2l8 



FA UNA OF THE MALA Y ISLANDS AND PHILIPPINES 



curving forwards on the forehead and cheeks. The swifts which build edible nests 

 are represented by Collocalia nidifica, a species unknown on the mainland ; while 

 among the broadbills the black Sumatran species (Eurylcemus sumatranus) is con- 

 fined to the Archipelago. Closely allied to these is the beautiful Calyptomena 

 viridis,& bird the size of a nightingale, with a short, broad beak almost covered 

 by the curly feathers of the forehead. The powdered woodpecker (A lophonerpes 

 pidverulentus) is common to India, the Malay Peninsula, and the Malay Islands 



-, except Celebes ; but the 



latter island and the 

 Philippines are the sole 

 habitat of the four 

 species of the nearly 

 allied genus Microstic- 

 tus. Of these the Cele- 

 besian M. fulvus is slaty 

 grey above, and light 

 brown below, sprinkled 

 with small spots on the 

 head, neck, and throat, 

 the males being red on 

 the crown, face, and 

 cheeks. In size and 

 colour these birds ap- 

 proximate to the black 

 woodpeckers. 



Notable 

 Pigeons. 



among the 



pigeon tribe is the flight- 

 less Nicobar species 

 (Calcenas nicobarica), 

 which ranges from the 

 Nicobars to the Solomon 

 Islands, and is the only 

 representative of its 

 kind. Feeding, like most 

 of the group, on seeds, 

 this bird, which is a 

 little larger than an ordinary pigeon, is distinguished by its short body, the presence 

 of a collar of narrow ribbon-like feathers, the blue plumage with green and yellow 

 metallic reflections, the black head, and the white tail. Several types of ground-doves 

 (some of which were formerly assigned to the American genus Geotrygon) are pecu- 

 liar to Celebes and the Philippines, and belong to the Austro-Malay genus Phlogoenas. 



SUMATRAN BROADBILL. 



Reptues and The majority of the reptiles of the Philippines and Malay Islands 



Amphibians. are so nearly related to those of the Malay mainland, that they require 



but little notice here. In Borneo and Java lives, however, Schlegel's ghariai 



