144 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES ch. vi 



rarely, a Eurystomus. Pigeons and doves are often seen in 

 the higher branches, and the larger birds of prey waiting 

 for the tide to leave the shore or resting after their labours 

 of the day. Of the mammals, the baboons occasionally 

 come down from the hills to feed upon the moUusks and 

 small crabs, and numerous small bats may be seen, as the 

 sun begins to sink, flitting about among the trees. 



The conditions of life in the mangrove swamp are so 

 extraordinary that if examples of all the animals found 

 within a given area of it were collected, it would be dis- 

 covered not only that a very large number of the genera, 

 but nearly every one of the classes of the animal kingdom 

 were represented. 



Mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, mollusks, insects, 

 Crustacea, worms, echinoderms, coelenterata, and protozoa 

 live and thrive within its limits. The same cannot be said 

 of any other region on dry land or in the waters. We find, 

 in fact, a curious combination here of the land, the sea and 

 fresh- water fauna brought about by the peculiar advantages 

 the swamp affords to various animals of different habits to 

 live and find their food. 



The flow of sea -water over the ground twice iu every 

 twenty-four hours brings a fresh supply of small fishes and 

 other marine animals to be caught in the meshes of the 

 mangrove roots and left as food, when the tide goes down, 

 for the terrestrial forms. 



The constant rain of leaves and fruit from the great 

 trees and their parasites, together with the numbers of 

 little insects which tumble from them into the waters, form 

 an animal and vegetable pabulum for aquatic creatures. 

 Ants and crabs, the scavengers of sea and land, find an 

 abundance to devour. The insectivorous bats and birds 

 are well supplied in the swarms of flies and mosquitoes 

 that abound. The larger birds of prey, the kingfishers. 



