54 Allen's naturalist's library. 



THE TRUE LEE-EATERS. FAMILY MEROPID.E. 



There are no Sub-families among the Bee-Eaters, and con- 

 sequently the whole of the five genera admitted by ornitholo- 

 gists are placed under the heading of the Meropidce, the Family 

 characters being the same as those of the Sub-order, given in 

 detail above. 



THE LONG-TAILED BEE-EATERS. GENUS MEROPS. 

 Merops, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 182 (1766). 

 Type, M. apiasfer, L. 

 As most of the Bee-Eaters have the tail square or slightly 

 forked, it is very easy to recognise a member of the genus 

 Merops by the elongated central feathers of the tail, these being 

 produced beyond the other tail-feathers, and somewhat pointed. 

 About seventeen species of Merops are known to science, and 

 they are distributed over Africa, Lidia, and Australia, and ex- 

 tend to the temperate portions of Europe and Northern Asia. 



I. THE COMMON BEE-EATER. MEROPS APIASTER. 



Merops apiasfer, Linn. S. N. i. p. 182 (1766); Macg. Br. B. 

 iii. p. 685(1840); Dresser, B. Eur. v. p. 155, pi. 295 

 (1877); Newton, ed. Yarr. ii. p. 435 (1874), B. O. U. 

 List Br. B. p. 82 (1883); Seebohm, Br. B. ii. p. 321 

 (1SS4) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Br. B. part ix. (1888) ; Saunders, 

 Man. Br. B. p. 273 (1889); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xvii. p. 6^ (1892). 



Adult Male. — Crown of head and hind-neck chestnut, this 

 colour overspreading the mantle and gradually disappearing 

 on the scapulars and back, which are creamy-buff; lower back 

 washed with blue ; the upper tail-coverts entirely pale blue ; 

 forehead white, followed by a line of blue, which unites with a 

 narrow eyebrow, which is first blue, and then shades off into 

 green ; the crown separated from this blue eyebrow by a green 

 shade ; lesser wing-covcrts green, the rest of the coverts light 

 chestnut, like the secondaries, which have black tips ; primary 

 quills blue, blackish towards the tips, the inner secondaries 

 green, bluish towards their ends ; tail-feathers green, edged 

 with blue, the centre ones blue, greener near the base ; lores 

 and a streak through the eye black, like the ear-coverts ; cheeks 



