Zosterops cinerea ponapensis Mayr, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1269, 1944, p. 7 (Ponapé?); idem, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 300 (Ponapé).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Caroline Islands—Ponapé.
Characters.—Adult: Resembles adult of Z. c. cinerea, but smaller with upper parts umber-brown, forehead pale gray; underparts mostly pale gray, sides of breast and abdomen brownish-buff; under tail-coverts pale buffy-gray.
Measurements.—Measurements are listed in [table 51].
Specimens examined.—Total number, 47 (28 males, 17 females, 2 unsexed), as follows: Caroline Islands, USNM—Ponapé, 1 (Feb. 11); AMNH—Ponapé, 46 (Nov., Dec.).
Nesting.—Yamashina (1931a:397-398) describes two nests of Z. c. ponapensis, each containing one egg. These were taken at Ponapé on August 4 and 11, 1931. The nests were located 2.5 meters from the ground. The eggs are light blue and pale greenish-blue in color; one measures 18.5 by 13.5. He writes, "The nest consists of two layers, the inner and the outer. The outer layer is made of fine roots, fibers, leaves and petals, interwoven with a large quantity of cotton-wool, and the inner layer is made of fibers of fine roots only." Coultas found that a large number of birds taken in November had enlarged gonads, especially the males; in December, fewer birds with swollen gonads were obtained.
Remarks.—Coultas found this white-eye to be common at Ponapé, when he visited that island in November and December, 1930. He observed the birds in flocks and found them noisy and quarrelsome. They feed in bushes and small trees on seeds and insects. Richards obtained "small large-seeded blackish berries" from the stomach of a female from Ponapé. He found the birds to frequent low altitudes in and about native gardens.