=====================+==========+==========+=========+=========+========
| | | | Exposed |
SUBSPECIES | Number | Wing | Tail | culmen | Tarsus
---------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+--------
_H. c. cinnamomina_ |31 males | 102 | 77 | 37 | 15
| | (96-105) | (73-83) | (35-39) | (14-17)
| | | | |
|25 females| 102 | 79 | 38 | 15
| | (99-106) | (74-84) | (35-38) | (14-17)
| | | | |
_H. c. pelewensis_ | 5 males | 89 | 61 | 39 | 14
| | (88-89) | (58-64) | (38-40) | (13-14)
| | | | |
| 4 females| 88 | 64 | 39 | 14
| | (88-89) | (61-67) | (38-39) | (13-14)
| | | | |
_H. c. reichenbachii_|14 males | 99 | 74 | 41 | 16
| | (96-101) | (72-77) | (39-43) | (16-17)
| | | | |
|15 females| 100 | 74 | 41 | 16
| | (96-102) | (71-76) | (39-42) | (15-17)
---------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+--------
_Weights._--The NAMRU2 party obtained the following weights: 11
adult males, 56-62 (59); 10 adult females, 58-76 (66).
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 72 (40 males, 32 females), as
follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 38 (Feb. 14, 24, March 8, May
25, 26, 30, June 2, 3, 4, 6, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 28, 29, July 6, 7,
10, 18, 20, Aug. 24, 30, Nov. 19); AMNH--Guam, 34 (Jan., Feb.,
March, April, July, Aug., Sept., Nov., Dec.).
_Nesting._--In 1945, the NAMRU2 party found the kingfisher nesting
in the months of March, April, May, and July. Nests were placed in
hollows of trees, usually ten or more feet above the ground. On
April 3, a nest was found in a banyan tree approximately 25 feet
above the ground in a hollow limb. There were two entrances to the
nest cavity and both the male and female were observed to feed the
young. They did not enter the hollow but placed food in the
protruding beaks of the young; the parents and nestling both were
exceedingly noisy throughout most of the feeding period. On July 8,
McElroy found a nest containing two white eggs, partly incubated,
in a cavity of a felled coconut palm at Agfayan Bay.
_Molt._--Examination of specimens indicates that the time of molt
is irregular or that molting may occur at any time of the year.
However, there may be a peak in molting in July, August and
September; many of the adult birds taken then show evidence of
molting of wing and tail. This is immediately following the period
of greatest nesting activity.
_Food habits._--The Micronesian Kingfisher at Guam feeds on various
kinds of animal life; lizards and insects are the principal items.
Of three birds taken on February 14, the stomach of one contained a
blue-tailed skink; one contained parts of insects and one contained
parts of a gecko. I watched a kingfisher capture and swallow a
skink on January 14. The bird remained motionless on its perch
until the reptile approached within striking distance. Seale
(1901:45) writes that the bird has a bad reputation as a chicken
thief. He remarks, "I rather doubted his ability in this line until
one day I actually saw him attack a brood of small chicks quite
near me, and he would have undoubtedly secured one had not the
mother hen rushed to the rescue."
_Parasites._--Wharton (1946:174) obtained the chigger (Acarina),
_Trombicula_ sp., from the Guam Kingfisher.
_Remarks._--In 1820, Quoy and Gaimard (1824:35) obtained five specimens
of this kingfisher at Guam and called the bird "Martin-chasseur à
têterouse." Kittlitz recorded the bird in March, 1828. Marche obtained a
series of 57 skins at Guam in 1887 and 1888; these were sent to the
Paris Museum. Sharpe described the female as a separate species in 1892.
There is considerable variation in the coloration of adult birds, which
is mostly due to fading, as suggested by Hartert (1898:52). Some
individuals have the crown feathers much abraided as a result of rubbing
the crown against the edge of the nest holes as the birds enter and
leave them.
The kingfisher is fairly common at Guam. It is primarily a bird of the
forest, preferring particularly the marginal habitats between woodlands
and openings. I saw only a few birds in open country; only rarely were
birds seen sitting on the telephone lines along the roads. The writer
(1947b:124) found that of all the birds frequenting habitat along
roadways on Guam, the kingfisher comprised only 1.2 percent. Thus, it
can be said that it is not a bird of very conspicuous habits, although
its noisy "rattle" may be heard in the day and at night.
=Halcyon cinnamomina pelewensis= Wiglesworth