90 A NATURALIST IN CELEBES ch. v 



of the Malay islands are the blue kingfishers. They are 

 seen in nearly every field and road-side, and their plaintive 

 cry of ' kiss-kiss ' is one of the most familiar sounds to the 

 field-naturalist. The commonest species in Celebes is the 

 Sauropatis chloris, a beautiful little bird with a white body, 

 bright blue wings, and a long jet black bill. On nearly all 

 my walks near the swamps or water-courses I found them 

 skipping about on the huge leaves of the young coco-nut 

 trees or feeding among the roots of the mangroves. They 

 were by no means shy birds, and I could often get quite close 

 to the trees upon which they were perched and watch them 

 for some minutes before they became frightened and flew 

 away. The natives call them ' Kiss-kiss,' from their cry. 



A less common but by no means rare bird is the 

 Halcyon coromanda, one of the most beautiful of the king- 

 fishers, called by the natives ' Eajah udan,' or king of the 

 forest. One of these, which I never had the heart to shoot, 

 was nearly always to be seen perched on the bamboo palings 

 of the panchuran when I took my morning bath. It has a 

 dull red body and wings, with a patch of very brilliant light 

 blue in the middle of its back. The bill is very long 

 and thick, and has the same dull red colour. My boys shot 

 a specimen for me one day, but I found it by no means an 

 easy task to make a good skin of it, as its bill was so large 

 and awkward to pass through the neck. 



Another little kingfisher {Alcedo bengalensis) I occasion- 

 ally met with in the mangrove swamps, but it is not so 

 often seen as the other two. 



The cuckoo to which I have already referred and the 

 Eurystomus orientalis are occasionally met with. The 

 Eurystomus is one of the most fearless birds in the island. 

 He will sit upon his perch in a low tree or shrub flapping 

 his wings and uttering a series of ' kiak-kiak ' cries while 

 his enemy approaches and he seems to have no fear of any 



