CHAPTER XX 



ANOMALOUS ISLANDS : CELEBES 



Anomalous Relations of Celebes — Physical Features of the Island — Zoo- 

 logical Character of the Islands Around Celebes — The Malayan and 

 Australian Banks — Zoology of Celebes : Mammalia — Probable Derivation 

 of the Mammals of Celebes — Birds of Celebes — Bird-types Peculiar to 

 Celebes — Celebes not Strictly a Continental Island — Peculiarities of 

 the Insects of Celebes — Himalayan Types of Birds and Butterflies in 

 Celebes — Peculiarities of Shape and Colour of Celebesian Butterflies — 

 Concluding Remarks — Appendix on the Birds of Celebes. 



The only other islands of the globe which can be classed 

 as " ancient continental " are the larger Antilles (Cuba, 

 Haiti, Jamaica, and Porto Rico), Iceland, and perhaps 

 Celebes. The Antilles have been so fully discussed and 

 illustrated in my former work, and there is so little fresh 

 information about them, that I do not propose to treat of 

 them here, especially as they fall short of Madagascar in 

 all points of biological interest, and offer no problems of a 

 different character from such as have already been 

 sufficiently explained. 



Iceland, also, must apparently be classed as belonging to 

 the " Ancient Continental Islands," for though usually 

 described as wholly volcanic, it is, more probably, an 

 island of varied geological structure buried under the 

 lavas of its numerous volcanoes. But of late years 

 extensive Tertiary deposits of Miocene age have been 

 discovered, showing that it is not a mere congeries of 



