180 CELEBES. [chap. 



several of the more vividly-coloured forms met with in Borneo, 

 Java, and the Malay Peninsula are wanting. Perhaps one of the 

 most beautiful is a tiny Pigeon (Ptilojnis melanoccphalus), with 

 shining green body and French grey head. At the nuque is a 

 small black velvety patch, the throat and vent are bright yellow, 

 and the under tail-coverts crimson. New Guinea is the home of 

 many species of this genus, which are yet more brilliantly coloured. 

 The plantations abounded with a species of Golden Oriole, bright 

 green Lorikeets with scarlet heads {Loriculus stigmatus), and a Brush- 

 tongued Lory (TrkJwglossus ornatus), gay in a dress of dark blue, 

 scarlet, yellow, and green. This last bird is the most western 

 representative of a Papuan genus of parrots possessed of extensile 

 tongues, with the tip formed by a bunch of fine filaments which 

 are admirably adapted for sucking up the juices of the soft fruits 

 on which these creatures live. Kingfishers were very numerous on 

 the river and in the forest, and we obtained no less than ten dif- 

 ferent kinds during our stay in the north of Celebes. Temminck's 

 Pioller (Coracias temmincJci) also fell to our guns, — a dark sapphire- 

 coloured bird, with the head and upper tail-coverts of pale greenish 

 blue, — especially interesting as an instance of discontinuous dis- 

 tribution, for no other Piollers are found in the Malayan region. 



We had not succeeded in obtaining any of the curious 

 Megapodes or Mound-builders, whose method of nestmg we were 

 very anxious to see, and accordingly we determined on visiting 

 the islands and coast to the north with that object. But before 

 lea\Ting Menado and the coffee districts, with their "iniquitous 

 system " of management by the Dutch, I cannot forbear quoting 

 Mr. Wallace's words ^ upon this subject, with which, so far as our 

 limited visit permitted of a judgment, I confess I entirely agree : — 



" No clovibt the system seems open to serious objection. It is to a ceitain 

 extent despotic, and interferes with free trade, free labour, and free communi- 

 cation. A native cannot leave his village without a pass, and cannot engage 

 himself to any merchant or captain without a Government permit. The 

 1 "Wallace, o^). cit. p. 256. 



