CHAP. XX 



CELEBES 



457 



as might readily pass over narrow straits from island to 

 island ; and we are thus better enabled to understand the 

 very small numbers of the arboreal monkeys, of the Insec- 

 tivora, and of the numerous and varied Carnivora and 

 Rodents, all so abundant in Borneo, but which, except the 

 squirrels and mice, are so scantily represented in Celebes. 



The question at issue can only be finally determined by 

 geological investigations. If Celebes has once formed part 

 of Asia, and participated in its rich mammalian fauna, 

 which has been since destroyed by submergence, then some 

 remains of this fauna must certainly be preserved in caves 

 or in late Tertiary deposits, and proofs of the submergence 

 itself will be found when sought for. If, on the other hand, 

 the existing animals fairly represent those which have at 

 any time reached the island, then no such remains will be 

 discovered and there need be no evidence of any great and 

 extensive subsidence in late Tertiary times. 



Birds of Celebes. — Having thus clearly placed before us 

 the problem presented by the mammalian fauna of Celebes, 

 we may proceed to see what additional evidence is afforded 

 by the birds and any other groups of which we have 

 sufficient information. Since the last edition of this work 

 was issued much has been done in the further exploration 

 of the island and its outlying islets by naturalists and 

 collectors, and the results, as regards the birds, have been 

 collected in the fine work on the Birds of Celebes, published 

 by Dr. Meyer and Mr. Wigglesworth in 1898. The list of 

 species at the end of this chapter, and most of the facts as 

 to distribution, are derived from this volume. 



Besides the main island, with its northern, southern, 

 and two eastern peninsulas, there are a number of islands 

 and islets around Celebes which evidently belong to it, and 

 which, besides agreeing generally with it in their productions, 

 often possess peculiar species of their own. These are the 

 Sanguir Islands on the extreme north, the Sula and Peling 

 Islands on the north-east, the Bouton group on the south- 

 east, and Salayer on the south, besides the Togian Islands 

 in the Gulf of Tomini. All these islands have now been 

 more or less explored by bird-collectors, and lists are 

 given in the above-named work of the species which have 



