260 
Birds of Celebes: Meropidae. 
Comparing the skeleton of Meropogon forsteni with that of Merops philippinus^ 
Meyer (15) points out that: in M. forsteni the crista sterni does not rise sharply, 
there is a fenestra (no incisura) intermedia, occipital protuberance less strongly 
expressed, processus orbitalis posterior more strongly developed, 7 ribs (in 
philippinus 6). 
In the genus Merops the nearest known ally of Meropogon is probably 
Merops hreweri of Gaboon, West Africa, between which species and Ngctiornis 
athertoni of India as far as Siam and Tenasserim, M. forsteni is placed by 
Dresser and by Sharpe; but we cannot agree with Mr. Wallace that M. hreweri 
is the “only near ally” of Meropogon (5) and Mr. Wallace himself appears to 
have abandoned this opinion in his later work “Island Life" (1880, 430). Its 
nearer allies are no doubt Ngctiornis athertoni and amictus. 
Ihe geographical distribution of East Indian Meropidae affords an interesting 
case almost parallel with that of the Hornbills. East of Celebes, as has been 
shown, there occurs only one Hornbill, a species, ranging from the Moluccas 
to the Solomons, belonging to a genus of exceptionally good ffying-powers, which 
has in all probability extended its range by flight. In Celebes and the countries 
to the west occur numerous genera of Hornbills with weaker wings and, con- 
sequently, poor powers or indolent habits of flight; and these genera are of 
narrow geographical range. Similarly, among the Meropidae there is found to 
the east of Celebes only one Merops^ M. ornatiis^ a species belonging to a genus 
which, like the wide-spread Hornbill, Rhgtidoceros^ is excellently fitted, by the 
form of its quills and habits of flight, to making its way on the wing to new 
territories. Many species of Merops are migrants, and M. o>7?a^w.9'makes its way 
annually from Celebes eastward to Australia. It cannot, therefore, be doubted 
that this species extended its range by flight; it is indeed conceivable, as has 
been already remarked, that some members of M. philippinus^ visiting the East 
India Islands about the equator during the cold season, made their way to the 
south, instead of returning north, and so became gradually adapted to a different 
breeding season, thus cutting themselves off from all intercourse with the stock 
from which they sprang. Meropogon and Ngctiornis correspond with the ill-flying 
species of Hornbills, and, like them, extend to Celebes, but no further. Actual 
observations on their flight are still rather a desideratum, but their wings are 
much blunter and more rounded than that of that genus, and^they ajDpear to be 
of much quieter habits of flight than Merops. Thus Hodgson writes of N. ather- 
toni: these birds “seek the deepest recesses of the forest, and there, tranquilly 
seated on a high tree, watch the casual advent of their prey, and having seized 
it return directly to their station. They are of dull staid manners, and never 
quit the deepest recesses of the forest” (Dresser, p. 9). Dr, Hagen refers to 
Ngctiornis amicta in Sumatra as a bird which “sits quiety and motionlessly on a 
bough al>ove us" (T. Ned. Aard. Genoots. 1890, 2. ser., VII, 141). This should be 
contrasted for a moment with Dr. Jer don’s account of M. philippinus: “the flight 
of this Bee-eater is very fine and powerful, now dashing onwards with rapid 
