Birds of Celebes: Turdidae. 
511 
“Bill yellow, above blackish; eyelid sulphur-yellow; iris sepia; legs yellow-brown” 
(P.&F. S.). 
Female. Browner on the breast (Hartert). 
Young. Above warmer brown (bistre) than the adult, darkest on the bead, palest on the 
rump, tail blackish; on the mantle and scapulars some fulvous shaft-streaks; the wing- 
coverts with rufous tips; under-parts rufous, loss clear than in the adult, spotted 
with dusky, most thickly on the breast; crissum whitish; thighs grey-brown and 
cinnamon; su 23 erciliary stri 2 )e, eyeUd, and submalar stri^je fulvous rufous, below the 
last a dark strijie on either side of the throat ((5* juv., Lompo Batang, c. 2400 m, 
6. XI. 95: P.&F. Sarasin)! 
Measurements. 
Wing 
Tail 
Tarsus 
Bill from 
nostril 
а. (SarasinColl.) c? ad., Lomjio Batang, c. 2000m, 16. X.95 
б. (SarasinColl.) ad., Lompo Batang, c. 2600in, 15. X. 95 
c. (SarasinColl.) cJ'juv., Lompo Batang, c. 2400m, 6. XI. 95 
d. (SarasinColl.) cf juv., Lomim Batang, c. 2400m, 6. XI. 95 
126 
126 
121 
123 
96 
92 
92 
91 
34 13 
34 — 
35 13.5 
35 12 
Distribution. South Celebes (Teijsinann I), Bonthain Mountains (P.& F. Sarasin, Everett 5, 
Doherty 4). 
It is pointed out by Mr. Biittikofer that this sjiecies is “very closely 
allied to M.javanica, but more olive-green, instead of brown, on back, rump, upper 
tail-coverts, upjier wing-coverts and scapulars, the chestnut colour on the under 
surface richer and reaching higher, covering the whole breast, and the white 
subterminal spots on the sides of the rumjj much larger and more numerous”. 
Other species nearly related to it are M. whiteheadi Seeb. of East Java, 
distinguishable from the West Javan form by the much more pronounced white- 
ness of its head; M. seehohmi Sharp) e of Kini Balu, Borneo, of a blacker plumage; 
M. schlegeli (Sclat.) of Timor, pale above, with the entire abdomen and anal region 
chestnut like the breast and sides, not white; M. celaenops Stejn. of the Parry 
and Bonin Islands, also, according to Seeb ohm, an allied form, with a black 
head and neck in the male sex. Seeb ohm remarks that in the tropics the 
species of the genus Merida seek the greatest elevations that they can find. 
Thus, M. javanica is known from an elevation of 8000 — 10,000 feet in West 
Java, M. whiteheadi from 7060 feet in East Java, M. seehohmi is most plentiful 
at 9000 feet on TCim' Balu, was never observed below 8000, but was seen as 
high as 12,000 feet (Whitehead, Ibis 1889, 268), M. schlegeli was obtained by 
Salomon Muller in the Penpioan Valley in the mountainous interior of I imor 
(Biittikofer). Although the type of M. celehensis is labelled “Macassar it is more 
likely that it came from the high mountains 20 — 30 miles away in the interior 
of the Southern Peninsula, where Lompo Batang attains to a height of nearly 
10,000 feet. On these mountains at heights of 6000 feet and upwards it was 
found by the Sarasins, Everett, and Doherty. 
