62 Dr. A. B. Meyer's Field-notes 



Iris brownish ; bill black, below reddish white ; feet and 

 claws blackish. 



One of my specimens exceeds all the others in the bril- 

 liancy of its blue colours. 



Sauropatis sancta (Vig. & Horsf.). 



Much rarer than S. chloris, I believe, even to be called a 

 rare bird in Celebes. I got specimens at Kalinaong, North- 

 eastern Minahassa, in April^ and on the Togian Islands in 

 August. 



Sauropatis forsteni, Temm. 



Knowing that this species, which is at all events very 

 nearly allied to S. chloris (if it is a species at all), was only 

 based on a single specimen, I tried to procure as many speci- 

 mens as possible of S. chloris, to have the chance of getting 

 one of S. forsteni among them. But though I saw hundreds 

 of the former, not one of the latter came into my hands, 

 nor even a specimen of S. chloris which showed a tendency 

 to vary in the direction of S. forsteni. Young individuals of 

 S. chloris have much black on the breast ; but this is of quite 

 another character from what is represented in the plates pub- 

 lished of S. forsteni. Nevertheless I should hesitate to look 

 upon this species as an accidental variety, remembering my 

 experience with Meropogon forsteni, refound thirty years 

 after its first discovery. 



Callialcyon rufa (Wallace). 



Native Malay name, " Radja-udan-mera,'' i. e. " Red King 

 of the Crabs.'' 



Generally found in bamboo brushes near rivers, generally 

 several together. It is not a rare bird, but is not to be pro- 

 cured without great patience. 



Male and female nearly undistinguishable. Iris dark brown ; 

 bill, feet, and claws red. 



In the stomach I found fishes, ants, &c. 



Menado, January till May ; Gorontalo, July ; Togian 

 Islands, August. 



