56 MEEOPID^ MEEOPS 



defined on the neck, forked on the upper back (fig. 1, p. 2) ; oil 

 gland naked ; caeca present. 



The Bee-Eaters are a family of birds of bright plumage, confined 

 to the Old World : they all breed in holes in sandbanks or similar 

 situations, and lay rounded white eggs. 



Fig. 22. — Foot of Merops nuhicoides. 



Key of the Genera. 



A. Central tail-feathers elongated Merops,-^. bQ. 



B. Outer tail-feathers elongated ; tail forked Dicroceraos, -p. 64:. 



C. Tail square, no feathers elongated Melith>phagus,'p. 67. 



Genus I. MEROPS. 



Type. 

 Merops, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. i, p. 182 (1766) M. apiaster. 



Bill long, slender, and pointed ; the nostrils large, rounded, and 

 generally covered with plumes ; a few short rictal bristles ; wings 

 pointed, the first primary minute, hardly reaching beyond the wing- 

 coverts, the second the longest ; secondaries falling short of the 

 primaries by a considerable amount ; tail with the two central 

 feathers elongated and attenuated in both sexes. 



This is a large genus of brightly-coloured birds, spread all over 

 the Old World. Some twelve African species are recognised by 

 Shelley, four of which enter our limits. 



