Zosterops conspicillata owstoni Hartert
Bridled White-eye
Zosterops semperi owstoni Hartert, Novit., Zool., 7, 1900, p. 2. (Type locality, Ruk.)
Zosterops semperi semperi Finsch (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1880, p. 287 (Ruck); idem (part), Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1880, p. 575 (Ruk); idem (part), Ibis, 1881, p. 110 (Ruk); Schmeltz and Krause (part), Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 353 (Ruk); Gadow (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 9, 1884, p. 183 (Central Carolines=Truk); Wiglesworth (part), Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 37 (Ruk); Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 208 (Ruk); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 57 (Ruk); Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers, 1899, p. 80 (Ruk).
Zosterops semperi owstoni Dubois, Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 710 (Ruk); Wetmore, in Townsend and Wetmore, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 63, 1919, p. 223 (Truk); Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 24 (Ruk); Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 75 (Ruk); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 705 (Ruk); Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 496 (Ruk); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 400 (Truk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 174 (Truk).
Zosterops owstoni Finsch, Das Tierreich, no. 15, 1901, p. 31 (Ruk); Matschie (part), Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 112, 113 (Ruck); Reichenow, Die Vögel, 2, 1914, p. 470 (Karolinen = Truk); Takatsukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, pp. 55, 64 (Ruk).
Zosterops conspicillata owstoni Stresemann, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 17, 1931, p. 277 (Truk); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 193 (Truk); Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269, 1944, p. 7 (Truk); idem, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 299 (Truk); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, pp. 73, 74 (Truk).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Truk.
Characters.—Adult: Resembles adult of Z. c. semperi, but upper parts darker olive and less yellowish-green; fronto-loral band deeper yellow; auriculars slightly darker; black line on lores and under eye more distinct; underparts deeper yellow; abdomen with greenish tinges. Resembles adult of Z. c. rotensis, but upper parts duller, more green and less yellow; fronto-loral band lighter and less distinct, coloring near that of Z. c. semperi; auriculars darker green; underparts slightly darker, more olive-green and less yellow.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 50].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 23 (12 males, 10 females, 1 unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Truk, 3 (Feb. 16); AMNH—Truk, 20 (Feb., March, May, Nov.).
Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:400) records the taking of a nest with one egg at Truk in May. Hartert (1900:2) records nests containing single eggs taken at Truk from May to July. Nests were found in bushes and trees four to eight feet above the ground. The eggs are pale blue. He gives measurements of seven eggs.
Remarks.—Kubary obtained the first specimens of the Bridled White-eye at Truk. Hartert described the population as a new subspecies using material taken by Owston's collectors. The bird was named in honor of Alan Owston. McElroy of the NAMRU2 party visited Truk in December, 1945. He found this white-eye in the mountainous areas at Moen and Udot islands.