464 Birds of Celebes: Nectariniidae. 



-^ 183. HERMOTIMIA AURICEPS (G. R. Gray). 

 Moluccan Black Sun-bird. 



a. Nectarinia auriceps (1) Gray, P. Z. S. 1860, 348; (2) Wall., ib. 1862, 335, 343; (3) 



Briiggem., Abb. Ver. Bremen 1876, V, 465; (4) W. Bias., J. f. 0. 1883, 158, 162. 

 Hermotimia auriceps (1) Salvad., Atti Ac. Sc. Tor. 1874, X, 228; (2) id., Orn. Pap. 11, 

 1881, 260; (3) id.. Ibis 1884, 325; (4) id., Agg. Orn. Pap. 1890, 110; (5) M. & Wg., 

 Abb. Mus. Dresd. 1896, Nr. 2, p. 17. 



b. Cinnyris auriceps (I) Shelley, Monogr. Nect. 99, pi. 34, fig. 1 (1877). 



c. Cinnyris aspasiae pt. (1) Gadow, Cat, B. IX, 1884, 68. 



"Tomonsi", Balante, E. Celebes; "Tomonsi payung", Peling, Banggai; "Suka" ($), Banggai, 

 Nat. Coll. 



For further synonymy and references see Salvadori 5, 4. 



Figures and descriptions. Shelley h I; Salvadori 1, 2; Gadow c 1. 



Adult male. Velvety black; head above greenish gold; lesser and middle wing-coverts, 

 lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts and outer edges of tail-feathers 

 steel-blue-black; chin, throat and jugulum similar steel-blue-black; the black of 

 the remaining under parts sUghtly washed vrith blue (Balante, E. Cel. — C 14312). 

 Iris dark brown (b I). 



Female. Head above and hind neck ashy brown; back and scapulars olive [greenish]; 

 wings brown, the feathers with broad ohve edges, which on the quills have a slightly 

 more yellow shade; tail black with white ends to all but the centre feathers, the 

 white tips broadest on the outer ones; chin and throat white; breast, abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts pale yellow; under wing-coverts and inner margins 

 of the quills white, the former shghtly shaded with sulphur- yellow: bill and legs 

 black; u-ides dark brown (Shelley b I). 



Egg. "Of this )jird I possess an egg collected by Dr. Platen in Halmahera, which very 

 much resembles those of C. frenatus. It has a grey ground, violet under-spots and 

 darker spots, between wMch black points are scattered. The measui-ements are: 

 16 X 11 mm" (Nehrkorn MS.). 



Distribution. E. Celebes, PeUng, and Banggai (Nat. CoU. 5); Sula Islands (Allen a 2, c 1); 

 Moluccas as far as Waigiou and Obi (Salvadori 2, 4 — who should be consulted 

 for exact locaHties). 



This bird is most closely related to H. morotensis (Shelleyi of Morty, a 

 form with a greener crown and with a greener tint to the steel-blue portions 

 of the plumage. The racial differences seem so small that it appears highly 

 probable that they may fall within the scope of the individual variation of adult 

 males in H. auriceps and so be bridged over, with the result of one species and 

 perhaps two subspecies. Two specimens of the present species have been re- 

 corded from Gorontalo by Briiggemann, and the record is repeated in 

 Shelley's great work. Through the kindness of Prof, von Koch we have been 

 able to examine the two specimens in the Darmstadt Museum: they are now 

 labelled "Celebes, Minahassa" (not Gorontalo), without a collector's name, and 

 on the back the dealers name "Schneider, 17. III. 76". We agree with 

 Prof. W. Blasius in holding them for H. auriceps, and he rightly adds: "The two 

 Darmstadt examples are therefore dirived from the unreliable collection mentioned 



