464 
Birds of Celebes; Nectariniidae. 
183. HERMOTIMIA AURICEPS (G.R.Gray). 
Moluccan Black Sun-bird. 
a. Nectarinia aurioeps (1) Gray, P. Z. S. 1860, 348; (2) Wall., ib. 1862, 335, 343; (3) 
Brtiggem., Abb. Ver. Bremen 1876, V, 465; [4] W. Bias., J. f. 0.’l883, 158,’ 16^ 
Hermotimia auriceps (1) Salvad., Atti Ac. Sc. Tor. 1874, X, 228; (2) id. Orn. Pap. 11, 
1881, 260; (3) id.. Ibis 1884, 325; (4) id., Agg. Orn. Pap. 1890, 110; f5)M. & Ws. 
Abb. Mus. Dresd. 1896, Xr. 2, 17. ’ 
b. Cinnyris auriceps (I) Sbelley, Monogi-. Xect. 99, pi. 34, fig. 1 (1877). 
c. Cinnyris aspasiae pt. (IJ Gadow, Cat. B. TX, 1884, 68. 
“Tomonsi”, Balante, E. Celebes; “Tomonsi payung”, Peling, Banggai; “Suka” (9), Banggai 
Nat. Coll. ’ 
For further synonymy and references see Salvador! 2, 4. 
Figures and descriptions. Shelley b 7; Salvador! 7, 2; Gadow c 1. 
Adult male. Velvety black; head above greenish gold; lesser and middle wing-coverts 
lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts and outer edges of tail-feathers 
steel-blue-black; chin, throat and jugulum similar steel-blue-black; the black of 
the remaining under parts slightly washed with blue (Balante, B. Cel. — C 14312). 
Iris dark brown (b I). 
Female. Head above and hind neck ashy brown; back and scapulars olive [greenish]; 
wings brown, the feathers with broad olive edges, which on the quills have a slightly 
more yellow shade; tail black with white ends to all but the centre feathers, the 
white tips broadest on the outer ones; chin and throat white; breast, abdomen 
and under tail-coverts pale yellow; under wing-coverts and inner margins 
of the quills white, the former slightly shaded with sulphur- yellow: bill and legs 
black; irides dark brown (Shelley b I). 
Egg. “Of this bird I possess an egg collected by Dr. Platen in Halmahera, which very 
much resembles those of C. frenatus. It has a grey ground, violet under-spots and 
darker spots, between which black points are scattered. The measurements are: 
16 X 11 mm” (Nehrkorn MS.). 
Distribution. E. Celebes, Peling, and Banggai (Nat. Coll. 5); Sula Islands (Allen a 2, c 1); 
Moluccas as far as Waigiou and Obi (Salvador! 2,4 — who should be consulted 
for exact locahties). 
This bird is most closely related to H. morotensis (Shelley) of Morty, a 
' form with a greener crown and with a greener tint to the steel-blue portions 
of the plumage. The racial differences seem so small that it appears highly 
probable that they may fall within the scope of the individual variation of adult 
males in H. auriceps and so be bridged over, with the result of one species and 
perhaps two subspecies. Two specimens of the present species have been re- 
corded from Gorontalo by Bruggemann, and the record is repeated in 
Shelley’s great work. Through the kindness of Prof, von Koch we have been 
able to examine the two specimens in the Darmstadt Museum: they are now 
labelled “Celebes, Minahassa” (not Gorontalo), without a collector’s name, and 
on the back the dealers name “Schneider, 17. III. 76”. We agree with 
Prof. W. Blasius in holding them for H. auriceps, and he rightly adds: “The two 
Darmstadt examples are therefore dirived from the unreliable collection mentioned 
