482 



Birds of Celebes: Meliphagidae. 



Distribution. Mountains of North Celebes: Gunong Manimporok in the Minahassa, Bone 

 Mts. in the Gorontalo District, and Gunong Mantinang near Buol (P.&F. S.). 



4- 2. Melilestes celebensis meridionalis M. & Wg. 



c. Melilestes celebensis meridionalis ;i) M. et Wg., Abh. Mus. Dresd. 1896, Nr. 1, p. 11; (2) 



Hart., Nov. Zool. 1896, 153; (3) id., ib. 1897, 157. 

 Diagnosis. Darker; dark greyish olive above, with black centre-streaks; below greyish sepia, 



with the light margins of the feathers less pale and distinct. "Iris dusky brown; 



bare orbital skin wliite" (P. & F. S... 



Measurements. 



Bill from 

 nostril 



a. (Sarasin Coll.) i^, type, western decHvity of the Peak 



of Bonthain ca. 1500 m, 2. XI. 95 85 73 21.5 19 



b. fSarasin Coll.) Q, ibid 82 71 20 IS 



c. (Sarasin Coll.) ? juv., ibid 74 63 18 16.5 



. d. (0 14888) cf, Bonthain Peak, 6000 ft., Oct. 95 (Everett) j 85 71 20.5 19.5 



e. (C 14S89) 9, Bonthain Peak, 6000 ft., Oct. 95 (Everett) | 78 65 19 18 



Distribution. South Celebes — Bonthain Mountains (P. & F. Sarasin c 1, Everett e 2, 

 Doherty e 3). 



This mountain-hauntiDg Honey-eater was one of the most interesting of the 

 discoveries of the Sarasins in Celebes. Its nearest affinities seem to be with 

 Melilestes megarhynchus of New Guinea and the neighbouring islands, a species 

 of somewhat similar, but more uniform brown, coloration, with a much larger 

 bill, similarly serrated (the serrations being more perfect in some specimens 

 than in others), with the nasal operculum narrower at the base, and the frontal 

 feathers not encroaching upon it. The foot and tarsus is, as Hartert points 

 out, smaller and more delicate in the Celebes form, the tarsus is indeed about 

 ^4 the length of the wing and longer than the middle toe, while in Melilestes 

 megarhynchus the tarsus is about Vio longer and equal to the middle toe; the space 

 of bare skin behind and above the eye is also peculiar to the Celebes form. 

 Still, it appears to us to stand as near (or nearer) to the typical Melilestes as 

 does M. iliolophus and its allies, and it would be disadvantageous to bury its 

 affinities under a new generic name. 



GENUS MYZA M.&Wg. 



Bill longer than the cranium, the tomia not serrated, but .slightly turned 

 inwards, a slight subterminal notch; the nostril linear, with an operculum, on 

 the basal part of which the feathers of the forehead impinge; behind the eye 



