4 PROCEEDINGS OB' THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.64. 



Two of the species required new generic names, namely, Gora- 

 cornis and Celehesia; while Scolopax celebensis and Megalurus cele- 

 hensis belong to genera hitherto unreported from Celebe's. 



Besides the above new forms, the collection contains the two fol- 

 lowing additions to the avifauna of the island: Nyroca australis 

 (belonging to a probably unnamed resident form), and Poliomyias 

 mugimaki. Leaving out of consideration the mere segregation of 

 j)reviously reported species, Mr. Raven has added 5 genera and 12 

 species to the avifauna. A wonderful showing, considering that he 

 covered less than half the area of the island. 



Altogether, Mr. Raven's Celebesian collections contain 202 forms of 

 birds as at present worked out, a larger number than had been taken 

 personally by any earlier collector in the same area. Tlie Sarasins, 

 apparently, have a larger number to their credit, but they covered 

 more territory and were on the island for a longer period. 



When it is taken into consideration that all of Mr. Raven's re- 

 markable discoveries came from the mountains of the north-central 

 part of the island, it can readily be appreciated that the avifauna of 

 Celebes is far from well known or will be for many years to come. 

 There are higher mountains (Latimodjong) than the Bonthian Peaks 

 in the southwest peninsula that have not been worked, and the north- 

 east and southeast peninsulas are almost, unknown, though the latter 

 is said to present a rather uninteresting appearance, but it should 

 nevertheless be explored before a complete knowledge of the avi- 

 fauna as a whole can be obtained. Even the north peninsula is none 

 too well known; there has not been enough collecting done in the 

 mountains, except at the extreme northern end in the Minahassa dis- 

 trict. There has been considerable work done in the extreme south 

 around Macassar and the Bonthian Peaks. The Sarasins, I under- 

 stand, have made quite a thorough survey of the whole island, but 

 they were not primarily interested in birds and outside of the records 

 of their collections in Meyer and Wiglesworth's Birds of Celebes 

 and two short papers by Doctor Meyer ^ nothing has been published 

 upon their bird collection as a whole. Even Meyer and Wiglesworth 

 lament the inadequate data upon the distribution of the birds in the 

 island and predict that it will be a hundred years before any finality 

 is arrived at in this respect. This should only stimulate naturalists 

 to greater exertions, because civilization is advancing at such an ac- 

 celerated pace, and the introduction of exotic animals to different 

 parts of the world is becoming so prevalent, that the balance of 

 nature is liable to be overthrown at any time and species disappear 

 before zoologists become aware of their existence. 



s Notes Leyden Mus., vol. 23, 1903, pp. 185-189 ; vol. 24, 1904, pp. 232-235. 



