Characters.—Adult male: A dark, bluish-gray broadbill with head, ear-coverts, and nape dark, metallic, steel-blue; back and rump darker and more slate-blue than head; upper tail-coverts blackish; tail black edged with greenish gloss; wings dark brown, scapulars and secondaries with outer edges tinged with metallic bluish-gray; lores black; chin, throat, and upper breast dark with light metallic-blue wash; lower breast and abdomen slate-gray; under wing-coverts brownish-black; bill black; feet bluish-black; iris dark brown. Female resembles male, but slightly smaller and somewhat duller. Immature duller.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 42].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 42 (23 males, 19 females), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ponapé, 3 (Feb. 11); AMNH—Ponapé, 39 (Nov., Dec.).
Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:401) records nests and eggs of the Ponapé broadbill. The nests were at heights of between .9 and 2.2 meters above the ground. Nests, each containing a single egg, were obtained on July 21, 25, and August 6. The eggs measure 19.5 by 16, 20.5 by 15.7, 20.5 by 16, and 20.2 by 16. Coultas (field notes) describes the nest as a cup-shaped structure, made of fine grasses and ferns, and placed in small trees and bushes at low elevations. Of specimens taken by Coultas in November and December, 1931, approximately fifty percent of the males had enlarged gonads. According to his specimen labels, none of the females was in breeding condition.
Molt.—Of the large series of broadbills taken by Coultas, approximately twenty percent of those taken in November were in molt whereas only approximately ten percent of those taken in December were in molt. Specimens taken in February were not in molt. It is evident that molting takes place in the fall, possibly from August to December.
Remarks.—The coloration of the Micronesian Broadbill at Ponapé is in marked contrast to that of other representatives of Myiagra in Micronesia, being dark, bluish-gray in color. Probably the bird has taken on melanistic characters, which is not unusual in birds which have become isolated; examples of this condition may be observed in Rhipidura, Terpsiphone and other genera.
Coultas (field notes) writes that the bird is "Common everywhere on the island except in the grasslands. Two birds are working together usually, darting around in the low trees, among the branches or on the ground. The birds are playful, friendly and inquisitive. I should not call them noisy as one or more will sit for many minutes watching the intruder without making a peep. Their call, "Que Que," is a spasmodic outburst that might be repeated many times or just once. The male, presumably, erects the long crown feathers when calling. Perhaps both male and female do this, I can't say. The bird flutters on the wing and displays the feathers as does Rhipidura. When sitting, the bird often erects the crest and fluffs the tail and feathers."
Evolutionary History of Myiagra oceanica.—According to Mayr (1933d:1) Myiagra "is easily recognizable by its broad bill and the color pattern which is similar in all species." The range of the genus Myiagra extends from Australia and Tasmania westward to Timor, northward to the Moluccas, and Micronesia, and eastward to Polynesia. Myiagra oceanica is restricted to Micronesia and consists of four subspecies, which until recently have been considered as four separate species. Unlike many of the species of this genus, M. oceanica shows comparatively little sexual dimorphism. The male of M. oceanica has metallic coloring on the head and the upper back and often has rich, rufous coloring on the breast. The female is less brilliant in coloring, lacking the sheen. The four subspecies vary from each other in size, color and even, to some extent, in basal breadth of the bill. M. oceanica resembles several broadbills, including M. galeata of the Moluccas, M. rubecula of Australia, M. vanikorensis of Fiji, and M. ruficollis of Australia and the Lesser Sundas; however, in my opinion, it has probably been derived from M. galeata of the Moluccan area or from a closely related species. In Micronesia, M. o. oceanica and M. o. freycineti appear to resemble closely this parent stock, whereas M. o. erythrops and M. o. pluto are more differentiated but are considered to have been derived from this same colonization. M. o. pluto bears some resemblance to M. atra of the Papuan area, particularly in the dark coloring; this is probably only a parallel evolution, since they have little else in common. M. vanikorensis of the Fiji area is close to M. oceanica in color and structure; the two species, I suspect, have been derived from a common source rather than from each other. Study of the evolutionary history of the entire genus is necessary before we can understand fully the derivation of the Micronesian and Polynesian species. It seems safe to say that the center of dispersal has been in the Australian region; the lack of diversity of this genus within the Papuan area is at present unexplained.