_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