We Then Crossed
Over To Menado, On Our Way To Macassar And Java, And I Finally
Quitted The Moluccas, Among Whose Luxuriant And Beautiful Islands
I Had Wandered For More Than Three Years.
My collections in Bouru, though not extensive, were of
considerable interest; for out of sixty-six species of birds
which I collected there, no less than seventeen were new, or had
not been previously found in any island of the Moluccas.
Among
these were two kingfishers, Tanysiptera acis and Ceyx Cajeli; a
beautiful sunbird, Nectarines proserpina; a handsome little black
and white flycatcher, Monarcha loricata, whose swelling throat
was beautifully scaled with metallic blue; and several of less
interest. I also obtained a skull of the babirusa, one specimen
of which was killed by native hunters during my residence at
Cajeli.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MOLUCCAS.
THE Moluccas consist of three large islands, Gilolo, Ceram, and
Bouru, the two former being each about two hundred miles long;
and a great number of smaller isles and islets, the most
important of which are Batchian, Morty, Obi, Ke, Timor-Laut, and
Amboyna; and among the smaller ones, Ternate, Tidore, Kaiķa, and
Banda. They occupy a space of ten degrees of latitude by eight of
longitude, and they are connected by groups of small islets to
New Guinea on the east, the Philippines on the north, Celebes on
the west, and Timor on the south. It will be as well to bear in
mind these main features of extent and geographical position,
while we survey their animal productions and discuss their
relations to the countries which surround them on every side in
almost equal proximity.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 124 of 412
Words from 33179 to 33457
of 111511
