442 Birds of Celebes: Dicaeidae. 



Adult male. Above pui-plish steel blue-black; quills and sides of head more dusky; sub- 

 malar region concolorous with head; chin, throat and jugulum scarlet; sides 

 of body dusky gi'ey, washed with ohvaceous; lower breast, abdomen and under 

 tail-coverts ochraceous buff, a broad mesial stripe of blackish on breast, the under 

 tail-coverts with blackish central streaks; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 white; edge of wing black; inner edging of quills below pale (cf, Macassar, 

 3. X. 95: Sarasin Coll.). Iris brown; bill, feet and claws black (Meyer 12, Platen 16). 



Young male. Without the scarlet thi-oat: above greyish seal-brown, washed with bistre on 

 the rump; breast and sides paler and more olivaceous grey; throat, abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts yellowish white; under wing-coverts and axillaries white, 

 edge of wing fi'eckled with dusky; quills and tail blackish (Macassar, (j', Jan. 1873, 

 Meyer — 442). Bill reddish yellow (12). 



Variation. The scarlet tint of the throat varies in intensity. With age the grey on the 

 sides and breast seems to grow blacker and to become more extended over the sur- 

 face. Two males from Macassar (C 440, C 441), killed in January and perhaps not quite 

 fully adult, have the black on the under surface much less in extent than in a 

 specimen from Banka (May) and a second from Manado tua (April) — islands off 

 the coast of N. Celebes. The gloss on the ui3i:)er surface is sometimes pre-eminently 

 steel-blue, occasionally more coppery (Banka Id.); between such birds gradual trans- 

 itions are found. 



One or two specimens from the Miiaahassa, apparently fine old adult males, 

 have the ' broad black stripe along the middle of the breast glossed with the steel-blue 

 of the upper surface. 



Female. Above dark brownish slaty glossed with lilac; upper tail-coverts and tail blue- 

 black, as in the male; below buff, oHve-green on the sides and flanks, ohve-grey on 

 the sides of the breast, darker on the face. Size smaller than the male: wing 45 mm. 

 ($, Eurukan, N. Cel., 2. XL 94: Sarasin Coll.) 



Measurements. 



Tarsus 



a. (Nr. 7698) ad., N. Celebes 50 26 i 7 11.3 



b. (C 435) ad., Manado, III. 71 47 26 ! 7 11 



c. (0 436) ad., Manado, in. 71 49 ' 24 i — 11.5 



d. (C 12210) ad., Manado tua, 16. IV. 93 48 24 | 6.5 12 



e. (C 12209) ad., Banka, 11. V. 93 48 25 | 6.5 11.5 



f. (0 441) vix ad. cf. Macassar, I. 73 48 23 i 6 — 



g. (C 440) vix ad. (f, Macassar, I. 73 49 26 7 1 1.5 



h. (Nr. 7699) imm., Celebes 47 i 24 6.5 — 



y. (0 442) juv. o'. Macassar, I. 73 I 44 i 21 6.5 11 



7 additional specimens (6 Sarasin Coll.) from N. & S. Celebes do not overreach 



these measurements (as to the wing). 

 Eggs. "The eggs sent by Dr. Platen fi"om Rurukan in the Minahassa are pure white, like 



the eggs of all species of Dicaeum, and measure 13 X 10 mm" (Nehrkorn MS.). 

 Distribution. Celebes and the islands off the coast: Minahassa (Leclancher a 1, Wall. 1.5, 



etc.); Lembeh, Banka and Manado tua Is. (Nat. Coll.); Togian Islands (Meyer 12); 



W. Celebes (Doherty 23); Southern Peninsula (Wallace 15, Meyer i2. Platen iff, 



Weber 19, etc.). 



This Flower-pecker seems to be a rather plentiful little bird in North 

 Celebes, inhabiting both the country near the coast, such as the neighbourhood 



