808 
Birds of Celebes: Ciconiidae. 
Eggs. “The eggs in my collection from Bast India ai-e considerably smaller than those of 
oiu- Cimnia alba, but resemble them in structure. They measure 60—65 X 47 mm” 
(ISTehrkorn MS.). Four eggs make up the sitting. They are said by Hume to vary 
much in shape and when perfectly fresh to he of a faintly bluish white, or, held 
against the light, of a delicate pale green. See, also, Bocarm^ c 2. 
Nest. In large trees; “they are densely built of twigs and small branches, and have a con- 
siderable central depression, sometimes thinly lined with down and feathers, and 
sometimes almost filled with straw, leaves and feathers, in amongst which the eggs 
are sunk as if packed for travelling” (Hume 14). 
Distribution. India (Jerdon, etc. g 5, 4, J4); Ceylon (Legge, etc. 4); Burmah (Oates, 
etc. loy, Tenasserim (Davison g 6)-, Malay Peninsula (Blyth 2); Sumatra (Wagler 
g 5)-, Java (Horsfield cl, de Bocarme c 2, etc.); Lombok (Everett J5); Borneo 
(Treacher g 2, Platen g 70, Grabowski g 77, g IS]-, Philippine Islands (Everett g 7, 
Steere g 16, Bourns & Worcester g 77, Whitehead g 7S); Celebes — Minahassa 
(Meyer g 8, Nat. Coll.), Gorontalo Distr. (Eiedel g 14, Meyer g 8), Saussu Eiver, 
Tomini Gulf (Eosenberg c 2, c 3), Togian Id. (Meyer g 8), Lake Posso (P.&F. 
Sarasin g 72, g 20). _ i . 
The White-necked Stork also inhabits Africa under a form which differs 
slightly from that of the Indian countries, and which seems worthy of specific 
or subspecific distinction. The bird from the White Nile was named Ciconia 
pruyssenaen by Heuglin, who afterwards withdrew the name, but our two 
specimens from West Africa and Abyssinia are recognisable as distinct from 
B. episcopus of India by the black feathers of the occiput having a mesial terminal 
streak of white in them, and those of the nape white like the neck, but the 
feathers of the nape are contour-feathers and not down as on the neck. The 
down on the face and forehead is for the most part black; in D. episcopus it is 
white. The toes also seem to be longer when compared with the tarsus. 
Dissoura episcopus is not often found in the Minahassa, according to Meyer’s 
observations, but is not rare in the Gulf of Tomini. It has not yet been re- 
corded from South Celebes, but the cousins Sarasin found it an inhabitant of 
Central Celebes on the marshy ground at the southern end of Lake Posso. It 
is probably a constant resident in the island, which marks, so far as is known, 
the easternmost bounds of its range. 
In many respects Bhsoura is a curious bird. The neck of the adult is 
clothed in white down; the contour-feathers are here wanting, but they are 
produced (at least to some extent) in the young bird, which no doubt displays 
a more ancestral condition in this respect. The face is naked save for a very 
little down, but on the head there is a sort of skull-cap of normal contour- 
feathers. The Storks and Ibises in general appear as if they were undergoing 
the process of becoming bald about the head and neck, as witness the Adjutants 
(Leptoptilus), the Jabiru (Mycteria), Tantalus, Ge^’onticus, Threskiornis, etc. The 
skull-cap of Bissoura has all the appearance of being a remnant of the original 
covering of the head and neck of the bird. M hilst it has lost feathers on the 
head and neck, it has developed in size those of the tail, the lateral upper — 
