Gygis alba pacifica(Lesson)

Peters (1934:348, 349) recognizes three other subspecies from the Pacific area:G. a. rothschildiHartert from Laysan, Lisiansky, and Krusenstern islands;G. a. candida(Gmelin) from "the Carolines east to Christmas Island and south to the Tonga and Society Islands"; andG. a. royanaMathews from Norfolk and the Kermadec Islands. Birds from Revilla Gigedo, Cocos and Clipperton islands, although geographically isolated, are placed inG. a. candida. On the basis of a critical study of specimens at hand, the populations in the Pacific fit into three groups. Small birds,G. a. candida, are found in the North Pacific from the Bonins and Marianas east to Wake and the Hawaiian Chain and south to the Marshall, Phoenix, Christmas and the Fanning islands (seefigure 12). Larger birds,G. a. pacifica, are found in the Central Pacific and South Pacific from the Carolines in the west southeastward through Melanesia and eastward through Samoa, to the Tuamotus and Easter to Cocos, Clipperton, and Revilla Gigedo islands. In the Southwest Pacific, at Norfolk and the Kermadec Islands, a longer-winged population occurs; it is separable asG. a. royana. The measurements of these birds are given intable 24.Table 24. Measurements ofGygis albaFrom the Pacific AreaLocationNo.WingLongesttailfeatherShortesttailfeatherExposedculmenDepthculmenTarsusGygis alba candida(Gmelin)Japan, Bonins4238109653634-38Mariana Islands3523711169389.013.0227-24698-12061-7536-4112.0-14.0Wake Islands10236109693813.0232-243101-11864-7737-4113.0-14.0Hawaiian Islands3623510968378.513.0220-246102-11864-7433-408.0-9.012.0-14.0Marshall Islands42341117139231-238107-11570-7338-40Phoenix, Howland,Hull, Canton Islands823810770398.514.0237-240101-11664-7637-41Fanning, Washington,Christmas Islands1923810768388.013.5227-24297-11965-7237-427.5-9.012.0-15.0Totals11623610969388.513.0220-246107-12061-7733-427.5-9.012.0-15.0Gygis alba pacifica(Lesson)Caroline, Palau Islands3324511673428.513.5236-253112-12567-7638-4413.0-13.5Bismarck Arch.,Solomon Islands122471167442242-256105-12968-7839-45Samoa, Wallis, Fiji,Tonga, Niue Islands202471157142239-254110-12767-7839-44Line, Danger Islands132451157341238-252107-11869-7839-42Cook, Austral Islands292471147342241-255104-12465-7840-45Society Islands3724911371428.513.5241-257107-12662-7640-458.0-9.012.0-14.0Tuamotu Arch1182451147242236-252107-12762-8238-46Rapa, Bass Rocks, Oeno,Henderson, Ducie, Pitcairn,Easter Islands542471137341240-255106-12663-8440-45Clipperton, Cocos Islands1024511572408.513.5240-253110-12071-7338-438.5-9.513.0-14.0Totals32624611472428.513.5236-257104-12962-8438-468.0-9.512.0-14.0Intergrades betweenG. a. microrhynchaandG. a. pacifica923710574387.513.0230-24793-12267-8936-417.0-8.012.0-14.0Gygis alba microrhyncha552187864366.512.0211-23572-9660-7532-396.0-8.011.0-12.5Gygis alba royanaMathewsNorfolk Island162501137342242-257105-12468-7941-44Kermadec Islands122511157543244-255110-12171-8140-46Totals282501147442242-257105-12468-8140-46The measurements indicate that there is a gradient in size from small in the north to large in the south; however, there is a definite separation in average measurements—ten millimeters in length of wing and four millimeters in length of exposed culmen—between the two populations which are designated asG. a. candidaandG. a. pacifica. In studying material from Micronesia and the Hawaiian Islands, I (1948:57) pointed out the similarities between birds of the Marianas and the Hawaiians and separated these from terns found in the Caroline Islands. The systematic position of the White Tern in the Gilbert and Ellice islands will remain in doubt until specimens are available for examination.G. a. royanais provisionally retained as the name for the Fairy Tern of the Kermadecs and Norfolk Island; there is considerable overlap in measurements betweenG. a. royanaandG. a. pacifica. Measurements have given evidence of the degrees of structural resemblance of the White Terns of the different islands, but it is not certain that the groupings made on this basis are natural; more data is needed on ecology and life history. Of particular importance is to learn whether these birds fly regularly from island to island. On the basis of eleven months of