world which many of them seem to indicate. These points are of so much
interest and importance that it will be necessary to pass in review all those
species which are peculiar to the island, and to call attention to whatever is most
worthy of remark.
Six species of the Hawk tribe are peculiar to Celebes; three of these are very
distinct from allied birds which range over all India to Java and Borneo, and
which thus seem to be suddenly changed on entering Celebes. Another
(Accipiter trinotatus) is a beautiful hawk, with elegant rows of large round white
spots on the tail, rendering it very conspicuous and quite different from any other
known bird of the family. Three owls are also peculiar; and one, a barn owl
(Strix rosenbergii), is very much larger and stronger than its ally Strix javanica,
which ranges from India through all the islands as far as Lombock.
Of the ten Parrots found in Celebes, eight are peculiar. Among them are two
species of the singular racquet-tailed parrots forming the genus Prioniturus, and
which are characterised by possessing two long spoon-shaped feathers in the tail.
Two allied species are found in the adjacent island of Mindanao, one of the
Philippines, and this form of tail is found in no other parrots in the whole world.
A small species of Lorikeet (Trichoglossus flavoviridis) seems to have its
nearest ally in Australia.
The three Woodpeckers which inhabit the island are all peculiar, and are allied
to species found in Java and Borneo, although very different from them all.
Among the three peculiar Cuckoos, two are very remarkable. Phoenicophaus
callirhynchus is the largest and handsomest species of its genus, and is
distinguished by the three colours of its beak, bright yellow, red, and black.
Eudynamis melanorynchus differs from all its allies in having a jet-black bill,
whereas the other species of the genus always have it green, yellow, or reddish.
The Celebes Roller (Coracias temmincki) is an interesting example of one
species of a genus being cut off from the rest. There are species of Coracias in
Europe, Asia, and Africa, but none in the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Java, or
Borneo. The present species seems therefore quite out of place; and what is still
more curious is the fact that it is not at all like any of the Asiatic species, but
seems more to resemble those of Africa.
In the next family, the Bee-eaters, is another equally isolated bird, Meropogon
forsteni, which combines the characters of African and Indian Bee-eaters, and
whose only near ally, Meropogon breweri, was discovered by M. Du Chaillu in
West Africa!
The two Celebes Hornbills have no close allies in those which abound in the