This roller from Celebes (now Sulawesi) was dedicated to Conrad Jacob Temminck (1778-1858). Gould described him as 'the Professor of Natural History... who devoted his whole life and much of his 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...'
Gould's specimen of this fine roller was brought from Makassar by the naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace.
The two birds are depicted lifesize. The frog is Hyla reinwardtii. The plant is Hoya fraterna, Thick-leaved Hoya, illustrated by W. Fitch in Curtis's Botanical Magazine, December 1852, Vol.78, pl.4684. The plant, originally found in Java, flowered vigorously in the hot-house of Veitch's Nursery at Exeter.
DISTRIBUTION: Sulawesi, including Menterawu, Lembeh, Muna, Butung and Banggai islands