452 
Birds of Celebes: Nectariniidae. 
Acmonorhynchus sanghirensis (1) Biittik., Zool. Erg. Weber’s Reise in Ost-Ind. 1893, 
lU, 303. 
Descriptions. Salvadori a 1\ Sharpe a 5; Blasius a 4. 
Adult. Whereas in P. aiireolimbatvs the yellow of the breast is broken through in the middle 
and runs in even intensity along the sides of the body to the under tail-coverts, in 
A. sangirensh, as a rule, the breast, or upper abdomen as the case may be, is 
crossed by a band about 7 mm wide and rarely interrupted narrowly in the middle, 
while the sides of the rest of the body and to a certain extent the middle parts are 
coloured pale yellow-greenish and the under tail-coverts pale yellow (W. Blasius a 4). 
Immature. Like A. aureolimbatus, but the general colour above darker yellowish olive-green, 
the sides of the breast bright ochre-yellow; abdomen, flanks and sides greyish wliite, 
the yellow of the breast slightly carried on to the last; under tail-coverts pale ochre 
(imm. ? Great Sangi; Meyer, C M09). Prof. W. Blasius (a 4) regards a male with 
the orange -yellow of the breast less extended and less intense as an immature ni- 
di vidual. 
Iris yellow-broivn (or red-brown); bill and feet black (Platen a 4). 
Sexes. Sexual differences are very small, if any; at the most the orange-yellow breast-band 
in the male is somewhat broader and more brilliantly tinted and the male some- 
what larger than the female (W. Blasius a 4). 
Measurements. Wing 50 — 54.5 mni; tail 24 — 28.5; culmen 9 —10.5; tarsus 13 — 13.5. 
Distribution. Great Sangi (Bruijn a 1, Meyer in Dresd. Mus., Platen a 4). 
Two specimens collected by Bruijn’s hunters at the village of Petta and 
one by Meyer’s hunters at Tabukan were apparently the only known specimens 
of this species until a series of thirteen, 7 males and 6 females, obtained by 
Dr. Platen were submitted to Prof. W. Blasius’ careful examination. 
As with Dicaeum sangirensis, the Dicaeidae furnish another link between 
Sangi and Celebes in the present species. 
FAMILY NECTARINIIDAE. 
The Sun-birds find their nearest affinities in the Meliphagidae and the Di- 
caeidae. Prom the latter they may be distinguished by their slender, decurved 
bills, usually longer than the cranium, and the wing always contains 10 prima- 
ries. 'I'he best means of distinguishing them from the Meliphagidae is afforded 
by the tongue; in the Nectariniidae it is tubular and protractile, with a bifid 
tip, in the Meliphagidae it is also protractile and bifid, but “each half is broken 
up into numerous stiff horny fibres, so as to form a brush” (Gadow); also the 
males of nearly all the Nectariniidae, except Arachnothera, have in places brilliant 
metallic colours, while the Meliphagidae are generally plainly coloured and un- 
metallic, though fine red occurs in the subfamily Myzomelinae. 
The edges of both mandibles of the slender bill of the Sun-birds are finely 
serrated for their terminal third or more ') , for the examination of which a 
lens is useful; the nostril is covered by a large coriaceous operculum, sometimes 
*) The seiTafions are also seen at least in some of the Meliphagidae, for instance, Slyzomela and 
Melilestes. 
