CM 



MEROPS APIASTER. THE YELLOW 

 THROATED BEE-EATER. 



COMMON BEE-EATER. 



Fie. 5:76. 



Merops Apiaster. Linn. Sysfc. Nat,, I. 182. 



Merops Apiaster. Lath. Ind. Orn. L 269. 



Merops chrysocephalus. Lath. Ind. Orn. L 273. 



Common Bee-eater. Mont. Orn. Diet. 



Guepier vulgaire. Merops Apiaster. Temm. Man. d'Orn. L 420. 



Common Bee-eater. Merops Apiaster. Selb. Illustr. I. 114. 



Merops Apiaster. Common Bee-eater. Jen. Brit. Vert. An. 156. 



Upper part of head, hind-nech^ and part of the back, brownish- 

 red, that colour fading into yellow on the rump and scapulars ; 

 forehead pale blue ; lor al space and a band behind the eye black ; 

 throat rich yellow, that colour bounded by a band of black, the 

 lower parts light green. 



Male. — The Common or Yellow-throated Bee-eater is of a 

 rather slender and elongated form ; with the neck short, the 

 head ovate and rather large ; the bill long, slender, taperino-, 

 slightly arched, and pointed ; the feet very diminutive, with 

 the lower part of the tibia bare, the tarsus extremely short, with 

 indistinct scales ; the hind toe very small, the rest parallel, in- 



