===================+============+=========+=========+=============+=========
| Number | | | |
SUBSPECIES | and sex | Wing | Tail | Full culmen | Tarsus
-------------------+------------+---------+---------+-------------+---------
_M. c. rubratra_ | 21 adult | 79 | 55 | 19.5 | 22
| males | (76-81) | (53-56) | (18.5-20.5) | (21-22)
| | | | |
| 20 adult | 71 | 49 | 18.5 | 20
| females | (69-74) | (45-51) | (17.5-19.5) | (19-21)
| | | | |
_M. c. dichromata_ | 24 adult | 78 | 53 | 21.5 | 22
| males | (76-80) | (51-56) | (20.0-23.0) | (21-23)
| | | | |
| 22 adult | 69 | 47 | 19.0 | 20
| females | (66-72) | (45-49) | (17.5-20.5) | (19-21)
| | | | |
_M.c. major_ | 9 adult | 77 | 55 | 20.0 | 22
| males | (75-78) | (54-59) | (19.5-20.5) | (21-22)
| | | | |
| 2 adult | 70 | 50 | 19.0, 20.5 | 21.5
| females | | | |
| | | | |
_M. c. saffordi_ | 47 adult | 73 | 55 | 20.0 | 22
| males | (69-77) | (51-56) | (19.0-20.5) | (21-24)
| | | | |
| 14 adult | 65 | 49 | 18.5 | 21
| females | (63-71) | (46-51) | (17.5-19.5) | (19-21)
| | | | |
_M. c. kurodai_ | 2 adult | 74, 75 | 52 | 20.0, 20.5 | 20, 21
| males | | | |
| | | | |
_M. c. kobayashii_ | 17 adult | 74 | 54 | 20.5 | 21
| males | (71-76) | (51-57) | (19.0-22.0) | (20-22)
| | | | |
| 8 adult | 67 | 48 | 18.0 | 20
| females | (65-68) | (45-50) | (17.5-19.0) | (19-21)
-------------------+------------+---------+---------+-------------+---------
Adult female: Resembles adult male, but smaller; red coloring duller;
wings and tail more brownish and less blackish; abdomen and under
tailcoverts dark gray.
Immature: Resembles adult, but duller and less blackish and more
grayish with less red coloring on feathers and an olivaceous-brown
tinge to plumage.
_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 48.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 62 (35 males, 27 females), as
follows: Caroline Islands, USNM--Kusaie, 3 (Feb. 9); AMNH--Kusaie,
59 (Jan., Feb., March).
_Nesting._--Finsch records the taking of eggs of the honey-eater at
Kusaie on February 26 and March 10, 1880.
_Molt._--Evidence of molt was observed in a few specimens taken in
January and in larger number of birds taken in March. In addition,
some skins obtained in March showed fresh plumage. Although there
is little evidence available, I suppose that nesting activities of
_M. r. rubratra_ at Kusaie occur in the winter months of December,
January, February, and March, and that molt begins in January,
especially in the males, and possibly reaches a peak in March.
_Remarks._--_M. r. rubratra_ was first described by Lesson, who referred
to it under the name _Cinnyris rubrater_. The bird was found by Lesson
at Kusaie, when he visited the island in June, 1924, as a member of the
expedition from the ship "La Coquille." In his description he also
stated that the bird was found in the Philippines by Dussumier. The
report of the bird's occurrence in the Philippines proved to be
erroneous, as was pointed out by Wetmore (in Townsend and Wetmore,
1919:220). Oustalet (1895:200) contended that Lesson's description was
based on the specimens taken by Quoy and Gaimard in the Marianas; he
stated that none of the birds which Lesson mentions from Kusaie was
preserved. Bonaparte also considered _Cinnyris rubrater_ to be from the
Marianas, and he gave the name _Myzomela major_ to the honey-eater of
the Caroline Islands (apparently including Kusaie) on the basis of
specimens taken by Hombron and Jacquinot at Truk. Wetmore (in Townsend
and Wetmore, 1919:220) settles the argument and assigns Lesson's name
_rubratra_ to the honey-eater at Kusaie; apparently this treatment is
the correct one inasmuch as Lesson used his own field notes and records
of the occurrence of this honey-eater at Kusaie in preparing his
description, even if the actual specimens were not preserved. This
arrangement makes Bonaparte's name _major_ available for the population
at Truk and makes Wetmore's name _saffordi_ available for the population
in the Marianas. The placing of the honey-eaters of Micronesia within
the species _Myzomela cardinalis_ by Mayr (1932:19) is, I think,
justified.
Little information is available concerning the habits of the honeyeater
at Kusaie. In 1931, Coultas (field notes) regarded the bird as common
in the lowlands, especially in the coconut groves. He did not find the
bird at high elevations on the island.
=Myzomela cardinalis dichromata= Wetmore