on the Birds of Celebes. 47 



I procured a series of specimens at Tilamutan (Paguatt), 

 Posso, and Kwandang in August, in South Celebes in Sep- 

 tember; and I believe that specimens with exact habitat and 

 taken wild are still rare in collections. 



Tanygnathus muelleri (Miiller & Schl.) . 



Native (Malay) name^ '' Cacatua idiu/^ green Cockatoo. 

 Iris white. 



Guided by Dr. Finsch's excellent monograph, during my 

 stay on Celebes I was aware of the controversy whether the 

 white- and red-billed Parrots be one and the same species or 

 different ones, and tried to solve the question on the spot. 

 1 procured a very large series of specimens, and among them 

 every stage between the white- and red -billed, with no other 

 differences than that of age. I do not the least doubt that 

 the bill of the young bird is white, and that it gradually passes 

 into red, aged individuals always possessing a bill of a deep 

 red colour, together with a deeper tint of blue on the uro- 

 pygium, and some blue on the upper wing-coverts, as proved 

 by my cabinet-specimens. Mr. Wallace says (P. Z. S. 1862, 

 p. 836) that the cry of T. albirostris is different from that 

 of T. muelleri, and that the former is universally recognized 

 by the natives of Celebes as another bird. It may be that 

 the young bird has a cry somewhat different from that of the 

 old one ; but this difference cannot be great, at least it can- 

 not be compared with the diflFerence of the cry between two 

 really distinct species, as, for instance, T. muelleri and T. me- 

 galorhynchus, whose cries can immediately be distinguished 

 one from the other, as I shall shortly relate. Neither can I 

 agree that the natives recognize them as two birds. Even 

 if they did, I should not attribute much value to such a state- 

 ment, as generally the natives of Celebes know but little of 

 their fauna, and answer a question as they think will most 

 please the questioner. Nevertheless, were T. muelleri a species 

 often kept in captivity by the natives, as is Trichoylossus 

 ornatus, I could perhaps trust them ; but this is not the case, 

 T. muelleri rai'ely being seen in captivity, on account of its 

 unamiable character, at least in this state. 



