chap, xviii.] OF CELEBES. 431 



Bonaparte finally placed it. It is almost entirely of a slaty 

 colour, with yellow bill and feet, but the feathers of the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts each terminate in a rigid 

 glossy pencil or tuft of a vivid crimson. These pretty 

 little birds take the place of the metallic-green starlings of 

 the genus Calornis, which are found, in most other islands 

 of the Archipelago, but which are absent from Celebes. 

 They go in flocks, feeding upon grain and fruits, often 

 frequenting dead trees, in holes of which they build their 

 nests ; and they cling to the trunks as easily as wood- 

 peckers or creepers. 



Out of eighteen Pigeons found in Celebes eleven are 

 peculiar to it. Two of them, Ptilonopus gularis and 

 Turacama menadensis, have their nearest allies in Timor. 

 Two others, Carpophaga forsteni and Phlaegenas tristig- 

 mata, most resemble Philippine island species ; and Car- 

 pophaga radiata belongs to a New Guinea group. Lastly, 

 in the Gallinaceous tribe, the curious helmeted Maleo 

 (Megacephalon rubripes) is quite isolated, having its 

 nearest (but still distant) allies in the Brush-turkeys of 

 Australia and New Guinea. 



Judging, therefore, by the opinions of the eminent 

 naturalists who have described and classified its birds, we 

 find that many of the species have no near allies whatever 

 in the countries which surround Celebes, but are either 

 quite isolated, or indicate relations with such distant 



