Mr. A. R. Wallace on the Ornitholoyij ofCeram and Waigiou. 283 



p. 451), may be assumed to be nearly as follows, as far as we 

 are at present acquainted with it : — 



Whence it plainly appears that the genus has attained its greatest 

 degree of development in South America and India^ and that 

 the Palsearctic and j3Ethiopian areas are comparatively very poor 

 in their number of species. 



XXIX. — On the Ojmithology of Ceram and Waigiou. 

 By Alfred R. Wallace. 



(Plate IX.) 



Ever since I arrived in the Moluccan seas (now four years ago), 

 I have been repeatedly told, "if you want fine birds, go to Ceram/' 

 and the same idea appears to prevail in Europe, for my corre- 

 spondent writes me, "Mr. Gould and Mr. Gray both say the 

 birds of Ceram are very fine." 



With such encouragement, it was with great expectations I 

 started, in October 1859, for the south-western part of the island. 

 What was my surprise to find one bird very plentiful that was 

 not to be found in Amboyna, and only one, namely the Tropi- 

 dorhynchus suhcornutus, Temm. ! There w^as absolutely nothing 

 else ; and the best birds of Amboyna, as Tonysiptera dea and Lo- 

 rius doniicella, were so scarce that I could not get a specimen of 

 either of them. I changed my locality — I went into the very 

 centre of the island ; but still nothing new, and birds in general 

 scarcer and scarcer. At last, however, after great exertions, I did 

 get two more species new to me, Eiidxjnamys ransomi and Corvus 

 ciulaceus ; and one, I believe^ new to science, and very interesting 



u2 



