MEROPS. 351 



as to cover the yards and deck of his ship." Many probably leave Australia for New Guinea, 

 but it must be only for a very short period. Large numbers, however, are found at all times of 

 the year in one part of Australia or another. 



Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robt. Grant while collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the 

 Australian Museum at Bourke, on the Darling River, in Western New South Wales, in November 

 1889, procured a large number of skins of this species, and Mr. Grant has favoured me with the 



following notes : " We found Mcrops ornatus in hundreds along the banks of the Darling River. 



They were nesting in the upper parts of the banks, not far below the level of the surface of the 

 ground, in what seemed to have been decayed root holes. The birds were mostly perched on 

 dead twigs, darting out now and agam to capture some passing insect, and generally returnmg 

 to the same branch before eating it. At Glenariflf Station, near Byrock, I have found them 

 nesting in holes in the plains, but never far from water. A few pairs nest every year at Cox's 

 River, near Lithgow, on the Blue Mountains. When we were collecting in the Bellenden Ker 

 Range, in North-eastern Queensland, in October 1887, one morning at Boar Pocket, about 7 

 a.m., we were surprised to f^nd a large dead tree literally covered all over its branches with birds 

 of this species. There must have been nearly five hundred, and apparently they had travelled 

 a long distance, for they were resting low down on the limbs. Occasionally one would stretch 

 its wings, or fly away for a few yards and then return to the same place. About i p.m. the 

 entire flock rose into the air, when we fired and three or four dropped to the ground; the remamder 

 flew away in a southerly direction." 



In New South Wales this species is generally found inland, and seldom occurs near the coast, 

 although it usually breeds every season on the upper parts of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers. 

 I have met with it also on the Namoi, Gwydir and Castlereagh Rivers in October and November, 

 and where specimens were procured. It frequents chiefly open forest lands, the timbered banks of 

 rivers and creeks, and open dry sandy patches adjacent to thick scrubs. 



Although vernacularly called a Bee-eater, in common with other members of the genus, 

 bees form, so far as my experience goes with Merops ornatus, proportionately only a very small 

 portion of its food. In fact, so far as I have observed, the bird is too wary, and usually shuns the 

 haunts of man, and although Dr. W. Macgillivray informs me that he has seen it in gardens in 

 Broken Hill, I have never yet observed it in close proximity to, or perched on trees above 

 bee-hives, as I have on many occasions the Dusky Wood Swallow (Artamus tenehrostts). In 

 Australia it is undoubtedly the different species of Wood Swallows that prey to an enormous 

 extent on these industrious insects, and are the true scourge of apiarists. 



The food of the Bee-eater is usually obtained while on the wing, sallying forth from its 

 favourite perch, the end of a bare dead limb of a tree, and returning again to the same place to 

 eat it. Stomachs examined contained the remains of insects, principally beetles, wasps, flies, 

 but seldom bees. 



Writing from Mossgiel, New South Wales, the late Mr. K. H. Bennett remarks :— " Merops 

 ornatus is a very common bird here during the summer months, arriving usually in October, and 

 only on very rare occasions as early as September. It breeds here freely in the sand hills, and 

 lays five or six eggs." 



Dr. W. Macgillivray writes me from Broken Hill, in South-western New South Wales, as 

 follows :— " Merops aiistralis I first noted here 27th October, 1901, and odd birds after that until 

 January, when they becme quite numerous, and were frequently to be seen in the gardens in 

 Broken Hill, and continued so till about the end of February. They are usually seen here during 

 the spring and summer months when passing south or north. I know of no breeding place near 

 here. Writing of the birds of the Cloncurry District, Northern Queensland, Dr. Macgillivray 



