_Myzomela rubratra saffordi_ Wetmore, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
30, 1917, p. 117. (Type locality, Guam.)
_Cinnyris rubrater_ Lesson (part), Dict. Sci. Nat., éd. Levrault,
50, 1827, p. 30 (Mariannes); _idem_ (part), Voy. "La Coquille,"
Zool., 2, 1828, p. 678 (Mariannes); _idem_ (part), Man. d'Ornith.,
2, 1828, p. 55 (Mariannes); _idem_ (part), Traité d'Ornith., 1831,
p. 299 (Mariannes); Kittlitz (part), Kupfertaf. Naturgesch. Vögel,
1, 1832. p. 6, pl. 8, fig. 1 (Guaham); _idem_ (part), Denkw. Reise
russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 1, 1858, pp. 364, 381; 2, 1858,
pp. 39, 49 (Guaham).
_Certhia cardinalis_ Kittlitz, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le
Séniavine," 3, 1836, p. 304 (Guaham).
_Myzomela rubrater_ Hartlaub (part), Archiv f. Naturgesch., 18,
1852, p. 109 (Mariannen); Finsch and Hartlaub (part), Fauna
Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 57 (Guaham).
_Myzomela rubratra_ Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris,
38, 1854, p. 263 (Mariannes); Hartlaub (part), Journ. f. Ornith.,
1854, p. 167 (Mariannen); Gray (part), Cat. Birds Trop. Is.
Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 11 (Guam); _idem_ (part), Handlist Birds,
1, 1869, p. 154 (Marian); Finsch (part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy,
12, 1876, pp. 17, 26 (Marianen); Forbes (part), Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1879, p. 270 (Marianis); Giebel (part), Thes. Ornith., 2,
1875, p. 681 (Marinae); Finsch (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien,
1884, p. 48 (Guam); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool.
Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 31 (Marianne); Oustalet
(part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 197
(Guam, Rota, Saypan, Pagan, Agrigan); Hartert (part), Novit.
Zool., 5, 1898, p. 55 (Guam, Saipan, Pagan, Agrigan); _idem_
(part), Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 2 (Guam); Wheeler, Report Island
of Guam, 1900, p. 13 (Guam); Seale (part), Occ. Papers Bernice P.
Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 55 (Marianae); 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); Reichenow (part), Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 482 (Marianen);
Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Marianas);
Cox, Island of Guam, 1917, p. 21 (Guam).
_Myzomela rubrata_ Oustalet, Le Nat., 1889, p. 260 (Mariannes);
Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112 (Guam, Saipan);
Safford, Osprey, 1902, p. 69 (Guam); Prowazek, Die deutschen
Marianen, 1913, p. 101 (Saipan).
_Myzomela rubratra saffordi_ Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore,
Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 221 (Guam, Saipan); Momiyama,
Birds Micronesia, 1922, pp. 17, 20, 21, 22 (Guam, Rota, Saipan,
Pagan, Agrigan); Kuroda in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 74
(Guam, Rota, Saipan, Pagan, Agrigan); Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 744 (Guam); Yamashina, Tori, 7,
1932, p. 395 (Marianas?); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p.
171 (Marianas); Bryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2. 1936, p. 25
(Guam); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 190 (Guam,
Rota, Agiguan, Tinian, Saipan, Almagan, Pagan, Agrigan,
Assongsong).
_Myzomela rubrata saffordi_ Yamashina, Tori, 19, 1940, p. 673
(Assongsong, Agiguan).
_Myzomela cardinalis saffordi_ Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 299 (Marianas); Downs, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., 49,
1946, p. 103 (Tinian); Borror, Auk, 1947, p. 417 (Agrihan); Stott,
Auk, 1947, p. 527 (Saipan, Guam); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll.,
vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 72 (Guam, Rota).
_Myzomela cardinalis_ Watson, The Raven, 17, 1946, p. 41 (Guam);
Strophlet, Auk, 1946, p. 540 (Guam); Baker, Condor, 49, 1947, p.
125 (Guam).
_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Guam, Rota,
Tinian, Agiguan, Saipan, Almagan, Pagan, Agrihan, Asuncion.
_Characters._--Adult male: Resembles _M. c. rubratra_, but smaller
with red coloring lighter and more orange; edges of wing and tail
feathers olivaceous. Differs from adult males of _M. c.
dichromata_ and _M. c. major_ by smaller size and presence of
olivaceous edgings on wing and tail feathers.
Adult female: Resembles adult female of _M. c. rubratra_, but
smaller and paler with upper parts dark olivaceous-gray, sparsely
mottled with scarlet; outer edges of wing and tail feathers
greenish-olive; abdomen and under tail-coverts buffy-gray. Differs
from _M. c. dichromata_ by smaller size and presence of scarlet
tips of feathers on top of head. Differs from _M. c. major_ by
smaller size and presence of broad olivaceous edges on tail
feathers.
Immature male: Resembles adult male, but red coloring less
brilliant, upper parts, lower breast, and abdomen more narrowly
edged with the red coloring; plumage of breast, abdomen, and under
tail-coverts buffy-gray, lighter in very young birds.
