Zosterops conspicillata rotensis Takatsukasa and Yamashina
Bridled White-eye
Zosterops semperi rotensis Takatsukasa and Yamashina, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 43, 1931, p. 486. (Type locality, Rota.)
Zosterops semperi Oustalet (part), Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 7, 1895, p. 207 (Rota); Hartert (part), Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 57 (Rota); Finsch (part), Das Tierreich, no. 15, 1901, p. 30 (Rota); Seale (part), Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 58 (Rota); Dubois (part), Syn. Avium, 1, 1902, p. 710 (Rota); Takatsukasa and Kuroda (part), Tori, 1, 1915, p. 64 (Marianne = Rota).
Zosterops semperi semperi Momiyama (part), Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 23 (Rota); Kuroda, (part) in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 75 (Rota).
Zosterops semperi rotensis Snouckaert, Alauda. (2), 4, 1932, p. 459 (Rota); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 399 (Rota); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 173 (Rota).
Zosterops conspicillata rotensis Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 193 (Rota); Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269, 1944, p. 7 (Rota); idem, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 299 (Rota); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 73 (Rota).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Rota.
Characters.—Adult: Upper parts and sides of neck between "warbler green" and "pyrite yellow" becoming lighter on the rump; auriculars light yellowish-green; orbital ring white; fronto-loral band narrowly tinged with yellow; underparts dingy yellow; wing and tail feathers dark with light greenish-yellow edges; upper mandible light brown; lower mandible light yellowish-brown; feet light brown.
Resembles Z. c. conspicillata, but brighter greenish-yellow above; chin and throat yellow like rest of underparts; fronto-loral band tinged with bright yellow; auriculars resemble closely the upper parts in color; narrow orbital ring.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 50].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 5 (3 males, 1 female, 1 unsexed), from Mariana Islands, USNM—Rota (Oct. 18, 20, 22).
Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:399) records the taking of one nest containing two eggs at Rota on March 7, 1931.
Molt.—Specimens taken in October were in molt.
Remarks.—Oustalet (1895:207) reported on two specimens of white-eye taken at Rota by Marche. He considered them as being similar to the birds at Palau. The birds at Rota were named as a separate subspecies by Takatsukasa and Yamashina in 1931. The NAMRU2 party found the birds to be numerous at Rota in October, 1945.