Birds of Celebes: Nectariniidae. 



455 



— Tulabello (Rosenb. b 3); West Celebes (Doherty 13); S. E. Central Celebes 

 (P. & F. Sarasin); S. E. Peninsula — Kandari (Beccari 4, f I); South Peninsula — 

 Indrulaman (Everett 12). 



This Sun-bird was discovered by Mr. Wallace in the forest district near 

 Lake Tondano at an altitude of about 1500 feet. Meyer got it near the same 

 place twelve years later, and five specimens, also killed in the same neigbour- 

 hood, were recently sent to the Dresden Museum by our native hunters, while 

 Platen obtained it at a greater altitude at Rurukan, and the Sarasins got it 

 there, as well as on Mt. Masarang at 1250 metres. They also found it near 

 the great lakes of South-east Central Celebes, Towuti and Matanna. Everett 

 sent one from the foot-hills of Mt. Bonthain. It seems to belong to the hill- 

 forests, and we question if the locality "Manado" of the specimens in the British 

 Museum is correct. 



Aethopyga flavostriata is one of a gi'oup — the typical Aethopyga-^ron^ — 

 with red backs, red breasts, and a yellow band across the rump, consisting of 

 the following geographical species: 



The Celebesian Ae.jlavostriata occupies, as Shelley shows, an intermediate 

 position between Ae. magnifica and Ae.siparaja, being distinguishable from both 

 by its yellow-striped throat and further from Ae. magnifica by its dusky olive, 

 not black, abdomen and under tail-coverts, and by the same characters from 

 Ae.siparaja in which they are "ashy brown, often tinted with olive" (Shelley V). 

 The yellow-streaked throat occurs again in Ae. mystacalis of Java and Ae. vigorsi 

 of India which are easily distinguished from it by their lengtliened middle tail- 

 feathers and other characters. 



This section of the genus Aethopyga lends further support to Mr. Wallace's 

 view of the recent separation of Borneo from Sumatra and Asia as shown by two 

 species (one occurring indeed in Java and elsewhere), which display no appre- 



