_Myzomela rubratra kobayashii_ Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p.
19. (Type locality, Pelew Islands.)
_Cinnyris rubrater_ Lesson (part), Dict. Sci. Nat., éd., Levrault,
50, 1827, p. 30 (Pelew); _idem_ (part), Voy. "La Coquille," Zool.,
1, 1828, p. 678 (Pelew); _idem_ (part), Man. d'Ornith., 2, 1828,
p. 55 (Pelew).
_Myzomela rubratra_ Gray (part), Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific
Ocean, 1859, p. 11 (Pelew); Hartlaub (part), Proc. Zool. Soc.
London, 1867 (1868), p. 829 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc.
Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 5, 116, 118 (Pelew); Gray (part),
Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 154 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch
(part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 94 (Pelew); Finsch
(part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 4, 16 (Palau); _idem_
(part), Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 17, 26 (Palau);
Forbes (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1879, p. 270 (Pelew);
Finsch (part), Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 48 (Palau);
Gadow, Cat. Birds British Mus., 9, 1884, p. 129 (Pelew); Tristram,
Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 206 (Pelew); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und
Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 31 (Pelew);
Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895,
p. 202 (Palaos); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers., 1899, p. 79
(Palau-inseln); Seale (part), Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus.,
1, 1901, p. 57 (Pelew); Reichenow (part), Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p.
482 (Palau); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64
(Pelew).
_Myzomela rubratra_ Nehrkorn (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1879, p.
397 (Palau); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 112
(Palau); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 55
(Pelew); Kuroda, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 28, 1916, p. 71 (Pelew).
_Myzomela rubratra kobayshii_ Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922, p. 74 (Pelew); Mathews, Syst. Avium
Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 722 (Pelew).
_Myzomela rubratra kurodai_ Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), rev.,
1932, p. 172 (Palau); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), 3d ed.,
1942, p. 190 (Babelthuap, Koror, Peleliu).
_Myzomela rubratra kurodai_ Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p. 674
(Palau).
_Myzomela cardinalis kobayashii_ Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 299 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no.
15, 1948, p. 72 (Peleliu).
_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Palau Islands;--Babelthuap, Koror,
Garakayo, Peleliu, Angaur.
_Characters._--Adult male: Resembles _M. c. rubratra_, but smaller
and with red coloring darker, near "scarlet-red"; margins of wing
feathers olivaceous. Differs from adult males of other subspecies
of _M. cardinalis_ by red coloring of feathers being darker.
Adult female: Resembles adult female of _M. c. dichromata_ but red
coloring darker, top of head only partly red; abdomen, under
tail-coverts, and axillaries buff-gray; outer edges of wing and
tail feathers light olive. Differs from adult females of other
subspecies of _M. cardinalis_ by having top of head only partly
red.
Immature male: Resembles adult male, but red coloring lighter and
thinly distributed; wings and tail brownish-olive; abdomen and
under tail-coverts grayish.
Immature female: Resembles adult female, but red coloring paler
and underparts more buffy and less grayish.
_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 48.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 42 (28 males, 11 females, 3
unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Koror, 4
(Nov.)--Peleliu, 11 (Aug. 29, 30, 31, Sept. 1, 5); AMNH--exact
locality not given, 27 (Oct., Nov., Dec.).
_Molt._--Many of the specimens taken from late August to December
are in molt. Of the adult males obtained during this period almost
a half had enlarged testes.
_Food habits._--Stomachs of specimens obtained by the NAMRU2 party
in August and September, 1945, contained vegetable matter, seeds
and small insects.
_Remarks._--Honey-eaters were found by the NAMRU2 party in open
woodlands, in coconut groves and about human habitations. They were not
seen in dense jungle areas, and appeared to prefer the plantation areas.
The Cardinal Honey-eater at Palau is distinguished from other subspecies
of _M. cardinalis_ in Micronesia by its deeper red coloring. In size, it
closely resembles the bird at Yap and in the Marianas.
_Evolutionary history of Myzomela cardinalis in Micronesia._--The genus
_Myzomela_ is found in Australia, northward to Timor, Tenimber,
Moluccas, Celebes, Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. The range of the
species _M. cardinalis_ includes the islands from the eastern Solomons,
New Hebrides, and Loyalty Islands east to central Polynesia and north to
Micronesia. It appears likely that _M. cardinalis_ was derived, probably
along with _M. nigrita_, _M. lafargei_ and others, from an ancestral
stock in the Melanesian area. Within the species _M. cardinalis_ there
is one group of subspecies which exhibits a marked degree of sexual
dimorphism, with the males having a much greater amount of red
coloration than the females. These subspecies occur in the southern part
of the range of the species (Loyalty, Santa Cruz, New Hebrides, and
Samoa islands). A second group of subspecies exhibit a lesser amount of
sexual dimorphism, the females possessing more of the red coloration and
resembling the males more closely. This second group includes subspecies
which occur in the more northern part of the range of the species
(Solomons, Micronesia, and Rotuma islands). The males of the various
subspecies of _M. cardinalis_ vary one from another considerably less
than do the females.
[Illustration: FIG. 16. Geographic distribution of _Myzomela cardinalis_
and routes of its dispersal. (1) Probable center of dispersal of
_Myzomela_; (2) ranges of _M. c. sanfordi_ and _M. c. pulcherrima_ in
the Solomon Islands; (3) _M. c. rubratra_; (4) _M. c. dichromata_; (5)
_M. c. major_; (6) _M. c. kurodai_; (7) _M. c. kobayashii_; (8) _M. c.
saffordi_; (9) _M. c. chermesina_; (10) range of _M. cardinalis_ in the
Santa Cruz, New Hebrides, Banks and Loyalty islands; (11) _M. c.
nigriventris_.]
Figure 16 shows the probable routes of colonization used by _M.
cardinalis_ to attain its present distribution in the Pacific islands.
The subspecies in the eastern Solomon Islands (_M. c. pulcherrima_
Ramsey and _M. c. sanfordi_ Mayr) may be representative of the first
colonization by the supposed ancestral stock. From a focal point in this
area, _M. cardinalis_ has dispersed by what may be considered as two
routes. One route evidently was to the south as far as the Loyalty
Islands with a side branch extending to the Samoan Islands where _M. c.
nigriventris_ Peale occurs. The second route extended north to the
islands of Micronesia. The Caroline Islands were seemingly inhabited
initially, with invasions of the Palaus made via Yap, and of the
Marianas via Kusaie or Ponapé (as indicated by the comparison of
specimens). Mayr (in conversation) has pointed out the close
relationship between the subspecies in Micronesia and _M. c._
_chermesina_ Gray of Rotuma Island. This subspecies at Rotuma, which is
located between Santa Cruz and Samoa, resembles closely _M. c.
dichromata_ of Ponapé, especially in the case of the female. It is
evident that the honey-eater arrived at Rotuma from Micronesia, rather
than from the Solomon and Santa Cruz area to the west.
=Zosterops conspicillata conspicillata= (Kittlitz)