rather continuous observation in Micronesia, I suspect that the White Tern has little tendency to make inter-island migrations. This might account for the differences in size in the populations at Guam in the Marianas (G. a. candida) and at Ulithi in the Carolines (G. a. pacifica) where only approximately 400 miles of open water separate the two islands. The occurrence of the distinctG. a. microrhynchain the Marquesas may be accounted for by such nonmigratory behavior. Mayr(1945a:27), however, is of the opinion that White Terns found in the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomons, Santa Cruz and New Hebrides islands may not breed there, which is another way of saying that they are migrants. Swarth (1934:221) and Murphy (1936:1268) record the wandering of the White Tern to the Galapagos Islands, probably from breeding grounds at Cocos Island. Swarth suggests that the tern is not established at the Galapagos because of the presence of colder water in the area. Murphy (1936:1166) is of the opinion that the South Atlantic White Terns are sedentary, but reports evidence of pelagic migration in the Pacific at the Kermadecs. The fact thatG. albais restricted in its distribution to widely separated groups of islands in tropical and subtropical areas of the South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans may indicate that the birds at one time had a more extensive range than at present, probably including even coastal regions of the continents and large continental islands.Gygis alba pacifica(Lesson)White TernSterna pacificaLesson, Ann. Sci. Nat., 4, 1825, p. 101. (Type locality, Society Islands, Paumotu Islands, and Bora Bora.)Sterna albaKittlitz, Kupfertaf. Naturgesch. Vögel, 3, 1833, p. 28 (Carolinen);idem, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, pp. 286, 299, 308 (Ualan, Lougounor, Ouleai).Gygis candidaHartlaub, Archiv f. Naturgesch., 18, 1852, p. 137 (Carolinen); Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 168 (Carolinen); Kittlitz, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 1, 1858, p. 382, 2, 1858, pp. 39, 60 (Ualan); Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 59 (Caroline Islands); Saunders (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 25, 1896, p. 149 (Pelew, Carolines); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 51 (Ruk, Pelew).Gygis albaFinsch and Hartlaub, Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 233 (Carolinen); Hartlaub, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867 (1868), p. 832 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 9, 118 (Pelew); Finsch and Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1870, p. 140 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 90, 114 (Pelew, Uap, Ualan); Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2, 1873, p. 123 (Yap); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 6, 43 (Palau);idem, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 18, 40 (Ponapé);idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 782 (Ponapé);idem, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 295, 309 (Ponapé, Kuschai);idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 577 (Ruk);idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 105, 106, 109, 115, 246, 247 (Kushai, Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 299, 330, 353 (Mortlock, Nukuor, Ruk); Finsch, Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 52 (Kuschai); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 78 (Pelew, Uap, Luganor, Nukuor, Ruk, Ponapé, Ualan); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 58 (Palaos, Carolines); Baker (part), Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 57 (Peleliu, Ulithi, Truk, Kusaie).Gygis alba kittlitziHartert, Katalog Vogelsamml. Senckenb., 1891, p. 237 (Type locality, Ulea = Wolea);idem, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 10 (Ruk); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 2, 1904, p. 1020 (Carolines); Mathews (part), Birds Australia, 2, 1912, p. 443 (Carolines); Ridgway (part), Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, pt. 8, 1919, p. 559 (Carolines); Kuroda (part), Avifauna Riu Kiu, 1925, p. 193 (Carolines); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), rev., 1932, p. 196 (Pelew, Yap, Wolea, Luganor, Ruk, Ponapé, Kusaie); Yamashina (part), Tori, 10, 1940, p. 678 (Babelthuap).Gygis albus kittlitziKuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 50 (Pelews, Yap, Wolea, Luganor, Nukuor, Ruk, Ponapé, Kusaie).Leucanous albus kittlitziMathews (part), Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 143 (Carolines).Gygis alba candidaPeters, Check-list Birds World, 2, 1934, p. 349 (Carolines); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), 3d ed., 1942, p. 219 (Babelthuap, Koror, Angaur, Yap, Wolea, Truk, Lukunor, Nukuoro, Ponapé, Kusaie).Geographic range.—Central and southern Pacific from Carolines southeast through Melanesia and east through Samoa to Tuamotus, Easter to Cocos and Clipperton (seefigure 12). In Micronesia: Palau Islands—Angaur, Peleliu, Garakayo, Koror, Babelthuap, Kayangel; Caroline Islands—Yap, Ulithi, Wolea, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie.Characters.—ResemblesG. a. candida, but size larger, wing length of adult males and females 236-253 (245); length of exposed culmen 38-44 (42).Measurements.—Measurements are listed intable 24.Specimens examined.—Total number, 36 (22 males, 12 females, 2 unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM—Peleliu, 1 (Sept. 1); AMNH—exact locality not given, 1 (Nov. 13);-Caroline Islands, USNM—Ulithi, 12 (Aug. 14, 15, 16, 20, 21)—Truk, 1 (Dec. 13); AMNH—Truk, 7 (Mar. 8, May 7, June 8, Nov. 11, 26)—Ponapé, 1 (undated)—Kusaie, 10 (Jan., Feb., March 20-30, April 1-10); MCZ—Yap, 3 (Jan. 13).Nesting.—The NAMRU2 party learned that in May and June, 1945, several young White Terns were seen at Asor, Ulithi Atoll, by service personnel. These young were observed in breadfruit trees within a recreational area; the presence of the service personnel seemingly had little disturbing effect on the terns. At Bulubul, another island of this atoll, a downy young was obtained on August 22. Hartert (1900:10) reports that eggs of the White Tern were found on the ground and in forks of branches of trees at Truk in June.Food Habits.—The author (1948:58) reports that stomachs of birds taken at Ulithi and Peleliu contained fish, insects and marine crustaceans. Probably the birds feed to a large extent along the edge of the tidal reef. They almost certainly obtain food also on the islands as indicated by the presence of insects in stomach contents; this is not surprising since the birds frequent woodland habitats.Remarks.—Gygis albais one of the most characteristic birds in Micronesia. It is seemingly more numerous at the coral atolls than at the high, volcanic islands. At the latter islands the birds prefer the coastal coconut grove environment. At Pau and Bulubul, two small islands in the Ulithi Atoll, the writer counted approximately 100 birds on August 21, 1945. Kittlitz was the first to publish an account of these birds in the Caroline Islands. Tetens, Peters, Semper and Kubary reported their presence in the Palaus. No doubt, these terns attract the attention of every traveler in the islands owing to their conspicuously white beauty and their seemingly friendly behavior toward man. Their habit of hovering in small flocks close over the head of the observer is indeed spectacular.Columba liviaGmelinBlue Rock PigeonColumba domestica [Greek: b] liviaGmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 769. (No type locality = Europe.)Columba liviaBryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 24 (Guam); Marshall, Condor, vol. 51, 1949, p. 221 (Tinian).Geographic range.—Europe and Asia Minor. Introduced to many parts of the world. In Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Guam, Tinian.Remarks.