(2) 



most accurate and useful work Acea Polf/ncsiae, in AUiamll. (f- lierii-hte Aftis. 

 Dresden 1891. 



The literature on the birds of Enk Island is tlins briefly summarized :— 



1853 : Hombron and Jacquinot in V„!/. POle Su<l. Alla.^, Jacquinot & Paoh, Zonl. v. III. 



1880 : Finsoh, P. Z. .S. pp. 574-77 (Birds of Ruk). 



1891 : Wiglesworth, Avea Pnhjnesiae p. VII. (List of Caroline Birds). 



1897 : Hartcrt, BnU. B. O. Club VII. p. 5 {Tephro.-: riil.i). 



1899 : Nehrkorn, Kalalog d. Elers. (Descr. of some Eggs). 



1. Myzomela rubratra (Less.) (Wiglesworth No. 131, ]). :il). 



Evidently very nnmerons on Ruk Island. Its native name is " yite/mfjal." 

 " Bill black (PI. II. fis. 1, Ridgway's Xo/nencl. Col.) ; iris bnrnt umber (Ridgway 

 III. 8) ; legs and toes slate-grey (II. 5) ; claws black." 



Nov. ZooL. V. p. ■>■), I have said thut females differ from the /mi/es not (inly 

 ill size, but also in having olive-brown wings and greenish olive edges to the 

 remiges. I find now, however, that these are characters of immature femoles 

 only, and that the fully adult female differs from the male only in its smaller 

 size, and generally in a somewhat more restricted extent of the red on the back 

 iuid abdomen. 



Many nests were found from the end of Jlay to Jnly, and (inc in JIarc.h. 

 The nests and eggs are described in Nov. Zool. V. p. 56. On (inam they were 

 collected in January, Febrnary, and March. 



~. Zosterops semperi owstoni subsp. nov. (Wiglesworth No. 183, p. :iT, /w/-^m I). 



The greenish Zosterops of Ruk, hitherto united with typical Z. semperi from 

 the Pelew Islands, is, in fact, different. As all the land-birds of Ruk, except 

 the widespread Mi/zomela riibrata, are more or less different from those of the 

 Pelew Islands, this is not at all remarkable. The differences, however, are so 

 slight, that I prefer to regard them as representative forms of one species, and 

 to designate the Ruk form as above, as a compliment to Mr. Alan Owston, of 

 Yokohama, who organized the collecting expedition to the Marianne nnd Cavoliiie 

 Islands tor Mr. Rothschild. 



Z. semperi owstoni differs from Z. semperi semperi in the following characters : 

 The colonration of the upperside is less yellowish, but more green. The ear-coverts 

 are more olive-greenish than in Z. semperi semperi, where they are paler and 

 more yellowish. The spot on the lores and under the fore part of the eye, which 

 is indistinct and dnsky, is pnre black and more distinct. The whitish edge on 

 the inner web of the outer rectrices is less developed. The ujiper bill, which is 

 horn-brown in Z. semperi semperi, is black. We have received a large series 

 from Ruk, which I have compared with three Pelew specimens, kindly lent by 

 the authorities of the Liverpool Museum, and two in the Tring Museum, collected 

 by the late Mr. Kubary. The collectors have marked the up])er bill as " pure 

 black, iris raw-sienna (Ridgway V. 2) ; feet pale slate colour." The native name 

 is " Nikikitebu." 



Nests with single eggs were found from May to July. They were j)laced in 

 various heights, bnt generally between four and eight feet high, in various bushes 

 and trees. They are very neatly woven of fine halms and fibres, and outside nicely 

 ornamented with cobwebs and white cocoons or wool. Some lianu: in ihi' fork of a 



