48 Capt. G. E. Shelley on Egyptian Ornithology. 



42. Cypselus parvus, Licht. 



Dr. Heuglin in his ' Ornithology of North- East Africa/ p. 144, 

 mentions this bird as found in southern Egypt and Nubia. 



43. Merops apiaster, L. Common Bee-eater. 



Arrives in Egypt about the 10th of April, and is then very 

 plentifully distributed in flocks throughout the country. 



44. Merops persicus. Pall. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. 

 This bird visits Egypt about a fortnight earlier than the last 



species, which it resembles in size, habits, and cry ; yet I have 

 never met with both species in one flock. I observed them once 

 towards evening alight in such immense numbers upon a sand- 

 bank that it looked almost as green as meadow-land. They, 

 however, appear generally to roost at night in the Acacia trees. 



45. Merops viridissimus, Svv, 



This beautiful little Bee-eater I did not meet with until I 

 reached Golosaneh, in the beginning of March, although I had 

 spent the previous month in the Delta. When I was up the 

 Nile before, I first came across this species in the same locality 

 towards the end of January, from which I am inclined to con- 

 sider Golosaneh its most northern winter limit. It is most 

 beautiful to watch these birds, their plumage glistening in the 

 sun as they fly from one tall Palm tree to another, their out- 

 stretched wings showing the orange underneath like an illumi- 

 nated transparency. They are very abundant throughout 

 Middle and Upper Egypt ; but T only met with one specimen 

 in Nubia. 



46. CoRACiAS GARRULA, L. Boller. 



The Roller is only a bird of passage in Egypt, arriving about 

 the end of April on its way north. We first met with it at Koos 

 on the 26th of Api'il ; and two days later I killed three out of a 

 party of four that I saw at Dendera. They were invariably in 

 pairs. 



47. Alcedo ispida, L. Common Kingfisher. 



Very abundant in the Delta, and occasionally met with 

 throughout the whole extent of Egypt. Personally I have seen 

 it three times above Cairo, at Sioot, Koos, and Thebes. 



