452 Birds of Celebes: Neotariniidae. 



Acmonorhynchus sanghirensis (1) Biittik., Zool. Erg. Weber's Eeise in Ost-Ind. 1S93, 

 ni, ;'.03. 



Descriptions. Salvadori n ]\ Sliarpe a 3; Blasius a 4. 



Adult. Whereas in P. aurcolhitbatus the j'ellow of the breast is broken through in the middle 

 and runs in even intensity along the sides of the body to the under tail-coverts, in 

 A. sangirensis, as a rule, the breast, or upper abdomen as the case may be, is 

 crossed by a band about 7 mm wide and rarely interrupted narrowly in the middle, 

 while the sides of the rest of the body and to a certain extent the middle j)arts are 

 coloured pale yellow-greenish and tlie under tail-coverts pale yellow (W, Blasius a 4). 



Immature. Like A. aureolimhafus, but the general colour above darker yellowish olive-green, 

 the sides of the breast bright ochre-yellow; abdomen, flanks and sides greyish white, 

 the yellow of the breast slightly carried on to the last; under tail-coverts pale ochre 

 (imm. ? Great Sangi: Meyer, C 1409). Prof. W. Blasius (a 4) regards a male with 

 the orange-yeUow of tlie breast less extended and less intense as an immatui-e in- 

 dividual. 



Iris yellow-brown (or red-brown); bill and feet black (Platen a 4). 



Sexes. Sexual differences are very small, if any; at the most the orange-yellow breast-band 

 in the male is somewhat broader and more brilliantly tinted and the male some- 

 what larger than the female (W. Blasius a 4). 



Measurements. Wing 50— 54.5 mm; tail 24—28.5; cuknen 9—10.5; tarsus 13—13.5. 



Distribution. Great Sangi (Bruijn a 1, Meyer in Dresd. Mus., Platen a 4). 



'iVo specimens collected by Bruijn's hunters at the village of Petta and 

 one by Meyer's hunters at Tabukan were a^jparently the only known specimens 

 of this species until a series of thirteen, 7 males and 6 females, obtained by 

 Dr. Platen were submitted to Prof. W. Blasius' careful examination. 



As with Dicaeum sanqirensis, the Dicaeidae furnish another link between 

 Sangi and Celebes in the present species. 



FAMILY NECTARINIIDAE. 



The Sun-birds find their nearest affinities in the Meliphagidae and the Di- 

 caeidae. From the latter they may be distinguished by their slender, decurved 

 bills, usually longer than the cranium, and the wing always contains 10 prima- 

 ries. The best means of distinguishing them from the Meliphagidae is afforded 

 by the tongue; in the Nectariniidae it is tubular and protractile, with a bifid 

 tip, in the Meliphagidae it is also protractile and bifid, but "each half is broken 

 up into numerous stiff horny fibres, so as to form a brush" (Gadow); also the 

 males of nearly all the Nectariniidae, except Arachnothera, have in places brilliant 

 metallic colours, while the Meliphagidae are generally plainly coloured and un- 

 metallic, though fine red occurs in the subfamily Mgzomelmae. 



The edges of both mandibles of the slender bill of the Sun-birds are finely 

 serrated for their terminal third or more'), for the examination of which a 

 lens is useful; the nostril is covered by a large coriaceous operculum, sometimes 



1) The serrations are also seen at least in some of the Meliphagidae, for instance, Myzomela and 

 Melilestes. 



