24 Mr. G. L. Bates — Field-Notes on the 



do not in any way shew a preference for the neighbourhood of 

 water. A man once caught for me a bird of the commonest 

 species, H. badius, in a hole in a tree, where it was sitting 

 on the two eggs. The youug inside the eggs were already 

 cheeping and of course the eggs had to be broken, but I 

 managed to leave one of them nearly whole so that it could 

 be measured ; its size was 26 x 24 mm. 



[One egg (in which incubation was evidently far advanced) 

 is of a perfectly circular shape, somewhat glossy and pure 

 white.— O.-G.] 



867 a. Melittophagus gularis australis. 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1907, p. 431. 



No. 2904. ? . Breeding-organs and skin of abdomen 

 indicating a sitting bird. Caught in its hole in a bank, in 

 which were found also two eggs. One was broken, the 

 other measured 24 x 20 mm. 



[The one egg is of a short oval form, somewhat glossy 

 and pure white. — O.-G.] 



868. ]\Ielittophagus muellehi. 



Merops batesiana Sharpe, Ibis, 1907, p. 432. 



In habits this species resembles Melittophagus australis, 

 for botli of them are generally seen in pairs, never in flocks, 

 and I have strong reason to believe that the pi'esent species, 

 like M. australis, breeds in holes in banks, a single pair in a 

 place. Thus they differ in habits from those species of the 

 genus MerojJs which are gregarious. 



The young birds are mostly black, the brighter colours 

 of the adults appearing but slightly. The females diff'er 

 from the males only in the blue of the hind-neck being less 

 extensive. 



872. Merops albicollis. [Nso^olong.] 



Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 611. 



Aerops albicollis Reich. V. A. ii. p. 317. 



This bird is surely a Merops in its way of life. When I 

 wrote my first note about it ('Ibis,' 1905, p. 91) I knew it 

 mostly near the coast, where it is not so abundant as it is 

 on the Ja. But even at the latter place, as also nearer the 