—In 1945, the NAMRU2 party observed pigeons about the towns on Guam, particularly at the town of Inarajan. Bryan (1936:24) writes that the birds were introduced by the United States Navy and Marine Corps at Guam; the stock originating from escaped carrier pigeons. Marshall (1949:221) records this bird from Tinian.Ptilinopus porphyraceus ponapensis(Finsch)Crimson-crowned Fruit DovePtilinopus ponapensisFinsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779. (Type locality, Ponapé.)Ptilinopus? fasciatusFinsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 18, 37 (Ponapé).Ptilopus fasciatusElliot, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1878, p. 536 (Ponapé); Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 44 (Ponapé).Ptilopus ponapensisSchmeltz, Verhandl. Ver. nat. Unterhaltung Hamburg, 1877 (1879), pp. 178, 179 (Ponapé); Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Ruk, Ponapé);idem, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 291, 303 (Ponapé);idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 578 (Ruk, Ponapé);idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 113, 115 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Ibis, 1891, p. 583 (Ponapé, Ruk);idem, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 50 (Ponapé, Ruk); Salvadori, Cat. Birds British Mus., 21, 1893, p. 93 (Ponapé, Ruk); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 222 (Ponapé); Nehrkron, Kat. Eiers., 1899, p. 180 (Ruk); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 2, 1904, p. 736 (Ruck, Ponapé); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 1, 1913, p. 354 (Ruk, Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 52 (Ruk, Ponapé); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 189 (Uala, Ponapé).Ptilinopus ponapensisSchmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 353 (Ruk); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 7 (Ruk, Ponapé); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 42 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 113 (Ruck, Ponapé); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 32 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Mushi, 12, 1939, pp. 81, 82 (Ponapé); Mayr. Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1939 (1941), p. 204 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 16, 1941, pp. 266, 290 (Ponapé).Ptilinopus PonapensisChristian, The Caroline Islands, 1899, p. 357 (Ponapé).Ptilinopus ponepensis ponapensisKuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 57 (Ponapé, Ruk); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 408 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 190 (Ponapé, Ruk); Peters, Check-list Birds World, 3, 1937, p. 31 (Ruk, Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 213 (Ponapé, Truk).Ptilinopus porphyraceus ponapensisRipley and Birckhead, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1192, 1942, p. 7 (Ruk, Ponapé); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 289 (Truk, Ponapé); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 59 (Truk).Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Truk, Ponapé.Characters.—Adult male: A green fruit dove with forehead, anterior lores and crown near "pansy purple," faintly margined with yellow; occiput, sides of head, neck, upper breast grayish-green with bifid feathers of midbreast more olivaceous; chin and midthroat light yellow; breast, sides and tibia green; midpart of lower breast dark bluish-green, tinged with dark purple; lower abdomen, vent, and undertail yellow, under tail-coverts deeper yellow tinged with orange; upper parts dark green; wings metallic green on outer webs and tips, inner secondaries and some posterior scapulars with purple spots near tips; primaries and secondaries edged on outer webs with yellowish; underwing gray with yellow edges on hind, under wing-coverts; upper side of tail metallic green with terminal, broad yellow band; under side of tail gray; bill lead-colored, feet wine-brown, iris whitish to pale brown. Adult female resembles adult male, but slightly smaller and duller.Immature: Resembles adult, but entirely green with yellow edgings on feathers and lacking crimson crown and colored breast patch.Measurements.—Measurements of subspecies ofP. porphyraceusin Micronesia are presented intable 25.Table 25. Measurements ofPtilinopus porphyraceusin MicronesiaSubspeciesNumberWingExposedculmenTarsusP. p. ponapensis12 males137 (133-141)14 (13-15)25 (24-27)11 females133 (126-137)14 (13-15)25 (24-26)P. p. hernsheimi6 males134 (130-138)13 (12-14)25 (24-26)5 females127 (125-130)13 (12-13)25 (24-25)P. p. pelewensis10 males133 (131-134)15 (13-15)25 (23-26)4 females133 (130-138)15 (14-15)24 (23-24)

