274 



NATURAL mSTORY 



[chap. xvih. 



Doubtfully allied to Ihe Starlings are two other very 

 isolateii and beaiitiful birds. (>ne, Enodes erythropiirys, 

 has asby aud yellow pluma^re, but is ornamented with 

 broad stripes of orange-red above the eyes. The other, 

 Basilornis celebensis, is a blue-black bird with a wliite 

 patch on each side of the breast, aud the head ornamented 

 with a beautiful compressed scaly crcst of featbei-s, resem- 

 bling in form that of the well-known Cock-of-tlie-rock of 

 South America. The only ally to this birii is found in 

 Ceram, and has the feathers of the crest elongated up- 

 wards into quite a different form. 



A st-Lll more curious bird is the Scissirostruni pa^ei, 

 which although it is at present classed in tlie Starling 

 family, differs from all other species in the form of the 

 bill and nostrils, and seems most nearly allied in its 

 general structure to the Ox-peckers (Buphaga) of tropical 

 Africa, next to which the celebrated ornithologist Prince 

 ijonaparte finally placed it. It is almost entii'ely 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 Caloniis, viiiich are found in most other islands 

 of the Arcliipelago, but which are absent from Celebes. 

 They go in flocks, feeding upon graui and fruita, often 

 frequenting dead trees, in boles of winch 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, Piilonopns gularis and 

 Turaca?na menadensis, have their nearest allies in Timor. 

 Two others, Carpopliaga forsteni and I'bltegenas tristig- 

 mata, most resemble Pliihppine island species ; and Car- 

 pophaga radiata belongs to a Kew Guinea group. Lastly, 

 in the Gallinaceous tribe, the curious helmet^d Maleo 

 (Megacephalon riihripes) is quite isolated, liaving 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 



