kubaryi= Finsch

Rufous-fronted Fantail

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

_Rhipidura kubaryi_ Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12. 1876, pp.
17, 29, pl. 2, fig. 2 (Ponapé); _idem_, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1877 (1878), p. 779 (Ponapé); Nehrkorn, Journ. f. Ornith., 1879,
p. 403 (Ponapé); Finsch, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 289 (Ponapé);
_idem_, Ibis, 1881, pp. 110, 112, 115 (Ponapé); Schmeltz and
Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 281 (Ponapé);
Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 198 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Abhandl.
und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 20
(Ponapé); Büttikofer, Notes Leyden Mus., 15, 1893, p. 76 (Ponapé);
Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Ponapé); Dubois,
Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 277 (Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda,
Tori, 1, 1915, pp. 54, 64 (Ponapé); Wetmore, in Townsend and
Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 63, 1919, p. 204 (Ponapé);
Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 65 (Ponapé);
Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 403 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese
Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Ponapé); Mayr, Proc. 6th Pacific Sci.
Congr., 4, 1941, p. 204 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d
ed., 1942, p. 196 (Ponapé).

_Rhipidura kubarii_ Sharpe, Cat. Birds British Mus., 4, 1879, p.
314 (Ponapé); Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 55
(Ponapé).

_Rhipdura rufifrons kubaryi_ Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945,
p. 295 (Ponapé); Mayr and Moynihan, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321,
1946, pp. 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16 (Ponapé).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Caroline Islands--Ponapé.

_Characters._--Adult: Upper parts smoky olivaceous-brown, less
smoky on rump and upper tail-coverts; anterior forehead and
supraloral region narrowly edged with white; lores and orbital
ring black; auriculars brown; feathers of chin and malar region
tipped with white; rest of chin and throat black, lower feathers
of throat edged with white; abdomen dark olivaceous-brown with
whitish mid-portion anteriorily; sides and under tail-coverts
ashy, the latter broadly tipped with white; wings and tail dark,
tail tipped with white and outer rectrices more broadly so;
axillaries and under wing-coverts gray, broadly tipped with white;
bill and feet black, mandible basally whitish; iris dark brown.

_R. r. kubaryi_ resembles _R. r. uraniae_, but larger; lacking
rufous coloring; smaller and shorter, white malar stripe; white on
chin reduced.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 38.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 40 (24 males, 15 females, 1
unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM--Ponapé, 1 (Feb. 12);
AMNH--Ponapé, 39 (Nov., Dec.).

_Nesting._--Yamashina (1932a:403) records nests containing one or
two eggs taken at Ponapé in 1931 on the following dates: July 11,
August 2, 14, 19, 22, 30. Coultas (field notes) obtained reports
that the eggs are two in number and laid in a cup-shaped nest of
grass and fern, which is placed near the ground.

_Molt._--Many of the specimens examined that were taken in
November and December are in fresh or slightly worn plumage. Only
a few are molting. Apparently molt occurs earlier, perhaps
beginning in August and continuing until October or November.

_Remarks._--Coultas obtained a large series of these birds at Ponapé in 1931. He writes (field notes) that the fantail is a common bird and is found in forest and brush lands. This bird has a nervous behavior similar to that of other fantails and is constantly "wagging its long tail." Coultas describes it as an aggressive bird, chasing honey-eaters and white-eyes.

=Rhipidura lepida= Hartlaub and Finsch

Palau Fantail

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

_Rhipidura lepida_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1868, pp. 117, 118 (Pelew Islands); Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1,
1869, p. 331 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1872, pp. 89, 97 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy,
8, 1875, pp. 4, 21, pl. 4, fig. 2-3 (Palau); Sharpe, Cat. Birds
British Mus., 4, 1879, p. 322 (Pelew); Schmeltz and Krause,
Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 407 (Palau); Tristram,
Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 198 (Pelew); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber.
Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 21 (Pelew);
Büttikofer, Notes Leyden Mus., 15, 1893, p. 81 (Pelew); Bolau,
Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 55 (Palau); Matschie,
Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Palau); Dubois, Syn. Avium,
1, 1902, p. 278 (Pelew); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 267
(Palau); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 54 (Pelew);
Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 66 (Pelew);
Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum], 2, 1930, p. 484 (Pelew);
Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 176 (Palau); Hand-list
Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 196 (Babelthuap, Koror, Peliliu);
Mayr and Moynihan, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1321, 1946, pp. 3, 5, 8,
10, 12, 19 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no.
15, 1948, p. 68 (Peleliu).

_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Palau Islands--Babelthuap, Koror,
Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad.

_Characters._--Adult: Upper parts near "cinnamon-rufous," slightly
lighter on the upper wing-coverts, scapulars, edges of inner
secondaries, and rump; lores blackish; orbital ring and auriculars
dark brown; chin, upper throat, and malar region white; lower
throat and upper breast black with ashy-gray sides; lower breast
whitish; rest of underparts like back but slightly paler; wings
dark; tail black with tips rufous, inner rectrices with rufous
tips narrower than on tail; under wing-coverts and axillaries
broadly edged with rufous; bill blackish, lower mandible whitish
at base; feet brownish; iris dark brown. Female slightly smaller.

Immature: Resembles adult, but head and neck brown; throat coloring
dingy; patch on breast blackish cinnamon. Younger individuals may
be more tinged with rufous above and below.

_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 39.

TABLE 39. MEASUREMENTS OF _Rhipidura lepida_

================+=========+=========+=============+=============
Number and Sex | Wing | Tail | Culmen | Tarsus
----------------+---------+---------+-------------+-------------
7 adult males | 80 | 89 | 15.5 | 23.3
| (77-83) | (85-94) | (14.5-16.0) | (23.0-24.0)
| | | |
7 adult females | 77 | 86 | 15.5 | 22.5
| (76-79) | (83-88) | (14.5-15.0) | (21.7-23.0)
----------------+---------+---------+-------------+-------------

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 18 (9 males, 9 females), as
follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Koror, 2 (Nov. 6, 18)--Babelthuap, 1
(Nov. 27)--Peleliu, 4 (Aug. 29, 30, 31); AMNH--exact locality not
given, 11 (Nov., Dec.).

_Molt._--Some of the birds taken in August are in molt. Specimens
taken in November and December are mostly in fresh plumage.
Apparently this bird molts in late summer and early fall.