_Tephras finschii_ Hartlaub, in Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool.
Soc. London, 1868, p. 6, pl. 3. (Type locality, Pelew Islands.)
_Tephras finschii_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1868, pp. 117, 118 (Pelew Islands).
_Zosterops finschii_ Gray, Hand-list Birds, 1, 1869, p. 164
(Pelew); Gadow, Cat. Birds British Mus., 9, 1884, p. 197 (Pelew);
Bolau, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 60 (Palau).
_Zosterops finschi_ Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London,
1872, pp. 89, 96 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875,
pp. 4, 17 (Palau); _idem_, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, p. 27
(Palau); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 3, 1877, p. 775 (Pelew); Finsch,
Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 300 (Pelew?); Schmeltz and Krause,
Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 407 (Palau); Tristram,
Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 211 (Pelew); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber.
Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 36 (Pelew);
Finsch, Das Tierreich, no. 15, 1901, p. 45 (Palau); Dubois, Syn.
Avium, 1, 1902, p. 713 (Pelew); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p.
470 (Palau); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, pp. 55, 64
(Pelew); Stresemann, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17, 1931, p. 230
(Palau); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 173 (Palau);
Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 192 (Babelthuap,
Koror).
_Tephras finschi_ Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113
(Palau); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 77
(Pelew); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 712
(Pelew).
_Zosterops cinerea finschi_ Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945,
p. 300 (Palau).
_Zosterops cinerea finschii_ Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol.
107, no. 15, 1948, p. 74 (Peleliu, Garakayo).
_Geographic range._--Micronesia: Palau Islands--Babelthuap, Koror,
Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad.
_Characters._--Adult: Resembles adult of _Z. c. cinerea_, but
upper parts mostly browner; wing and tail feathers browner; head
blacker; rump lighter than back; auriculars grayish-brown; lores
dark; sides of head and neck brownish; underparts mostly dark;
chin and throat smoky gray; breast and abdomen more brown less
gray; sides, flanks and under tail-coverts brown. Resembles adult
of _Z. c. ponapensis_, but larger with underparts more buffy;
upper parts darker.
_Measurements._--Measurements are listed in table 51.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 37 (15 males, 19 females, 3
unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM--Babelthuap, 1 (Nov.
27)--Koror, 3 (Nov. 4, 5)--Garakayo, 6 (Sept. 18)--Peleliu, 5 (Aug.
27, Sept. 10); AMNH--exact locality not given, 22 (Oct., Nov.,
Dec.).
_Molt._--Many of the specimens of _Z. c. finschii_ taken in the
period from August to December show evidences of molt. Some of the
birds taken in November and in December appear to be in fresh
plumage. All three subspecies of _Z. cinerea_ evidently undergo a
period of molt in the late summer and fall.
_Remarks._--The Micronesian Dusky White-eye of Palau was found on
several of the islands of the southern Palaus by the NAMRU2 party in
1945. The bird was observed in flocks of five or more individuals moving
rapidly through the foliage of trees and shrubs. It was not found in the
dense, undisturbed jungle areas, but rather in second growth vegetation
and along the margins of woodlands. At Peleliu, birds were noted in
trees and shrubs along the roadways; at Garakayo, birds were seen in low
trees near the summits of hills. At Garakayo, _Z. cinerea_ and _Z.
conspicillata_ were found in the same areas near the tops of the hills.
Both species appeared to be feeding on seeds of the same trees
(unidentified but resembling the hibiscus). _Z. cinerea_ was more
numerous than _Z. conspicillata_ and appeared (from observations made on
September 18, 1945) to be the dominant species and was seen to chase the
smaller _Z. conspicillata_ away. Coultas (field notes) found _Z.
cinerea_ "fairly common" in 1931 at Palau.
_Evolutionary history of Zosterops cinerea._--The dusky white-eyes of
Micronesia were considered as separate species until 1944, when Mayr
(1944b:7) treated them as conspecific, stating that the bird at Ponapé
has characters intermediate between those at Kusaie and Palau. Earlier,
Hartert (1900:3) suggested a close association between _Z. cinerea_ and
the species at Truk (now _Rukia ruki_). Mayr concludes that _Z. cinerea_
and _R. ruki_ are not closely related, and points out that the absence
of a white orbital ring in _Z. cinerea_ does not necessarily mean that
the bird should be considered as belonging to a genus other than
_Zosterops_.
The pathway of colonization and the ancestral stock of _Z. cinerea_ are
not certainly known. Among the white-eyes of the Polynesian, Melanesian
and Malayan areas, there are few kinds which _Z. cinerea_ resembles
closely. Mayr (1941b:204) writes that the _Z. cinerea_ at Ponapé was
derived from either Polynesia or Papua. I find little in common between
_Z. cinerea_ and the species in these areas, and in my opinion _Z.
cinerea_ is closest to _Z. atriceps_ of the Moluccas. _Z. atriceps_ has
plumage which is part grayish and part brownish. Its underparts resemble
those of _Z. c. cinerea_ but are paler gray; crown, neck, and shoulder
much like that of _Z. c. ponapensis_ and _Z. c. finschii_; and bill
resembling that of _Z. c. cinerea_. _Z. atriceps_ differs by having
olive-green coloring on back and wings and yellowish coloring on under
side of tail. Thus, it is possible that _Z. cinerea_ invaded Micronesia
from the Moluccan region, reaching either Palau or Ponapé initially.
=Rukia palauensis= (Reichenow)