440 
Birds of Celebes: Dicaeidae. 
Measurements. Seven adults fi’om Peling and Banggai have tlie wing 150 — 164 mm. 
Distribution. Sula Islands (Allen 2 , a 2); Peling and Banggai Obi major (Bruijn b 2). 
The Sula Urongo is one of a closely interrelated group of red-eyed species 
consisting of itself, D. horneensis (Sharpe) from Borneo and Sooloo, D. palaivan- 
ensis Tweedd. from Palawan, D. laemostictus Sclat. from New Britain, D. pro- 
pinqims (Tristr.), D’Entrecasteaux Islands, D. hracteatus Gould, Australia, S. New 
Guinea and the Tenimber Group, D. atrocaeruleus Gr. of Halmahera and Batjan 
- — wrongly recorded also by Gray and copied by Bosenberg as from Celebes 
(HL. I, 285; Mai. Arch. 272) — and D. carbonarius Bp. of Papuasia. To these 
D. biwaensis Bp. of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba and Flores — also wrongly recorded 
by Gray and copied by Rosenberg as from Celebes — and D. sumatranus 
R. G. W. Rams, of Sumatra again stand very near. This is one of those cases 
where names have been given and the birds of certain places marked off in a 
manner not calculated to advance knowledge in ornithology; it is only after- 
looking up the matter with considerable loss of time that the student becomes 
aware what an intricately interconnected set of local races these numerous specific 
names really represent. In most cases we may presuppose that some differences 
really exist, but whether these have always been correctly discriminated by the 
authors the future must show. The green and blue tints and the size of the 
metallic spots on the breast undoubtedly vary, as already mentioned, with age. 
Most of the forms may he expected, as subspecies, to fall into the ranks of one 
species, D. carbonaria Bp. In plumage there seems to be no difference between 
the Peling and Banggai birds and those of Celebes (D. leucops) and, in labelling 
the specimens from E. Celebes D. leucops and those of Peling, D. pectoralis, w-e 
are compelled to act from mere guess-work, for all that can be said is that it 
is probable that the latter will follow the rule and have the iris of the same 
colour as the Sula birds, and not as in the adult Celebes birds. 
FAMILY DICAEIDAE. 
The Flower-peckers are among the smallest birds occurring in Celebes. 
Oates has stated that they may be separated at once from all other Passeres, 
except the Nectariniidae, by the serrated edges of both mandibles.^) In the Dicae- 
idae the bill is as long as the head or less, in the Nectariniidae it is longer 
than the head, slender, and decurved. The nostril of the Picaeidae is long and 
narrow, with an imperfect coriaceous operculum above; the tail is short, about 
half as long as the wing; in some cases there are nine primaries only, the 
outermost one being nearly as long as the longest, in other genera a small 
tenth primary is still present. The more typical genera are Indo-Australian. 
1) The tomia are roughly serrated in many of the Meliphagidae. 
