THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 209 



rufous; the center of the lower back and the rump pale blue, more 

 greenish on the upper tail coverts; the remaining upperparts deep 

 green; the chin and throat pale yellow, separated from the breast 

 by a chestnut-rufous gorget, edged below first by black, then by yel- 

 low; the remaining underparts pale green, more bluish on the ab- 

 domen and under tail coverts ; the under wing coverts and undersurf ace 

 of the remiges light rufous. The green portions of the plumage have 

 the coppery gloss characteristic of the group. An immature male 

 from Muang Fang (July 20) differs in having all the colors rather 

 paler and the rufous of the upperparts restricted to the head and nape 

 but heavily washed with deep green on the forehead and the center 

 of the crown. 



NYCTIORNIS ATHERTONI (Jardine and Selby) 



Blue-bearded Bee-eater 



Merops Athertoni Jardine and Selby, Illustrations of ornithology, ser. 1, vol. 2, 

 pt. 4, 1828, pi. 58 and text (India; type locality restricted to Cachar, by 

 Stuart Baker, Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. 28, 1922, p. 314 ; corrected 

 to Bangalore, Mysore, South India, by Kinnear, Ibis, 1925, p. 751). 



Nyctiornis athertoni, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1913, p. 53 

 (Ban Huai Horn) ; 1916, p. Ill (Doi Pha Sakaeng, Khun Tan) ; Journ. Nat. 

 Hist. Soc. Siani, 1915, p. 231 (listed) ; Ibis, 1920, p. 588 ("Throughout Siam 

 proper"). — de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1929, p. 572 

 (Doi Suthep). 



Alcemerops athertoni, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 161 

 (Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai); 1936, p. 93 (Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai).— de 

 Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1934, p. 261 (Doi Suthep, Doi 

 Chiang Dao).— Rilet, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 1938, p. 184 (Doi Hua Mot, 

 Doi Khun Tan, "Doi Phra Chao" [= Doi Saket ?]). 



This huge bee-eater is rather uncommon but generally distributed in 

 the North. At Pha Hing Eisenhofer took a female, May 1, 1912 

 (Hannover), and a male, May 11 (Stockholm), and at Khun Tan five 

 undated specimens (Stockholm). I have it from Doi San Pa Bong, 

 Doi Suthep, Doi Chiang Dao, Ban Samoeng, and Thattafang, and 

 found it common on Doi Ang Ka at 4,400 feet. Its presence anywhere 

 seems to be governed by the development of tall and fairly open forest ; 

 thus, in one district it will be seen only on the mountains, but in 

 another where there is lowland evergreen it will occur at quite low 

 altitudes. In the vicinity of Chiang Mai I found it normally only 

 on Doi Suthep from 2,800 to 5,500 feet, but recorded it several times 

 between June 25 and August 1 on the plain; such wandering indi- 

 viduals may have been birds of the year. 



The blue-bearded bee-eater is a more sluggish species than the 

 smaller members of its family, and as it perches motionless on a branch 

 at the top of some high tree it might be more often overlooked if it 

 were not for its hoarse, croaking calls. The song is composed of a 

 series of notes that sound like the syllable huh; it begins slowly but 



