17 
“ Tlie female of Meroyogun forsteni lias not such brilliant colours as the male, and the 
lengthened feathers of the throat are not as handsome. But I cannot agree with Mr. Wallace s 
opinion, above cited, as to its nearest ally being in Africa. The species of Nyctiornis of the 
Malay archipelago are its most natural and nearest allies ; and Meroyogon forsteni gives to 
Celebes no other characteristic feature than Nyctiornis amictus gives to Borneo and Sumatra. 
All these are alike related to the West- African Bee-eaters, belonging to one and the same family, 
which occupies nearly the whole Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian region. 
“ There is some error in Lord Twecddalc’s {l. c. p. 42) giving the habitat ‘ Burukan ’ on my 
authority in a paper read May 2nd, 1871, in London ; whereas I only obtained my first specimen in 
North Celebes itself at the end of the same month.” 
In conclusion, I may remark that M. Oustalet, the Curator of the Museum at the Jardin des 
Plantes in Paris, told me that he purchased several examples of this rare bird from a plumassier, 
who had received them with other bright-coloured birds, and would have cut them up for plumes 
had not M. Oustalet fortunately rescued them from so sad a fate. 
The specimen figured and described is the one in the Tweeddale collection, for the loan of 
which I am indebted to Captain B. G. Wardlaw Bamsay. 
In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 
E Mus. Tweeddale. 
a, $ . Rurukan, Celebes. 
E Mus. Paris. 
a, b. Celebes. 
E Mus. Lugd. 
a , $ . Tondano, Celebes {Dr. Forsten ) . 
E Mus. Acad. Eublin. 
a. Celebes. 
D 