Table 24. Measurements ofGygis albaFrom the Pacific Area

The measurements indicate that there is a gradient in size from small in the north to large in the south; however, there is a definite separation in average measurements—ten millimeters in length of wing and four millimeters in length of exposed culmen—between the two populations which are designated asG. a. candidaandG. a. pacifica. In studying material from Micronesia and the Hawaiian Islands, I (1948:57) pointed out the similarities between birds of the Marianas and the Hawaiians and separated these from terns found in the Caroline Islands. The systematic position of the White Tern in the Gilbert and Ellice islands will remain in doubt until specimens are available for examination.

G. a. royanais provisionally retained as the name for the Fairy Tern of the Kermadecs and Norfolk Island; there is considerable overlap in measurements betweenG. a. royanaandG. a. pacifica. Measurements have given evidence of the degrees of structural resemblance of the White Terns of the different islands, but it is not certain that the groupings made on this basis are natural; more data is needed on ecology and life history. Of particular importance is to learn whether these birds fly regularly from island to island. On the basis of eleven months of rather continuous observation in Micronesia, I suspect that the White Tern has little tendency to make inter-island migrations. This might account for the differences in size in the populations at Guam in the Marianas (G. a. candida) and at Ulithi in the Carolines (G. a. pacifica) where only approximately 400 miles of open water separate the two islands. The occurrence of the distinctG. a. microrhynchain the Marquesas may be accounted for by such nonmigratory behavior. Mayr(1945a:27), however, is of the opinion that White Terns found in the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomons, Santa Cruz and New Hebrides islands may not breed there, which is another way of saying that they are migrants. Swarth (1934:221) and Murphy (1936:1268) record the wandering of the White Tern to the Galapagos Islands, probably from breeding grounds at Cocos Island. Swarth suggests that the tern is not established at the Galapagos because of the presence of colder water in the area. Murphy (1936:1166) is of the opinion that the South Atlantic White Terns are sedentary, but reports evidence of pelagic migration in the Pacific at the Kermadecs. The fact thatG. albais restricted in its distribution to widely separated groups of islands in tropical and subtropical areas of the South Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans may indicate that the birds at one time had a more extensive range than at present, probably including even coastal regions of the continents and large continental islands.

Sterna pacificaLesson, Ann. Sci. Nat., 4, 1825, p. 101. (Type locality, Society Islands, Paumotu Islands, and Bora Bora.)

Sterna albaKittlitz, Kupfertaf. Naturgesch. Vögel, 3, 1833, p. 28 (Carolinen);idem, Obser. Zool., in Lutké, Voy. "Le Séniavine," 3, 1836, pp. 286, 299, 308 (Ualan, Lougounor, Ouleai).

Gygis candidaHartlaub, Archiv f. Naturgesch., 18, 1852, p. 137 (Carolinen); Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1854, p. 168 (Carolinen); Kittlitz, Denkw. Reise russ. Amer. Micron. und Kamchat., 1, 1858, p. 382, 2, 1858, pp. 39, 60 (Ualan); Gray, Cat. Birds Trop. Is. Pacific Ocean, 1859, p. 59 (Caroline Islands); Saunders (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 25, 1896, p. 149 (Pelew, Carolines); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 51 (Ruk, Pelew).

Gygis albaFinsch and Hartlaub, Fauna Centralpolynesiens, 1867, p. 233 (Carolinen); Hartlaub, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867 (1868), p. 832 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 9, 118 (Pelew); Finsch and Hartlaub, Journ. f. Ornith., 1870, p. 140 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 90, 114 (Pelew, Uap, Ualan); Gräffe, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 2, 1873, p. 123 (Yap); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 6, 43 (Palau);idem, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 18, 40 (Ponapé);idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 782 (Ponapé);idem, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 295, 309 (Ponapé, Kuschai);idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 577 (Ruk);idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 105, 106, 109, 115, 246, 247 (Kushai, Ponapé); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, pp. 299, 330, 353 (Mortlock, Nukuor, Ruk); Finsch, Mitth. Ornith. Ver. Wien, 1884, p. 52 (Kuschai); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 78 (Pelew, Uap, Luganor, Nukuor, Ruk, Ponapé, Ualan); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 58 (Palaos, Carolines); Baker (part), Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 57 (Peleliu, Ulithi, Truk, Kusaie).

