CORACIAS TEMMINCKI, wet

Temminck’s Roller.

Coracias Temmincki, Wag]. Syst. Av., p. 215.—Gray, Gen. of Birds. vol. ;
; 8, vol. i.

Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part ii. p. 62, Coracias, sp. 5.—Id. List of

sect. 1 . Fisswy St) és p 33 ae -Be p C | 1 .
) Cy » OW. nap. onsp. Ge 0 JAN 1
l 67 Con acias Sp. 8.—Cab et I le e M US. I Le In. | el ] l l Bi G R G : : a
p- 9 > | ¢ ’ 9 . p- Oo. . . rT

Soc., 1861, p. 433.—Wall. Ibis, 1864, p. 41.
Rollier Temminck, Levaill. Hist. Nat. Prom. et Guep., tom. ili. p. 46, tab. D
Garrulus (Galgulus) Temminckii, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. Be co 435
Galgulus Temmincki, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part 11. p. 869. ae

ay in Proc. of Zool.

Coracias Urvillet, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l’Astrol. Ois., tab. 16
> or Pee: : i .
a Papuensis, Quoy et Gaim. ib., p. 220.—Sclat. in Journ. of Proc. of Linn. Soc., Zool. vol. ii. p. 155
: : : : 9 fA . ° . . ve.
——— pileata, “ Reimw.” Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anis., p. 8. Gen. 87. no. 210
—_——— pileata, Reinw.? Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta p. 50
vutta, p. 50.

 

In reply to an inquiry ‘‘ After whom was this very beautiful bird named?” the Professor of Natural History
to future generations will say, ‘‘ Conrad Jacob Temminck, a Dutch gentleman who lived in the latter part
of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth centuries, who devoted his whole life and much of his
private fortune to the advancement of the science of ornithology, and under whose direction and fostering
care the fine Museum at Leyden was rendered so rich in zoological stores as scarcely to be surpassed, if
equalled, by any other in existence ;” and he may add that ‘whatever was done by Temminck for the
national Museum of his native country, no less a share of merit is due to his German coadjutor and suc-
cessor, the more profoundly learned Dr. Hermann Schlegel, who laboured so assiduously that he rendered
that celebrated collection one of the most perfect extant at the time.”

It rarely happens that one of the finest species of a genus is selected to bear the name of a scientific man
as its specific designation ; but such is the case in the present instance ; for it may be truly said that not a
finer species of Coracias has yet been discovered. Its native countries are the Celebes and Moluccas, whence
fine examples were brought by Mr. Wallace, one of which, now in my own collection, is from Macassar. I regret
to say that, although more than fifty years have elapsed since the discovery of this bird, very little information
has been placed on record respecting its habits, manners, or economy; in fact, the only reference to them
that I can find is comprised in the following extract from Mr. Wallace’s “« Remarks on the value of Osteological
Characters in the Classification of Birds,” published in ‘The Ibis’ for 1864 :—‘“‘For determining the true affini-
ties of isolated groups we must have recourse to those characters which, having no direct dependence upon
habits &c., are often persistent in a remarkable degree. Of these, no doubt the sternum is of the greatest

value; but there are many others of almost equal importance. Such are :—the texture of the plumage ; the

form of the feathers, and their arrangement over the surface of the body; the form of the nostrils; the

scutellation of the tarsi; the mode of nidification, with the form, colour, and texture of the eggs; the

: : . wa Ral cereit sharacteristic habits and
covering of the young bird, and its change of plumage ; peculiarities of food, characteristic he a

As an instance of the value of such apparently trifling characters as the last,
a Roller (Coracias Temminck?) alive I was at once satisfied that it
ad and tail when it alighted, which is common

peculiar attitudes and actions.

J may mention that the first time I saw
rking motion of the he
but never seen in the typical Passeres.”

Coracias Papuensis of Quoy and Gaimard among the
yaper on the * Zoology of New Guinea,” read at
nd published in the Journal of their
amined and compared before

was a fissirostral bird, from a peculiar je
to Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Motmots,

I have followed most of my confréres in placing
but Mr. Sclater, in his |
on the 17th of December, 1857, a
«the two species must be accurately ex

synonyms of the present species 5
the meeting of the Linnean Society
Proceedings above referred to, remarks,

. ° ”
their identity can be considered unquestionable. aT
Mr. G. R. Gray in his ‘‘ Remarks on, and Descriptions of, new Species of Birds lately sent by Mr. A. Kh.

. : i ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society ’
Wallace, from Waigiou, Mysol, and Gagie Islands,” published in the * Ps se . 2 ee eee
: ° : Recieeal resume, 1S
for 1861. vives New Guinea as the habitat of this species 5 but this, I p Re ne ‘
Lae i - and Mr. Blyth states emphatically that it is Celebes,
Mr. Wallace’s specimens were obtained at Macassar, and MY. y

and not New Guinea.

Crown of the head, nape, and upper
er parts of the back dee
aching to bl

back and scapularies brownish olive-

1 7 iter green ;
tail-coverts verditer green 5
shoulder ; back of the neck and

p blue, brightest on the

ack, the feathers of the throat having a fine line

green; wings, tail, and low
all the under surface dark greyish blue, appro
bill black ; feet brown.

of blue down the centre ; | S
Sire oi lite, salhenioemts

The Pl birds, of the the Hyla Reinwardtii, and the plant the
The Plate represents two birds, ¢

Hoya fraterna.

Oe)

Av gc
oe im