One, Enodes Erythrophrys, Has Ashy And
Yellow Plumage, But Is Ornamented With Broad Stripes Of Orange-
Red Above The Eyes.
The other, Basilornis celebensis, is a blue-
black bird with a white patch on each side of the breast, and the
head ornamented with a beautiful compressed scaly crest of
feathers, resembling in form that of the well-known Cock-of-the-
rock of South America.
The only ally to this bird is found in
Ceram, and has the feathers of the crest elongated upwards into
quite a different form.
A still more curious bird is the Scissirostrum pagei, which
although it is at present classed in the Starling family, differs
from all other species in the form of the bill and nostrils, and
seems most nearly allied in its general structure to the Ox-
peckers (Buphaga) of tropical Africa, next to which the
celebrated ornithologist Prince Bonaparte finally placed it. It
is almost entirely of a slatey colour, with yellow bill and feet,
but the feathers of the rump and upper tail-coverts each
terminate in a rigid, glossy pencil or tuft of a vivid crimson.
These pretty little birds take the place of the metallic-green
starlings of the genus Calornis, which are found in most other
islands of the Archipelago, but which are absent from Celebes.
They go in flocks, feeding upon grain and fruits, often
frequenting dead trees, in holes of which they build their nests;
and they cling to the trunks as easily as woodpeckers or
creepers.
Out of eighteen Pigeons found in Celebes, eleven are peculiar to
it. Two of them, Ptilonopus gularis and Turacaena menadensis,
have their nearest allies in Timor. Two others, Carpophaga
forsteni and Phlaegenas tristigmata, most resemble Philippine
island species; and Carpophaga radiata belongs to a New Guinea
group. Lastly, in the Gallinaceous tribe, the curious helmeted
Maleo (Megacephalon rubripes) is quite isolated, having its
nearest (but still distant) allies in the Brush-turkeys of
Australia and New Guinea.
Judging, therefore, by the opinions of the eminent naturalists
who have described and classified its birds, we find that many of
the species have no near allies whatsoever in the countries which
surround Celebes, but are either quite isolated, or indicate
relations with such distant regions as New Guinea, Australia,
India, or Africa. Other cases of similar remote affinities
between the productions of distant countries no doubt exist, but
in no spot upon the globe that I am yet acquainted with, do so
many of them occur together, or do they form so decided a feature
in the natural history of the country.
The Mammalia of Celebes are very few in number, consisting of
fourteen terrestrial species and seven bats. Of the former no
less than eleven are peculiar, including two which there is
reason to believe may have been recently carried into other
islands by man. Three species which have a tolerably wide range
in the Archipelago, are: (1) The curious Lemur, Tarsius spectrum,
which is found in all the islands as far westward as Malacca; (2)
the common Malay Civet, Viverra tangalunga, which has a still
wider range; and (3) a Deer, which seems to be the same as the
Rusa hippelaphus of Java, and was probably introduced by man at
an early period.
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