Birds of Celebes: Parridae. 
727 
Distribution. Borneo — Lake Bangkau (G-rabowsky 6, 10)\ Celebes — Lake Limbotto 
(Forsten cl, Rosenberg cl, a 3, etc.); Macassar (fide Walden 2, Wallace 75); 
?Amboina, ?Banda, Mysol, New Guinea (Salvad. 4,13). (Australia — Queensland 
and New South Wales — Gould, Ramsay.] 
Want of material from Australia prevents us from uttering any opinion on 
the racial distinctness of the Australian hird, called H. novaehollcindiae by Count 
Salvador! on account of its larger size and paler upper surface; but Prof 
W. Blasius (10) has shown that females usually much exceed the measure- 
ments given by Salvador! for East-Indian birds. 
This remarkable species is very local in its distribution: for instance it is 
as yet known only from Lake Bangkau in Borneo, and only (with certainty) 
from Lake Limbotto in North Celebes and from Macassar (? near) in the South. 
On Lake Limbotto it occurs in flocks, Here Rosenberg obtained its eggs, 
and remarked how its lengthened claws enable it to run about with facility 
on the floating leaves of ‘^Nelumbiunt speciosum”. A good account of its habits 
is given by Gilbert in Gould’s works. It swims and dives well, but its flight 
is weak; it feeds on aquatic insects and some kind of vegetable matter. All 
naturalists write with pleasure of its handsome and striking appearance in its 
native haunts. 
The genus Hydralector is represented by the present species only. In its 
wonderfully lengthened hind claw it surpasses all the other Jacanas, which, 
like it, have feet especially adapted for running over floating water-plants. 
The comb is another peculiarity of the East-Indian form. Its nearest affinities 
seem to he with the Water Pheasant, Uydrophasianus, of India, Ceylon and 
China to the Philippines and Borneo, and with the Jacana of South America, 
and systematically they appear to come between the Rails and the Plovers. As 
Prof. Newton says (14), the Jacanas “have most frequently been classed with 
the RaUidae, but are now admitted to form a separate family, Parridae, whose 
leaning is toward the Limicolae, as apparently first suggested by Blyth, a view 
supported by the osteological observations of Parker (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853, 513), 
though denied by Prof A. Milne-Edwards (Ois. Foss. France II, p. 110).” 
Metopidius indicus (Lath.) 
In the geographical distribution of this species Hi. Sharpe indicates Celebes 
(Cat. B. 1896, XXIV, 72). His authority seems to be Schlegel (Mus. P.-B., 
Ralli, 1865, 68), who, however, simply catalogues a “tres jeune individu, indique 
par ]Mr. Temminck, mais prohablement par eiieur, comme ayant ete recueilli 
par Mr. Forsten a Gorontalo dans I’lle de Celebes . Iheie is therefore at 
present insufficient evidence of the occurrence in Celebes of this species, which 
may be distinguished from Hydralector gallinaceus by its blackish green remiges 
and by its not having an erect comb on the frontal lappet. 
