MBROPID^ MELITTOPHAGUS 67 



a soft sandy bank, the hole was sHghtly enlarged at the end and 

 the eggs laid there without any nest-lining ; these were three in 

 number and pure white. 



Genus III. MELITTOPHAGUS. 



Type. 

 Melittophagus, Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 316 M. pusillus. 



Bill and head as in Mcrops ; wings somewhat rounded, the 

 secondaries equal to or surpassing the primaries in length ; first 

 primary about half the length of the second, which is the 

 longest ; tail square, neither the inner nor outer feathers elongated. 

 This genus is spread over Africa and southern Asia as far as the 

 Malayan Islands and contains about fourteen species, two of 

 which are resident in South Africa. 



Key of the Species. 



A. Throat yellow, bordered below by a black 



band M. meridionalis, p. 67. 



B. Chin white, throat carmine-red M. hulloc'koides, p. 70. 



410. Melittophagus meridionalis. Little Bee-Eater. 



Melittophagus erythropterus {nee Gmel.), Gurney, Ibis, 1862, p. 27 

 [NatalJ . 



Merops variegatus {nee ViellL), Kirli, Ibis, 1864, p. 324 [Zambesi]. 



Merops erythropterus, Layarcl, B. Afr. p. 70 (1867). 



Melittophagus pusillus {nee Mull.), Ayres, Ibis, 1871, p. 150 [Limpopo] ; 

 Gurney in Andersson's B. Damaraland, p. 62 (1872) ; Shelley, 

 Ibis, 1882, p. 242 [Umfuli River] . 



Merops pusillus, Bucldey, Ibis, 1874, p. 363 [Semokwe River] ; Sharpe, 

 ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. pp. 100, 805 (1875-84) : Barratt, Ibis, 1876, 

 p. 197 [Rustenburg] ; Ayres, Ibis, 1879, p. 290 [Rustenburg] ; 

 Oates, Matahelcland, p. 301 (1881). 



Melittophagus minutus, Holub d- Pelseln, Orn. Sild-Afrikas, p. 67 

 (1882). 



Melittophagus meridionalis, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xvii, p. 45, pi. i, fig. 4 

 (1892) ; Distant, Transvaal, p. 166 (1892) ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, 

 p. 110 (1896) ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1897, p. 496 [Zululandj ; Sowerby, 

 Ibis, 1898, p. 571 [Ft. Chiquaqua] ; Woodward Bros. Natal Birds, 

 p. 88 (1899) ; Alexander, Ibis, 1900, p. 96 [Zambesi] ; Marshall, 

 ibid. p. 248 [Mashonaland] ; Beichenorv, Ornith. Monatsb. viii, 

 p. 87 (1900). 



Melittophagus cyanostictus, Sharpe, Ibis, 1900, p. 115 [nr. Beira]. 



"Iguondwana" of Zulus (Woodward). 



