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THE BIRDS OF BATJAN. 



Bv ERNST HAETERT. 



rr^HE beautiful, well-kuowu island of Batjan, close to the southern iieuiiisiila of 

 -L the large island of Halmahera (or Gilolo) in the northern Moluccas, has 

 been rather well explored with regard to its ornithology. Mr. A. U. AV^allace, the 

 celebrated author of the Mnlay Archipelago, was the first ornithologist to 

 collect birds on Batjan. Although birds from the Moluccas had reached Europe, 

 especially Holland, long ago, mostly from Ternate, or at least ciii Ternate, in the 

 north, and from Amboiua in the south, it seems that Batjan birds were unknown, 

 or else such a remarkable bird as Scmioptera wallacei would have been known 

 before Wallace's memorable visit to Batjan. Moreover, Wallace discovered not 

 only the Seiiiioptcru, but a good number of other new species on Batjan. They 

 are mostly described by G. K. Gray in the Proceedings of the Zoological Societi/ 

 of London, 1860. pp. 341—360. 



About the same time Dr. Bernstein collected on Batjan, and his very extensive 

 collection is preserved in the Leyden Museum. 



The yacht ikuxhcm visited Batjan in 18S3, and a list of the collections made 

 on that island by Messrs. Powell and Guillemard is given in the Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Societg 1885. pp. oOl — 570. There is also a list of the birds collected 

 by the naturalists of the Marchcsa in Guillemard's interesting book Cruise of the 

 Marchesa ; but that list is almost useless, as the islands whence the various species 

 came are not mentioned. 



In 1882 and 1802 Dr. Platen collected on Batjan, and Mr. Nehrkoru has 

 presented us with a list of his birds, together with all the species known from that 

 island, in the Journal fiir Ornithologic 1894. pp. 167—161. This list contains in 

 all 125 species known to have occurred on Batjan, but two or three require con- 

 firmation.* Recently Count Berlepsch enumerated the birds brought home from 

 Batjan by Prof. Kiikenthal, but they were only 35, of which only a few were of 

 special interest {Abh. Senckenb. Ges. xxv. 2. pp. 311—316). 



Faunistically Batjan agrees with its larger sister island Halmahera ; but 

 although so near to the latter, some of the forms differ from the Halmaherau 

 ones, especially the Bird of Paradise, Semioptera wallacei, which is represented on 

 Halmahera by Semioptera wallacei kalmaherae. 



While neither Platen's magnificent collections nor those of Guillemard and 

 Kiikenthal contained any novelties, the material sent recently to the Tring Museum 

 by Doherty and Waterstradt, especially the latter, has made us acquainted with 

 some interesting novelties, partly forms new to science, partly not hitherto known 

 to occur in the Moluccan archii)elago. These discoveries are merely "^ne to the fact 

 that these collectors ascended the mountains in the interior, ^^herty reached 

 elevations of 4ilOi) ft,, Waterstradt or his collectors those of ■'»■ ~i>00 ft. The 

 new forms found on these higii mountains are (cf. Miiscicu,/. ■ic maciilata wester- 

 manni, Mu.'icicdpula hi/pcn/thra. pallidipectus, L'rgptolopha ecric.ttt water stradti, 



' In the XatuuilcHiidiij Tijdsrhr. vo,ir ^Xedrr/.-Iiidie Ivllv, AJlireriii</ 171—262, Dr. A. G 



Vorderman publiolied an article " Molulikcn-Vogels," in which a number o.' ' '1^ £ive«enlioueU. 



