=======================================+=====+=========+=========+=======
| | | |Exposed
LOCATION | No. | Wing | Tail |culmen
---------------------------------------+-----+---------+---------+-------
_Anoüs tenuirostris melanogenys_ | | | |
Hawaiian Islands | 29 | 222 | 113 | 41
| | 210-229 | 105-120 | 41-48
| | | |
_Anoüs tenuirostris marcusi_ | | | |
Wake Islands | 8 | 227 | 118 | 45
| | 218-231 | 112-124 | 44-48
| | | |
Mariana Islands | 1 | 223 | 117 | 44
| | | |
Palau Islands | 3 | 228 | 122 | 43
| | 227-228 | 117-126 | 41-45
| | | |
Caroline Islands | 32 | 229 | 120 | 44
| | 220-240 | 113-127 | 40-47
| | | |
Marshall Islands | 5 | 224 | 118 | 44
| | 222-229 | 114-123 | 41-46
| | | |
_Anoüs tenuirostris minutus_ | 13 | 227 | 120 | 44
Christmas Island | | 220-234 | 108-128 | 41-46
| | | |
Phoenix, Howland, Union, Danger, | 9 | 229 | 119 | 46
Suvarov Islands | | 226-233 | 113-124 | 42-48
| | | |
Marquesas Islands | 10 | 226 | 117 | 45
| | 220-233 | 115-124 | 42-48
| | | |
Tuamotu Archipelago | 17 | 229 | 118 | 45
| | 222-234 | 112-126 | 42-47
| | | |
Society, Cook, Austral Islands | 12 | 230 | 118 | 46
| | 223-238 | 114-120 | 43-47
| | | |
Samoa, Fiji, Tonga Islands | 6 | 228 | 118 | 44
| | 224-231 | 115-121 | 42-47
| | | |
Kermadec, Norfolk Isl'ds, New Zealand| 15 | 226 | 116 | 44
| | 219-235 | 112-121 | 42-47
| | | |
New Hebrides, Solomon, Bismarck, | 34 | 229 | 117 | 43
Admiralty Islands, New Guinea | | 222-237 | 109-130 | 40-46
| | | |
_Anoüs tenuirostris diamesus_ | | | |
Clipperton, Cocos Islands | 14 | 230 | 120 | 44
| | 224-237 | 114-127 | 41-47
---------------------------------------+-----+---------+---------+-------
_Nesting._--Few reports have been obtained concerning the nesting
of the White-capped Noddy in Micronesia. Finsch (1881b:107)
recorded nests, and Nehrkorn (1899:222) reported on eggs taken at
Kusaie. Yamashina (1932a:409) recorded the taking of eggs at Koror
in the Palau Islands on January 19 and November 10 and in the
Marshalls at Namo on October 19, and at Iringlab on October 21. No
evidence of nestings was obtained by the NAMRU2 party in 1945,
although a number of birds were seen at Ulithi in August. Coultas
(field notes) writes that a colony of approximately 20 birds began
nesting about Christmas time on a small offshore island near
Ponapé. Nests were placed in the crotches of limbs of mangroves, 8
to 15 feet above the ground.
_Food habits._--The NAMRU2 party found small fish in the stomachs
of terns taken at Ulithi and Peleliu.
_Parasites._--Bequaert (1939:82 and 1941:253) records the fly
(Hippoboscidae), _Alfersia aenescens_, from the White-capped Noddy
taken at Ponapé and Palau.
_Remarks._--The subspecies of _Anoüs tenuirostris_ are well
differentiated by color and to a lesser extent by measurements. Table 22
lists measurements which show that the Hawaiian subspecies, _A. t.
melanogenys_, has the shortest wing and the shortest tail whereas the
subspecies from Cocos and Clipperton islands, _A. t. diamesus_, has the
longest wing and the longest tail. The exposed culmen varies in length
but little among the four subspecies. The systematic position of _A. t.
worcesteri_ from Cavilli Island in the Sula Sea has not been determined
because of lack of material. In the third edition of the Hand-list of
Japanese Birds (Hachisuka _et al._, 1942:219) the birds from Micronesia
are referred to _A. t. worcesteri_ as they are also in other recent
publications by the Japanese. Specimens from the Philippines are needed
for examination to determine satisfactorily the subspecies status of the
birds under consideration.
Field observations indicate that the White-capped Noddy is not abundant
in the Mariana Islands. According to Oustalet (1896:60), Marche obtained
a female at Saipan in June, 1888, and Yamashina (1940:678) records five
adults from Assongsong (Asuncion). Owston's collectors obtained a
specimen at Asuncion on January 18, 1904. In the Palaus, Carolines, and
Marshalls birds of this species are numerous and have been observed or
collected at many of the islands. Coultas with the Whitney South Sea
Expedition obtained specimens at Kusaie, Ponapé and Palau. He found them
along the shores of the large islands and, especially, on the smaller
offshore islets. At Ulithi Atoll in August, 1945, the NAMRU2 party
observed small flocks of four to ten individuals flying offshore and
feeding inside the reef. They were frequently observed in company with
_Sterna sumatrana_. Fewer birds were seen in September, 1945, at the
Palau Islands by the NAMRU2 party.
=Gygis alba candida= (Gmelin)