TABLE 49. MEASUREMENTS OF ADULT MALES OF _Myzomela cardinalis saffordi_
FROM THE MARIANA ISLANDS
==========+=====+=========+=========+=============+=========
ISLAND | No. | Wing | Tail | Full culmen | Tarsus
----------+-----+---------+---------+-------------+---------
Guam | 35 | 72 | 54 | 20.0 | 22
| | (69-75) | (51-56) | (19.5-20.5) | (21-23)
| | | | |
Rota | 1 | 73 | | 20.0 | 22
| | | | |
Tinian | 5 | 73 | 53 | 19.5 | 22
| | (71-74) | (52-55) | (19.0-20.0) | (21-24)
| | | | |
Saipan | 4 | 74 | 54 | 19.5 | 22
| | (72-76) | (53-55) | (19.0-20.5) | (22-23)
| | | | |
Agrihan | 1 | 77 | 55 | 20.0 | 22
----------+-----+---------+---------+-------------+---------
Immature female: Resembles adult female, but paler with upper parts
darker brown; underparts pale buffy-brown; outer edges of wing and
tail. feathers greenish-olive, more extensive than in adult.
_Measurements._--Measurements of the subspecies of _M. cardinalis_
in Micronesia are listed in table 48. Measurements of male
specimens of _M. c. saffordi_ from various islands in the Marianas
are listed in table 49.
_Weights._--The author (1948:72) records weights of _M. c.
saffordi_ from Guam as: 17 adult males, 12.7-18.0 (15.0), and 5
adult females, 10.4-15.0 (12.7).
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 80 (61 males, 17 females, 2
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 43 (Jan. 22, May
26, 30, June 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 18, 19, 25, 28, July 6, 10, 12,
17, 19, 20, 21, Sept., Nov. 20, 21)--Rota, 2 (Oct. 10)--Tinian, 3
(Oct. 23, 25)--Saipan 2 (Sept. 27, 30); AMNH--Guam, 23 (Jan. 22,
23, Feb. 5, 7, 9, 16, March 8, 10, 11, 13, 23, June 28, July 8, 21,
Aug. 22, Nov. 25, Dec. 4, 11)--Tinian, 2 (Sept. 7, 14)--Saipan, 3
(July 8, Aug. 5, 22)--Asuncion, 1 (June)--Agrihan, 1 (June).
_Nesting._--Seale (1901:55) obtained nests and eggs in the period
from May to July at Guam. He found the nests 8 to 15 feet above the
ground. Strophlet (1946:540) observed a pair of honey-eaters with
two young on October 9 at Guam. In 1945 at Guam the NAMRU2 party
obtained individuals with enlarged gonads on January 22, June 2, 5,
July 21 and 23, and found evidence of nesting on June 16. Hartert
(1898:56) writes that Owston's Japanese collectors obtained nests
in January, February, and March. Each nest contained two eggs; they
were placed four to eight feet from the ground. Probably the
Cardinal Honey-eater in the Marianas nests at most times of the
year.
_Molt._--Specimens, with molting plumage, have been examined that
were taken at most times of the year. I suspect that this bird
molts at irregular intervals.
_Food habits._--The honey-eater feeds partly on insect life and
partly on nectar and juices from flowers. At Guam, the honey-eater
was frequently found at flowers of the ink berry bush, where
evidently both nectar and insects were obtained. The birds were
attracted also to the coconut palms, especially when the
reproductive parts of the palms were developing.
_Remarks._--The Cardinal Honey-eater is one of the most conspicuous land
birds in the Mariana Islands. Its scarlet plumage and characteristic
fluttering flight cause it to stand out against its habitat of forest,
scrub, and garden. At Guam, the author (1947b:124) found the honey-eater
on 37.6 percent of the 125 roadside birds counts made in 1945. The
species included 3.9 percent of all of the birds observed on these
counts. Seale (1901:55) and Strophlet (1946:540) also commented on its
abundance at Guam; however, in 1931, Coultas (field notes) wrote that
the bird was rare; he obtained only one skin at Guam. At Rota, the
NAMRU2 party found the honey-eater to be abundant. Coultas obtained only
a few birds at Tinian and Saipan in 1931. In 1945, Downs (1946:103) saw
only a single pair at Tinian; Gleise (1945:220) estimated the population
at Tinian to be 12 in 1945. At Agrihan, Borror (1947:417) reported that
the honey-eater was a common bird in 1945.
Table 49 lists the measurements of males of _M. c. saffordi_ from
several islands in the Marianas. Measurements of birds from Guam, Rota,
Tinian, and Saipan are fairly similar, although the birds at Saipan seem
to have a slightly longer wing than those at Guam. A single skin from
Agrigan has larger measurements than those of birds obtained in the
southern Marianas. Whether the birds in the northern Marianas are
separable because of larger size can only be ascertained by the studying
of more material from that region.
Mayr (1945a:102) writes that males of _M. cardinalis_ seem to outnumber
the females by approximately four to one. On the basis of collections
and field observations, the males were found to outnumber the females in
the Micronesian islands; although the ratio may not be so great as four
to one. At Guam, the NAMRU2 party obtained 21 males and 8 females.
Although these birds are often seen as pairs (male and female), single
males are frequently observed. The females do not appear to have more
secretive habits than the males.
=Myzomela cardinalis kurodai= Momiyama