344 Batchian. 



tiful blue kingfisher (Todiramphus diops), the fine green and 

 purj^le doves (Ptilonopus superbus and P. iogaster),and several 

 new birds of small size. My shooters still brought me in 

 specimens of the Semioptera Wallacei, and I was greatly ex- 

 cited by the positive statements of several of the native hunt- 

 ers that another species of this bird existed, much handsomer 

 and more remarkable. They declared that the plumage was 

 glossy black, with metallic-green breasts as in my species, but 

 that the white shoulder-plumes were twice as long, and hung 

 down far below the body of the bird. They declared that 

 when hunting pigs or deer far in the forest they occasionally 

 saw this bird, but that it was rare. I immediately offered 

 twelve guilders (a pound) for a specimen, but all in vain, and 

 I am to this day uncertain whether such a bird exists. Since 

 I left, the German naturalist, Dr. Bernstein, staid many months 

 in the island with a large staff of hunters collecting for the 

 Leyden Museum ; and as he was not more successful than my- 

 self, we must consider either that the bird is very rare, or is 

 altogether a myth. 



Batchian is remarkable as being the most eastern point on 

 the globe inhabited by any of the Quadrumana. A large black 

 baboon-monkey (Cynopithecus nigrescens) is abundant in some 

 parts of the forest. This animal has bare red callosites, and a 

 rudimentary tail about an inch long — a mere fleshy tubercle, 

 which may be very easily overlooked. It is the same species 

 that is found all over the forests of Celebes ; and as none of 

 the other Mammalia of that island extend into Batchian, I am 

 inclined to suppose that this species has been accidentally in- 

 troduced by the roaming Malays, who often carry about with 

 them tame monkeys and other animals. This is rendered 

 more probable by the fact that the animal is not found in 

 Gilolo, which is only separated from Batchian by a very nar- 

 row strait. The introduction may have been very recent, as 

 in a fertile and unoccupied island such an animal would multi- 

 ply rapidly. The only other mammals obtained were an East- 

 ern opossum, which Dr. Gray has described as Cuscus ornatus, 

 the little flying opossum (Belideus ariel), a civet-cat (Viverra 

 zebetha), and nine species of bats, most of the smaller ones be- 

 ing caught in the dusk with my butterfly-net as they flew about 

 before the house. 



