_Zosterops conspicillata Saypani_ Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p.
711. (Type locality, Saypan.)
_Zosterops conspicillata_ Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist.
Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 205 (Saypan); Hartert (part), Novit.
Zool., 5, 1898, p. 57 (Saipan); Finsch (part), Das Tierreich, no.
15, 1901, p. 37 (Saipan); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith.,
1901, pp. 112, 113 (Saipan); Prowazek, Die deutschen Marianen,
1913, p. 101 (Saipan); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1,
1915, p. 64 (Marianne = Saipan).
_Zosterops conspicillata_ var. _saypani_ Snouckaert, Alauda, (2),
3, 1931, p. 22 (Saypan).
_Zosterops conspicillatus_ Kuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds
Micronesia, 1922; p. 76 (Saipan).
_Zosterops saipani_ Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2,
1930, p. 706 (Saipan).
_Zosterops conspicillata saipani_ Stresemann, Mitt. Zool. Mus.
Berlin, 17, 1931, p. 227 (Saipan); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev.,
1932, p. 173 (Saipan, Tinian); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed.,
1942, p. 192 (Saipan, Tinian); Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269,
1944, p. 7 (Tinian, Saipan); _idem_, Birds Southwest Pacific,
1945, p. 299 (Saipan, Tinian); Downs, Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci.,
49, 1946, p. 104 (Tinian); Stott, Auk, 64, 1947, p. 527 (Saipan);
Baker, Smithson, Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 73
(Saipan, Tinian).
_Zosterops conspicillatus saipani_ Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p.
398 (Tinian).
_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Mariana Islands--Tinian, Saipan.
_Characters._--Adult: Resembles _Z. c. conspicillata_, but
slightly smaller with fronto-loral band more greenish yellow;
auriculars olivaceous; orbital ring narrower; upper parts brighter
olive; underparts pale yellowish-white; bill darker. Birds from
Saipan resemble closely birds from Tinian, but upper parts may be
slightly brighter and underparts slightly more yellowish; iris
chestnut.
_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 50. Twenty-three
birds from Tinian measure: wing, 51 (50-53); tail, 38 (35-41);
full culmen, 12.0 (12.0-13.0); tarsus, 18 (17-18); six birds from
Saipan measure: wing, 54 (52-55); tail, 37 (35-39); full culmen,
13.0 (13.0-15.0); tarsus, 18 (17-19). Birds from Saipan are
slightly larger than birds from Tinian.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 33 (18 males, 13 females, 2
unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--7 (Oct. 7, 8, 9, 10,
23); AMNH--26 (July, Aug., Sept.).
_Nesting._--Yamashina (1932a:398) records the taking of three nests
of the Bridled White-eye at Tinian on January 8, 1932. The nests
contained one, two, and three eggs, respectively. The color of the
eggs is uniformly pale blue; the nests were situated two to four
meters from the ground. Oustalet (1895:207) writes that Marche
obtained records of nesting at Saipan in the period from May to
July. Of 18 birds taken by Coultas at Tinian in September, 1931,
one-half of them had enlarged gonads.
_Molt._--Specimens examined that were taken in July, August,
September, and October have molting plumage.
_Remarks._--Marche obtained the first skins of this white-eye at Saipan;
he got 23 specimens in May, June, and July, 1887. The population at
Saipan was initially considered similar to that at Guam; it was later
given subspecific separation by Dubois. The birds at Tinian exhibit some
differences from the birds at Saipan, and it is possible that these two
populations should be regarded as subspecifically distinct from one
another.
In 1931, Coultas (field notes) found this white-eye common at Saipan and
Tinian. He writes "The little fellow has adjusted himself to the gardens
and shrubs in the villages. He is a seed eater and makes himself at home
now around human habitation. I have seen him climbing over potted plants
on the window ledges of dwellings. His cheerful little sibilation
uttered continuously while at work or while on the wing makes him
friends wherever he goes. He is no longer a bird of the forest as he has
none here to go to." Several observers in the late war have published
notes on this white-eye. Stott (1947:527) writes that he was reminded of
the bush-tit (_Psaltriparus_) when he observed the behavior of this
white-eye; Moran (1946:262) writes that it is "Similar in size and
behavior to our vireos." Gleise (1945:220) estimated the population of
white-eyes at Tinian at 500 plus in 1945. Downs (1946:104-105) found the
birds to be abundant at Tinian; he found them in small flocks in low
brush or trees and at edges of open fields as well as elsewhere. He saw
a white-eye eating "a large green fuzzy caterpillar."
=Zosterops conspicillata rotensis= Takatsukasa and Yamashina