Ghosts and entanglements in one drawer of a natural history collection: The White-eyes (Aves, Passeriformes, Zosteropidae) of World Museum, Liverpool

World Museum holds the second largest bird collections in England. Despite the bird study skins being evacuated to North Wales at the outbreak of World War II, one drawer containing White-eyes (Aves, Passeriformes, Zosteropidae, Zosterops ) was destroyed when the building in Liverpool was bombed and burned out in 1941. The biographies of 219 ghost (now existing only as written records or illustrations) and 31 extant specimens of White-eyes listed in this article, reflect entanglements with local events and broader history of European science and imperialism that shaped the natural history collection in Liverpool. These specimens (86 taxa) were mostly collected between 1850 and 1900 and originated in 29 modern-day countries, almost all former British, Dutch and French colonies, protectorates or concessions. The destroyed White-eyes came from the large private collections of Edward Smith-Stanley (13 th Earl of Derby) and Henry Baker Tristram. Both men cultivated a web of suppliers across the globe encompassing military officers, colonial officials, missionaries, settlers, freelance collectors, museums and commercial dealers. Destroyed specimens included type specimens ( Urospizias natalis , Z. chrysolaema , Z. citrinella , Z. difficilis , Z. griseiventris , Z. hovarum , Z. loochooensis , Z. metcalfii , Z. prætermissa , Z. sanctæ-crucis , Z. simplex , Z. subrosea , Z. vatensis ), possible type specimens ( Tephras finchii , Z. albogularis , Z. atricapilla , Z. ceylonensis , Z. delicatula , Z. japonicus , Z. kirki , Z. ponapensis , Z. stejnegeri ) and specimens previously, incorrectly, recorded as types ( Z. chloris , Z. inornatus , Z. mauritianus , Z. minutus , Z. strenuus , Z. tetiparius ), all linked to notable published works and authors.