In The Adjacent Island Of Ceram We Find Very Distinct Species Of
Both These Genera, And, Strange To Say, These Resemble Each Other
Quite As Closely As Do Those Of Bouru The Tropidorhynchus
Subcornutus Is Of An Earthy Brown Colour, Washed With Ochreish
Yellow, With Bare Orbits, Dusky:
Cheeks, and the usual recurved
nape-ruff:
The Mimeta forsteni which accompanies it, is
absolutely identical in the tints of every part of the body, and
the details are copied just as minutely as in the former species.
We have two kinds of evidence to tell us which bird in this case
is the model, and which the copy. The honeysuckers are coloured
in a manner which is very general in the whole family to which
they belong, while the orioles seem to have departed from the gay
yellow tints so common among their allies. We should therefore
conclude that it is the latter who mimic the former. If so,
however, they must derive some advantage from the imitation, and
as they are certainly weak birds, with small feet and claws, they
may require it. Now the Tropidorhynchi are very strong and active
birds, having powerful grasping claws, and long, curved, sharp
beaks. They assemble together in groups and small flocks, and
they haw a very loud bawling note which can be heard at a great
distance, and serves to collect a number together in time of
danger. They are very plentiful and very pugnacious, frequently
driving away crows and even hawks, which perch on a tree where a
few of them are assembled. It is very probable, therefore, that
the smaller birds of prey have learnt to respect these birds and
leave them alone, and it may thus be a great advantage for the
weaker and less courageous Mimetas to be mistaken for them. This
being case, the laws of Variation and Survival of the Fittest,
will suffice to explain how the resemblance has been brought
about, without supposing any voluntary action on the part of the
birds themselves; and those who have read Mr. Darwin's "Origin of
Species" will have no difficulty in comprehending the whole
process.
The insects of the Moluccas are pre-eminently beautiful, even
when compared with the varied and beautiful productions of other
parts of the Archipelago. The grand bird-winged butterflies
(Ornithoptera) here reach their maximum of size and beauty, and
many of the Papilios, Pieridae Danaidae, and Nymphalidae are
equally preeminent. There is, perhaps, no island in the world so
small as Amboyna where so many grand insects are to be found.
Here are three of the very finest Ornithopterae - priamus, helena,
and remiss; three of the handsomest and largest Papilios -
ulysses, deiphobus, and gambrisius; one of the handsomest
Pieridae, Iphias leucippe; the largest of the Danaidae, Hestia
idea; and two unusually large and handsome Nymphalidae - Diadema
pandarus, and Charaxes euryalus. Among its beetles are the
extraordinary Euchirus longimanus, whose enormous legs spread
over a space of eight inches, and an unusual number of large and
handsome Longicorns, Anthribidae, and Buprestidae.
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