---------------------------+-----+---------+--------+---------+------- | | | | Exposed | | No. | Wing | Tail | culmen | Tarsus ---------------------------+-----+---------+--------+---------+------- Marianas: Asuncion, Guam | 6 | 264 | 107 | 47 | 21 | | 256-287 | 97-117 | 44-50 | 20-21 | | | | | Palaus: Peleliu | 11 | 257 | 108 | 45 | 21 | | 242-270 | 98-122 | 40-49 | 19-21 | | | | | Carolines: Ponapé, Kusaie | 11 | 261 | 105 | 47 | 21 | | 252-271 | 97-114 | 44-49 | 21-22 +-----+---------+--------+---------+------- Total: Micronesia | 28 | 260 | 107 | 46 | 21 | | 242-287 | 97-122 | 40-50 | 19-22 ---------------------------+-----+---------+--------+---------+------- _Specimens examined._--Total number, 37 (22 males, 10 females, 5 unsexed), as follows: Mariana Islands, USNM--Guam, 5 (June 11, July 21); AMNH--Asuncion, 1 (June?); Palau Islands, USNM--Peleliu, 5 (Aug. 29, 31, Sept. 5, 6); AMNH--exact locality not given, 7 (Oct. 13, 26, Nov. 15, 23, Dec. 18); Caroline Islands, AMNH--Ponapé, 9 (Dec. 8, 9, undated)--Kusaie, 10 (March 1-8, April). _Nesting._--The NAMRU2 party observed nests of the White-tailed Tropic Bird at Peleliu in August and September, 1945. Several nests were seen in hollows of the Australian pine (_Casuarina equisetifolia_) between 20 and 30 feet above the ground. Birds could be seen in the nest hollows because the plumes of their long tail usually extended well out of the entrance. One nest was found in a dead tree in a battle-cleared area; others were observed in jungle habitat. Coultas observed nesting at Ponapé between November 1 and December 30, 1930, and found nests in the tops of trees and in hollow trees; a few were observed in holes in cliffs. Yamashina (1932a:407) records the taking of one egg at Ponapé on August 18, 1931. At Guam the NAMRU2 party found birds along the high cliffs which edge the beach. There was no evidence that they were nesting from May to July; nevertheless males taken in June had enlarged gonads. The bird is known to breed at Namorik in the Marshall Islands, according to the Hand-list of Japanese Birds (Hachisuka _et al._, 1942:209). _Food habits._--The NAMRU2 party found small fish in the stomachs of these birds taken at Peleliu. _Parasites._--Uchida (1918:489, 492) records the bird lice (Mallophaga), _Colpocephalum epiphanes_ and _Menopon eulasius_, from the White-tailed Tropic Bird from Palau.