Question about Rumphius and bird pollination

[Jeff Ollerton]

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone can help me with a query. In Fageri & van der Pijl's book, they state that one of the earliest mentions of birds visiting flowers is by Rumphius (1747). It's not listed in the references but I think that they are referring to volume 5 of his Herbarium Amboinense, which you can view here: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10355#page/2/mode/1up

Other writers have followed F & vd P in stating this, but does anyone know where in Rumphius's book it talks about birds and flowers?

The text is in Latin and Dutch and I've done a search using appropriate words such as "aves" and "vogel" but had no luck finding it, though I did find references to bird dispersal of seeds.

Any help gratefully appreciated!

Best wishes,

Jeff

  

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Prof. Jeff Ollerton BSc (Hons) PhD FHEA

Consultant scientist and writer

Visiting Professor at the University of Northampton (UK) and the Kunming Institute of Botany (China)

www.jeffollerton.co.uk

Tel: +44(0)7986 600303

Latest book: Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society