1872.] ON THE BIEDS OF CELEBES. ' 177 



I identify the species which inhabits the district of Macassar with Labillardiere's bird, 

 because it best agrees with his short description. By him the bill is stated to be " of a light 

 black from the root to within one third of the point, the remainder is yellowish." This and the 

 green hue of the black portion of the plumage easily distinguish the South from the North 

 Celebean species. The bill is also more slender than that of the following species. 



108. Streptocitta torquata (Temm.), Nouv. Rec. 75'^™ livr. ; PL Col. 444, " Celebes" 

 (Jan. 5, 1828) ; G. R. Gray, Birds Trop. Isl. p. 25. 



Hah. Menado {mun. iiosfr.). 



I quite agree with Mr. G. R. Gray in regarding this form as specifically distinct from the 

 true S. caledonica, from which it differs by its strong, jet-black bill, and by having the black 

 portions of its plumage glossed with dark blue. Mr. G. R. Gray (/. c.) states that the actual 

 individual from which Temminck's figure was drawn is in the British Museum. 



In this species the first quill is barely one inch long ; the fourth and fifth are nearly equal, 

 the fifth being slightly the longest ; the third is somewhat shorter than the fourth ; the second 

 still a little shorter than the third. The wing measures b\ inches. The second pair of rectrices 

 exceeds the first by | of an inch ; the third the second by 1^ ; the fourth the third by If; the 

 fifth the fourth by If ; and the sixth, or middle pair, the fifth by 2| ; the total length of the 

 middle pair is llf ; bill from nostril f of an inch ; tarsus If. 



Temminck's surmise that this species occurs in Borneo has not been, as yet, realized. 



Professor Schlegel has generically separated his Charitornis alhertince from Strejitocitta ; 

 but it is difficult to seize the characters wherein it generically differs. The structure of the 

 wings, tail, and feet is identical. The colouring of the plumage is congeneric. The nostrils are 

 similar in form and position. The bill differs in being more arched and stouter, but it does not Tr. Z. S^viii. 

 differ in form from that of *S'. torquata so much as the bill of S. torquata does from that of ^'" "" 

 S. caledonica. In C. alhertince, however, the naked spaces, which are confined to the ophthalmic 

 region in the Celebean birds, extend to under the throat. In it also the frontal plumes are not 

 developed and curved back as in the two species of Streptocitt(B. Indeed the normal condition 

 of the frontal or nasal plumes is the only external character in which Charitornis differs from 

 Streptocitta. It seems more in accordance with the facts to regard the three species as 

 belonging to the same natural genus, with *S'. caledonica as the . connecting link. In the 

 colouring of the plumage C. alhertinm only differs from S. caledonica by having the head white. 

 By the black-and-yellow colouring of the bill, the South-Celebean species occupies an inter- 

 mediate position between the completely black bill of *S'. torqiuita and the completely yellow bill 

 of C. alhertince. 



Mr. Wallace has led us to infer (Malay Archip. i. p. 430) that Charitornis is confined to 

 Celebes ; but this is doubtless an error. Professor Schlegel's types were obtained in the island 

 of Soula Mangouli ; and the species has not been recorded from any other locality. 



I cannot concur with the Leyden Professor in placing Streptocitta among the Graculidaa ; 

 though a most anomalous form, its nearest affinities seem to be with the Corvidse. 



