488 
Birds of Celebes: Zosteropidae. 
Adult. Above witb sides of head and neck olive-green, yellower on the rump and upper 
tail-coverts; quills black, except on the outer primary and the distal ends of the 
others; tail black; forehead and region in front of eyes black; orbital ring 
white; chin and throat greenish ochre-yellow; under tail-coverts ochre-yelloAv ; 
breast and sides ashy; abdomen and under wing-coverts white; inner edges 
of quills below pale ((^, Eurukan, 19. VTH. 84: Platen in Mus. Nehrkorn, 
Nr. 960). Iris light brown (olive-brown — Wallace 1); bill black; feet lead-grey 
(Platen). 
Female. Answers to the above description, but the feet are “hellgrau” and the chest olive- 
grey (9, Mus. Berlepsch). 
Measurements (after W. Blasius 13 — from numerous examples of both sexes, and 4 
and 2 Q g in the Sarasin Coll.). Wing 51 — 54.5 mm; tail 35 — 38.5; culmen c. 11; 
bill from nostril c. 7—8; tarsus c. 15. 
Skeleton. 
Length of cranium 
26.0 
mm 
Length of fibula 
6.0 mm 
Greatest breadth of cranium . 
12.0 
» 
Length of tarso-metatarsus . . 
14.0 » 
Length of humerus .... 
13.0 
Length of digitus . . . . , 
12.0 * 
Length of ulna 
14.5 
Length of sternum .... 
13.7 » 
Length of radius 
14.0 
> 
Greatest breadth of sternum . 
9.0 » 
Length of manus 
13.5 
> 
Height of crista sterni . . . 
4.0 * 
Length of metacarpus . . . 
7.5 
» 
Length of coracoideum . . . 
13.0 » 
Length of digitus principahs . 
6.0 
» 
Length of scapula 
14.0 
Length of femur 
13.5 
» 
Length of clavicula .... 
12.8 » 
Length of tibia 
21.4 
» 
Length of pelvis 
16.0 * 
Egg. “The egg sent home by Dr. Platen from Eurukan in the Minahassa is like the eggs 
of all Zosteropidm uniform blue and measimes 15 X 12.3 mm” (Nehrkorn MS.). 
Two eggs obtained by Drs. Sarasin at Tomohon, 16. Apiil, 1894, are rounded ovate 
in shape and bluish white in colour, havmg no doubt become bleached after blowing. 
Nest. The Sarasins also obtauied two nests of this little bird, one with 3 young ones 
(Tomohon, 2. May, 1894), the other with the above two eggs. The first is suspended 
by means of cobweb between the fork of a twig. Both are neat cup-shaped struc- 
tures, the outer wall formed of moss, then some shreds of dead weed-growths, or 
such like, Avell lined with long, black, hair-like, vegetable fibres. Diam. internal c. 5 cm, 
external c. 7 cm, depth c. 3.5 cm. 
Distribution. North Celebes: Minahassa (Wallace 1,10, Platen 12,13, etc.); Buol (P. & P. 
Sarasin 76); Gorontalo (Leyden Mus. a 1); Tawaya, W. Celebes (Doherty 78); 
Lake Posso, Central Celebes (P. & P. S. 77). 
In the IX. volume of the Briti.sh Museum Catalogue of Birds (1884) Dr. 
Sharpe described 85 species of the genus Zosterops, and we have had no diffi- 
culty in finding notice of upwards of 40 new species described in the following 
ten years, so that this genus now embraces upwards of 125 forms. Zosterops 
atrifrons belongs to Dr. Sharpe’s division “B”, in which either the throat or 
the under tail-coverts are yellow, differing from the breast, and it is one of the 
following group with black foreheads: 
1. Z. atricapilla Salvad.: Sumatra; 
2. Z. dara Sharpe: Kini Balu, Borneo; 
3. Z. nehrkorni W. Bias.: Great Sangi; 
