Of Celebes. 279 



the Celebesian fauna, it will therefore be well to consider only 

 the productions of the main island. 



The number of land birds in the island of Celebes is 128, 

 and from these we may, as before, strike out a small number 

 of species which roam over the whole Archipelago (often from 

 India to the Pacific), and which therefore only serve to dis- 

 guise the peculiarities of individual islands. These are 20 in 

 number, and leave 108 species which we may considoj.- as more 

 especially characteristic of the island. On accurately compar- 

 ing these with the birds of all the surrounding countries, we 

 find that only nine extend into the islands westward, and nine- 

 teen into the islands eastward, while no less than 80 are en- 

 tirely confined to the Celebesian fauna — a degree of individ- 

 uality which, considering the situation of the island, is hardly 

 to be equalled in any otlier part of the world. If we still 

 more closely examine these 80 species, we shall be struck by 

 the many peculiarities of structure they present, and by the 

 curious affinities with distant parts of the world which many 

 of them seem to indicate. These points are of so much inter- 

 est and importance that it will be necessaiy to pass in review 

 all those species which are peculiar to the island, and to call 

 attention to whatever is most worthy of remark. 



Six species of the hawk tribe are peculiar to Celebes ; three 

 of these are very distinct from allied birds which range over 

 all India to Java and Borneo, and which thus seem to be sud- 

 denly changed on entering Celebes. Another (Accipiter 

 triuotatus) is a beautiful hawk, with elegant rows of large 

 round white spots on the tail, rendering it very conspicuous 

 and quite different from any other known bird of the famUy. 

 Three owls are also peculiar ; and one, a barn owl (Strix ro- 

 senbergii), is very much larger and stronger than its ally Strix 

 javanica, which ranges from India through all the islands as 

 far as Lombock. 



Of the ten parrots found in Celebes, eight are peculiar. 

 Among them are two species of the singular raquet-tailed par- 

 rots forming the genus Prioniturxis, and which are character- 

 ized by. possessing two long spoon-shaped feathers in the tail. 

 Two allied species are found in the adjacent island of Min- 

 danao, one of the Philippines, and this form of tail is found in 

 no other parrots in the whole world. A small species of 