Gygis alba kittlitziHartert, Katalog Vogelsamml. Senckenb., 1891, p. 237 (Type locality, Ulea = Wolea);idem, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 10 (Ruk); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 2, 1904, p. 1020 (Carolines); Mathews (part), Birds Australia, 2, 1912, p. 443 (Carolines); Ridgway (part), Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 50, pt. 8, 1919, p. 559 (Carolines); Kuroda (part), Avifauna Riu Kiu, 1925, p. 193 (Carolines); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), rev., 1932, p. 196 (Pelew, Yap, Wolea, Luganor, Ruk, Ponapé, Kusaie); Yamashina (part), Tori, 10, 1940, p. 678 (Babelthuap).

Gygis albus kittlitziKuroda (part), in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 50 (Pelews, Yap, Wolea, Luganor, Nukuor, Ruk, Ponapé, Kusaie).

Leucanous albus kittlitziMathews (part), Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 143 (Carolines).

Gygis alba candidaPeters, Check-list Birds World, 2, 1934, p. 349 (Carolines); Hand-list Japanese Birds (part), 3d ed., 1942, p. 219 (Babelthuap, Koror, Angaur, Yap, Wolea, Truk, Lukunor, Nukuoro, Ponapé, Kusaie).

Geographic range.—Central and southern Pacific from Carolines southeast through Melanesia and east through Samoa to Tuamotus, Easter to Cocos and Clipperton (seefigure 12). In Micronesia: Palau Islands—Angaur, Peleliu, Garakayo, Koror, Babelthuap, Kayangel; Caroline Islands—Yap, Ulithi, Wolea, Truk, Lukunor, Ponapé, Kusaie.

Characters.—ResemblesG. a. candida, but size larger, wing length of adult males and females 236-253 (245); length of exposed culmen 38-44 (42).

Measurements.—Measurements are listed intable 24.

Specimens examined.—Total number, 36 (22 males, 12 females, 2 unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM—Peleliu, 1 (Sept. 1); AMNH—exact locality not given, 1 (Nov. 13);-Caroline Islands, USNM—Ulithi, 12 (Aug. 14, 15, 16, 20, 21)—Truk, 1 (Dec. 13); AMNH—Truk, 7 (Mar. 8, May 7, June 8, Nov. 11, 26)—Ponapé, 1 (undated)—Kusaie, 10 (Jan., Feb., March 20-30, April 1-10); MCZ—Yap, 3 (Jan. 13).

Nesting.—The NAMRU2 party learned that in May and June, 1945, several young White Terns were seen at Asor, Ulithi Atoll, by service personnel. These young were observed in breadfruit trees within a recreational area; the presence of the service personnel seemingly had little disturbing effect on the terns. At Bulubul, another island of this atoll, a downy young was obtained on August 22. Hartert (1900:10) reports that eggs of the White Tern were found on the ground and in forks of branches of trees at Truk in June.

Food Habits.—The author (1948:58) reports that stomachs of birds taken at Ulithi and Peleliu contained fish, insects and marine crustaceans. Probably the birds feed to a large extent along the edge of the tidal reef. They almost certainly obtain food also on the islands as indicated by the presence of insects in stomach contents; this is not surprising since the birds frequent woodland habitats.

Remarks.—Gygis albais one of the most characteristic birds in Micronesia. It is seemingly more numerous at the coral atolls than at the high, volcanic islands. At the latter islands the birds prefer the coastal coconut grove environment. At Pau and Bulubul, two small islands in the Ulithi Atoll, the writer counted approximately 100 birds on August 21, 1945. Kittlitz was the first to publish an account of these birds in the Caroline Islands. Tetens, Peters, Semper and Kubary reported their presence in the Palaus. No doubt, these terns attract the attention of every traveler in the islands owing to their conspicuously white beauty and their seemingly friendly behavior toward man. Their habit of hovering in small flocks close over the head of the observer is indeed spectacular.

Columba domestica [Greek: b] liviaGmelin, Syst. Nat., 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 769. (No type locality = Europe.)

Columba liviaBryan, Guam Rec., vol. 13, no. 2, 1936, p. 24 (Guam); Marshall, Condor, vol. 51, 1949, p. 221 (Tinian).

