KINGFISHERS— BEE-EATERS 171 



disputed by one of the Paradise flycatchers, which kept 

 trying to get at the kingfisher from behind. The other, 

 however, spun round on the perch just as quickly so as 

 always to face the angry flycatcher. 



But at length another flycatcher came up, and the 

 kingfisher made off, thinking discretion the better part of 

 valour. 



Another species of Halcyon may here be mentioned on 

 account of its remarkable absence from the islands. This 

 duU mottled greyish bird, H. chelicuti, is abundant both 

 at Jinja and Entebbe, where its " cheer-oh " cry may often 

 be heard in chorus, and yet I never heard it on the islands, 

 although Van Someren gives " Sesse Isles " as a locality 

 for this species in his check list.^ 



The absence of the insectivorous Rollers seems to be 

 compensated on the islands by great abundance of their 

 allies the Bee-eaters. These graceful birds, known to the 

 natives as " Mujolo," soon attract attention from their 

 habit of perching on the tip of a dead bough in a com- 

 manding position and swooping down on their prey, 

 returning with it to the same perch. Two species, Merops 

 superciliosus and Melittophagus meridionalis, became very 

 well known, and the liquid twitter of the former was one 

 of the most familiar bird sounds. 



When a blustery wind is bringing up storm clouds, this 

 bird often soars overhead innumbers, braving the buffeting 

 of the gusts of wind and possibly catching the insects that 

 are driven before the storm. 



Melittophagus is found more often in grassy places, or 

 at the edge of the forest perched on an especially tall 

 stem of grass or rush. It keeps nearer to the ground than 

 does its larger, long-tailed relative. Neither of these birds 

 is brilliantly coloured, but their green, yellowish, and 

 brown hues are very pleasing, and their long bills and 

 graceful shapes give them a very attractive appearance. 



1 The Ibis, 1916, p. 244. 



