Birds of Celebes: Cuculidae. 
229 
interest in questions concerned with the geographical distribution of animals. 
Among birds which appear to be stationary and settled, it is usual to find new 
species in localities separated by a narrow reach of sea or other geographical 
barrier; among the Fhoenicophaeinae these barriers are often the means of sepa- 
rating forms which some authorities have distinguished as genera. Thus, Rhampho- 
coccyx is confined to Celebes, Rhinococcyx to Java, Bryococcyx to Palawan, 
Phoenicophaes s. str. to Ceylon, Basylophus to Luzon and Marin dnque (Steere), 
Lepidogrammus to Luzon, Hyetornis to Jamaica, each of which genera Capt. 
Shelley finds to be represented by a single species; Coua with 12 species is 
peculiar to Madagascar. 
The subfamily Phoenicophaeinae forms an important link between Celebes 
and Asia, no member of it being known from the Moluccas or any other part 
of the Australian B/egion. Owing to their structure and their habits the 
Phoenicophaeinae appear less likely than any Celebesian genera yet considered to 
have spread their range by flight over wide stretches of sea. The wing is very 
short and rounded, the tail very long; the length in the flesh of specimen “a” 
(antea) of Phoenicophaes calorhynchus meridionalis was found by Dr. Platen to be 
550 mm, the wing is only 200 mm; Legge shows the wing to be only one-third 
the total length in the Ceylon species, P. pyrrhocephalus (B. Ceylon, 256); and 
Shelley’s measurements prove that the same condition obtains throughout the 
subfamily, the total length being always more than twice, and often more than 
three times that of the wing. 
It appears that these birds are rarely or never seen on the wing in the 
sense of taking long flights — at least this is the case with the Indian and 
East Indian forms. Davison remarks of Rhopodyt.es “Its flight is weak, 
and it relies more for its safety on the dense and impenetrable character of 
the places it prefers to frequent. It has a marvellous capacity for making its 
way through dense cover” (Str. F. VI, 163); and on the next page he remarks 
that the habits of P. sumatranus are similar. Urococcyx microrhinus in Borneo 
was found by Mottley to conceal itself among the brushwood and when disturbed 
to take only very short flights 'Oates t. c. 125). Rhinortha chlorophaea, accor- 
ding to Davison, resembles Rhopodytes in all its habits (S. F. VI, 166). Legge 
speaks of the way in which Zanclostomus in Ceylon makes off, threading its way 
quickly through the most tangled underwood, but in places where it is common 
it may often be seen flying across roads. Phoenicophaes when flushed in the 
jungle flies up to high branches and quickly gets out of danger, taking short 
flights from tree to tree. Meyer found that Phoenicophaes in Celebes “does 
not fly away even after being shot at; it sits quiet if a bird by its side falls 
down; but I always got the impression that it is the fright which rivets it to 
the spot^). It flies quickly, or rather glides or slides through the foliage” (a 17). 
1) ‘‘Once” — continues Meyer, in a different connection — “some one told me, at Remboken, on the 
shores of the Tondano lake, that several years before such a bird flew, crying very loudly, over the village. 
