Birds of Yap — F isher 
61 
Fig. 6 . Sea level swamp, Balabat, Yap Island. 
Habitat of Poliolimnas and Ixobrychus; in sur- 
rounding mangroves Gallicolumba xanthonura was 
collected. 
the low understory as was Rhipidura. How- 
ever, this flycatcher was also observed perched 
on bare pandanus limbs ( 10 to 20 feet high) 
in the savanna region; here, it flew out after 
insects in typical flycatcher fashion. Mavr 
(1945: 92) noted that this seldom occurred 
in Monarcha; he also stated that the tail 
drooped vertically as the bird perched motion- 
less. The tail was never drooped in the 
monarchs of Yap. 
Aplonis opacus kurodai, Micronesian Star- 
ling.*-— Three specimens from Yap agree 
fairly well with orii Takatsukasa and Yama- 
shina from the Palaus, but the gloss on the 
birds from Yap seems to be more blue green, 
less bottle green; this may be due to slightly 
greater wear on the specimens from the 
Palaus. The bill seems slightly longer on die 
birds from Yap (Mayr, in litt. ) . 
The species was abundant on all the islands 
in all types of cover except the savanna. Birds 
were most numerous, however, in the tops of 
high trees and were seldom, if ever, encount- 
ered in low, dense brush. The tops of coconut 
trees were much used as singing perches, and 
hau trees (Hibiscus tiliaceus) were frequented 
for their fruits. No nesting birds were found, 
but one juvenile was observed (August 7) 
begging and receiving food, and an adult was 
observed carrying food on August 16. As in 
other places, this species is in frequent con- 
flict with, other species; on Yap, Myzomela 
cardinalis and Monarcha were the chief vic- 
tims of this conflict. 
Myzomela cardinalis kurodai, Cardinal 
Honey-eater.* — It is unfortunate that the 
series of skins from Yap contained only one 
of a female, for the races are more clearly 
pronounced in the females. The one female 
agrees closely with an adult female kobayashi 
from Palau; both have distinct olive edges 
to the tail feathers, and the red is restricted 
to the top of the crown and does not extend 
to the nape; the comparative blackness of 
the scapulars in the Yap bird is perhaps due 
to its fresh plumage. The only difference 
between these two females is that the red of 
the crown and throat of the specimen from 
Yap is more cherry red, less scarlet, and there 
is a more pronounced zone without red be- 
tween the upper throat and breast and be- 
tween the crown and back. The wing and 
tail of the Yap race appear to be somewhat 
longer. The bill of the Yap birds appears to 
be longer than that of the Palau birds, but 
measurements do not confirm this visual im- 
pression. The edge of the newly molted pri- 
maries seems more olivaceous in Palauan 
than in Yap males. The under- tail coverts 
of birds from Yap seem blacker than in birds 
from Palau. On the basis of the specimens 
before me I would not be inclined to recog- 
nize kurodai, but it must be considered that 
the Yap series is in full molt. (Mayr, in litt.) 
The honey-eaters were present in all suit- 
able habitat on all islands. They were most 
abundant in low brush, no matter whether 
this brush was in the jungle, in otherwise 
open country, or in a mangrove swamp. In 
their brush habitat the birds appeared to be 
weak* flyers, their fluttery flights seldom 
longer than 15 feet, but on August 21 one 
was observed over the center of Tomil Har- 
bor, more than l /z nautical mile from land. 
As a rule, they were observed in pairs, but 
on August 7 a brood of three was following 
