Tephras cinereus Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, pp. 111, 112, 113 (Ualan).
Tephras cinerea Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 77 (Kusaie); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 2, 1930, p. 712 (Oualan).
Zosterops cinerea cinerea Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269, 1944, p. 7 (Kusaie?); idem, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 300 (Kusaie).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Kusaie.
Characters.—Adult: A small, dusky white-eye with upper parts smoky olivaceous-gray; lores dingy white; auriculars brownish; no white orbital ring; wing and tail feathers dark brownish-gray with paler greenish-gray outer edges; underparts pale ashy-gray, chin lighter, flanks darker; bill black; feet light brown; iris brown.
Measurements.—Measurements of Z. cinerea are listed in [table 51]. Males and females have approximately equal measurements.
Table 51. Measurements of Zosterops cinerea
Table 51. Measurements of Zosterops cinerea
| Subspecies | No. | Wing | Tail | Culmen | Tarsus |
| Z. c. cinerea | 47 | 63 | 37 | 15.0 | 20 |
| (60-65) | (35-39) | (14.0-16.5) | (19-20) | ||
| Z. c. ponapensis | 38 | 59 | 38 | 13.5 | 20 |
| (57-61) | (36-40) | (13.0-14.5) | (18-21) | ||
| Z. c. finschii | 30 | 65 | 43 | 17.5 | 21 |
| (63-67) | (40-46) | (16.0-18.5) | (20-23) |