Geographic range.—Europe and Asia Minor. Introduced to many parts of the world. In Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Guam, Tinian.

Remarks.—In 1945, the NAMRU2 party observed pigeons about the towns on Guam, particularly at the town of Inarajan. Bryan (1936:24) writes that the birds were introduced by the United States Navy and Marine Corps at Guam; the stock originating from escaped carrier pigeons. Marshall (1949:221) records this bird from Tinian.

Ptilinopus ponapensisFinsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1877 (1878), p. 779. (Type locality, Ponapé.)

Ptilinopus? fasciatusFinsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 12, 1876, pp. 18, 37 (Ponapé).

Ptilopus fasciatusElliot, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1878, p. 536 (Ponapé); Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 44 (Ponapé).

Ptilopus ponapensisSchmeltz, Verhandl. Ver. nat. Unterhaltung Hamburg, 1877 (1879), pp. 178, 179 (Ponapé); Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 576 (Ruk, Ponapé);idem, Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, pp. 291, 303 (Ponapé);idem, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 578 (Ruk, Ponapé);idem, Ibis, 1881, pp. 113, 115 (Ponapé); Wiglesworth, Ibis, 1891, p. 583 (Ponapé, Ruk);idem, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 50 (Ponapé, Ruk); Salvadori, Cat. Birds British Mus., 21, 1893, p. 93 (Ponapé, Ruk); Oustalet, Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 222 (Ponapé); Nehrkron, Kat. Eiers., 1899, p. 180 (Ruk); Dubois, Syn. Avium, 2, 1904, p. 736 (Ruck, Ponapé); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 1, 1913, p. 354 (Ruk, Ponapé); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 52 (Ruk, Ponapé); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 189 (Uala, Ponapé).

Ptilinopus ponapensisSchmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 353 (Ruk); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 7, 1900, p. 7 (Ruk, Ponapé); Seale, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 42 (Ponapé); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 113 (Ruck, Ponapé); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 32 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Mushi, 12, 1939, pp. 81, 82 (Ponapé); Mayr. Proc. 6th Pacific Sci. Congr., 4, 1939 (1941), p. 204 (Ponapé); Bequaert, Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 16, 1941, pp. 266, 290 (Ponapé).

Ptilinopus PonapensisChristian, The Caroline Islands, 1899, p. 357 (Ponapé).

Ptilinopus ponepensis ponapensisKuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 57 (Ponapé, Ruk); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 408 (Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 190 (Ponapé, Ruk); Peters, Check-list Birds World, 3, 1937, p. 31 (Ruk, Ponapé); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 213 (Ponapé, Truk).

Ptilinopus porphyraceus ponapensisRipley and Birckhead, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1192, 1942, p. 7 (Ruk, Ponapé); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 289 (Truk, Ponapé); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 59 (Truk).

Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Truk, Ponapé.Characters.—Adult male: A green fruit dove with forehead, anterior lores and crown near "pansy purple," faintly margined with yellow; occiput, sides of head, neck, upper breast grayish-green with bifid feathers of midbreast more olivaceous; chin and midthroat light yellow; breast, sides and tibia green; midpart of lower breast dark bluish-green, tinged with dark purple; lower abdomen, vent, and undertail yellow, under tail-coverts deeper yellow tinged with orange; upper parts dark green; wings metallic green on outer webs and tips, inner secondaries and some posterior scapulars with purple spots near tips; primaries and secondaries edged on outer webs with yellowish; underwing gray with yellow edges on hind, under wing-coverts; upper side of tail metallic green with terminal, broad yellow band; under side of tail gray; bill lead-colored, feet wine-brown, iris whitish to pale brown. Adult female resembles adult male, but slightly smaller and duller.

Immature: Resembles adult, but entirely green with yellow edgings on feathers and lacking crimson crown and colored breast patch.

Measurements.—Measurements of subspecies ofP. porphyraceusin Micronesia are presented intable 25.

Table 25. Measurements ofPtilinopus porphyraceusin Micronesia

12 males

11 females

6 males

5 females

10 males

4 females

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